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New to New Zealand genealogy? Check out the Resources page! Lying in the South Pacific, 1600 km southeast of Australia, New Zealand comprises the main North and South Islands, separated by the Cook Strait, and numerous smaller islands. [The] South Island is the more mountainous; [the] North Island contains hot springs and geysers, and the bulk of the population. The political tradition is liberal and egalitarian, and has been dominated by the National and Labour parties. Radical, and often unpopular, reforms since 1984 have restored economic growth, speeded up economic diversification and strengthened New Zealand's position within the Pacific Rim countries. Dougall, A., Heritage, A., Turner, S., Whitwell, C., & Wyse, E. (Eds.). (1994). The Collins factopedia world reference atlas. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. 
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| UPDATE: Tracy Watkins "Records access bill to get rewrite" (11 October 2007) The Dominion Post Wellington A5 THE Government has backed down in the face of a public outcry over rules restricting access to public records — but critics say the changes have not gone far enough. The Government had proposed clamping down on public access to births, deaths, marriages and relationship registration records, arguing that it was necessary to prevent identity fraud. But opposition from minor parties the Greens, the Maori Party, UnitedFuture and ACT, and groups including genealogists, the Salvation Army and the media has forced it to do a U-turn. Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker said yesterday that the Government would seek to rewrite the legislation to allow continued public access by anyone with adequate identification. A public register would also be established so people could check who had accessed their records. But people would also have the right to request that their records not be disclosed to the public. Commonwealth Press Union chairman Tim Pankhurst congratulated the Government yesterday for "largely seeing sense" but criticised the opt-out provisions as illogical. "The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Amendment Bill, as originally proposed, was a clear attack on freedom of information," said Mr Pankhurst, who is The Dominion Post’s editor. "These are matters of public record and should remain so ... We have no problem with applicants having to present identification and people being able to know who had accessed their records." But allowing people to request that their records not be disclosed defeated the intent of the amendment, Mr Pankhurst said. "Mr Barker has got it half right. He now needs to go the whole way." Green MP Keith Locke said the Government U-turn was a major victory for freedom of information. The original bill had horrified genealogists, historians and journalists because it shut off public access to records which had been publicly available since 1848, Mr Locke said. But he was concerned about the opt-out provisions and believed they should be qualified with a public interest criteria. "In the original bill, for example, if a person publicly mentioned their age they could then not prevent others from checking their birth date on the register," Mr Locke said. Peter Nash, executive officer of the Society of Genealogists, was dubious about Mr Barker’s changes. "A basic human right of any human being is to find out who the hell they are." "From our point of view, a genealogist or family historian is somebody who wants to find out about their own background, their own lineage. I don’t think a person has a right to opt out of a system that lets a descendant of theirs know where they come from. That’s a nonsense." Mr Barker said a public interest test in cases where people opted out could be included in the final bill. |
Submissions on the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Bill, now before the New Zealand Parliament, closed 4 May 2007. The Bill distinguishes between registered information (§ 74) and source documents (§ 74A). Under § 74, any person may obtain registered information in respect of a birth, death or marriage, subject to certain time restrictions. However, under § 74A, any person would not be able to obtain source documents in respect of a birth, death or marriage other than their own.§ 74A precludes a genealogist from obtaining source documents in respect of any birth, death or marriage, whether historical or contemporary, other than their own. Source documents in respect of any birth, death or marriage, whether historical or contemporary, should be obtainable on presentation by the applicant of suitable identification. Under § 74(4)(h), a genealogist would be able to obtain birth, death or marriage information in the form of a print-out or certificate, subject to written authority of an immediate family member of a person who is the subject of the birth, death or marriage.It will not necessarily be practicable for a genealogist to ascertain an immediate family member from whom to seek authority to obtain birth, death or marriage information. It should not be necessary to seek written authority to obtain birth, death or marriage information that has hitherto been on the public record; this would unreasonably hinder legitimate research. Under § 78F(3)(c), the parents' names of people who married would not be accessible via the Website by which the Registrar-General may make historical information available for search by the public. Similarly, under § 78F(3)(e), the cause of death of a person would not be available.Information vital to a genealogist will not be available via the Registrar-General's Website. Such information should be made available via the Registrar-General's Website, to assist in the conduct of legitimate research. Under § 78G, a genealogist must not make available on a Website index information that has hitherto been publicly available. A person who commits an offence against § 78G is liable, under § 89(3)(a), to a fine not exceeding $50,000.In the United Kingdom, FreeBMD, with the sanction of the Office for National Statistics, provides free, open and transparent access to civil registration indexes. No person should be prohibited from making available on a Website index information that has hitherto been been on the public record. Disclaimer: The foregoing are observations and recommendations from the perspective of a genealogist and family historian, based on the author's understanding of the Bill in its form as at 20 April 2007. |
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