Dominion of New Zealand

Dominion of New Zealand
1907–1947[note 1]
Flag Coat of arms (1911–1956)
Motto: "Onward"
Anthem: "God Save the King"
Status	Dominion of the British Empire
Capital	Wellington
Common languages	English, Māori
Government	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1907–1910	Edward VII
• 1910–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1947	George VI
Governor/Governor-general
• 1907–1910	William Plunket (first)
• 1946–1947	Bernard Freyberg (last)
Prime minister
• 1907–1912	Joseph Ward (first)
• 1940–1947	Peter Fraser (last)
Legislature	General Assembly (Parliament)
• Upper house	Legislative Council
• Lower house	House of Representatives
History
• Declared a Dominion	26 September 1907
• Statute of Westminster adopted	25 November 1947[note 1]
Currency	New Zealand pound[note 2]
ISO 3166 code	NZ
Preceded by Succeeded by Colony of New Zealand German Samoa New Zealand Trust Territory of Western Samoa Cook Islands Niue

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The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire.

New Zealand became a separate British Crown colony in 1841 and received responsible government with the Constitution Act in 1852. New Zealand chose not to take part in the Federation of Australia and became the Dominion of New Zealand on 26 September 1907, Dominion Day, by proclamation of King Edward VII. Dominion status was a public mark of the political independence that had evolved over half a century through responsible government.

Just under one million people lived in New Zealand in 1907 and cities such as Auckland and Wellington were growing rapidly.^[1] The Dominion of New Zealand allowed the British Government to shape its foreign policy, and it followed Britain into the First World War. The 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Zealand should be allowed to negotiate its own political treaties, and the first commercial treaty was ratified in 1928 with Japan. When the Second World War broke out in 1939 the New Zealand Government made its own decision to enter the war.

In the post-war period, the term Dominion has fallen into disuse. Sovereignty on external affairs was granted with the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and adopted by the New Zealand Parliament in 1947. The 1907 royal proclamation of Dominion status has never been revoked,^[2][3] although legal academics differ as to whether the proclamation can be said to be in force.^[4]

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