6 September 2008 marks 60 years of New Zealand citizenship. Over half a century ago New Zealand's Parliament passed the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948, which made New Zealanders "British subjects and New Zealand citizens" from 1 January 1949, rather than solely British subjects.
New Zealand citizenship was another step on New Zealand's path to independence, and was also a change in mindset for the country. For 108 years New Zealanders were simply "British subjects", the 1948 Act acknowledged our dual nationalism, and the global reality following the Second World War.
The concept of citizenship itself comes from classical republicanism, and contrasts with the concept of a "subject". In a monarchy, a subject is ruled by the monarch, whereas a citizen of a republic is equal to his or her fellow citizens. It is intriguing that New Zealanders only ever really consider ourselves as "citizens", without giving a thought to the concept of being a subject of our head of State.
It wasn't until 1977 that New Zealanders became solely "New Zealand Citizens" under the Citizenship Act 1977. As we see below, by then being "British Subjects" had ceased to have any practical meaning - New Zealanders had long since been required to enter the United Kingdom via the Other Aliens queue, since Britain had restricted immigration from its former colonies.
The 1977 Act also removed any remaining distinctions between New Zealanders and other Commonwealth citizens.
British subjects
Ever since New Zealand became a British colony with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, all citizens of New Zealand were considered British Subjects. The Treaty itself states in its third article that:
"Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects."
This made Maori British Subjects, even though over the next sixty years Maori were treated as second-class citizens by the Crown, rather than equals.
With the 1948, New Zealand citizenship was legally separate to that of the United Kingdom. However, New Zealanders continued to enjoy the right of adobe in the United Kingdom. Over the course of the next sixty year, the British government tightened and restricted New Zealanders' former rights of entry. Eventually, being "British Subjects" became meaningless - both in law and symbolically.
Commonwealth citizens
In 1946, Canada decided to create its own citizenship law. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of 1948 decided to make major changes in the law of nationality throughout the Commonwealth. It was decided at that conference that the United Kingdom and the self-governing dominions would each adopt separate national citizenships, but continue to have the common status of "British subject".
The United Kingdom's parliament then passed the British Nationality Act 1948, creating the status Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC), consisting of all those British subjects who had a relationship - either through birth or descent - with the United Kingdom and its remaining colonies. Each other Commonwealth country did likewise, and also established its own citizenship.
The Act provided that British subjects could be known by the alternative title Commonwealth citizen. By the 1960s the British government was concerned with the amount of immigration from its former colonies. In response, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was passed, requiring all Commonwealth citizens without British passports to be subject to immigration control. The residence period for Commonwealth citizens applying for registration as CUKCs from one year to five years.
A further Act in 1968 made more distinction between CUKCs who had close ties with the United Kingdom and citizens who had no such ties. In 1981 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government passed the British Nationality Act. This Act abolished the status of CUKC, and replaced it with three new categories of citizenship. In effect, there is no such thing now as a "Commonwealth citizen".
References
- New Zealand Citizenship History - Te Ara
- New Zealand Nationality law - Wikipedia
