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73-494: KiwiSaver is a New Zealand savings scheme which has been operating since 2 July 2007. Participants can normally access their KiwiSaver funds only after the age of 65, but can withdraw them earlier in certain limited circumstances, for example if undergoing significant financial hardship or to use a deposit for a first home. A policy initiative of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand (in office 1999–2008), KiwiSaver

146-414: A mortgage diversion scheme where some of the employee contributions can be used to make mortgage repayments instead of going towards Kiwisaver after a person has been signed up for 12 months. This is only allowed for repayments on the main home, and not for other properties such as investment or holiday homes. Employer contributions will not be able to be used for the mortgage. This option was abolished by

219-797: A balanced fund, those aged 60 to 64 in a conservative fund, and those aged 65 and over in a defensive fund. There have been concerns raised that members are not easily able to choose ethical investing due to a lack of information about the makeup of funds. In particular, investments which include profits the production of cluster munitions , landmines , and nuclear weapons have been highlighted as being illegal in New Zealand. There are however now at least five funds aimed specifically at these concerns, describing themselves as variously as "socially responsible", "The ethical KiwiSaver scheme for Christians", or expressly excluding "companies involved in cluster bombs, landmines, tobacco, gambling and pornography". As

292-399: A comparison, the cost of New Zealand Superannuation for 2014/15 is $ 11,589 million. Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim Anderton , leader of

365-544: A feat that had never occurred under MMP in New Zealand, they won 41.3% of the vote and 52 seats. Although this was an improvement on their results in the 1999 election, it was not enough to govern alone, and Labour entered a coalition with the Progressive Coalition Party, and a confidence and supply agreement with United Future . Labour's success was highlighted by the National Party's demise, as they accrued

438-430: A hedge is an investment designed to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset. Typically, a hedge consists of taking a counter-position in a related financial instrument, such as a futures contract. The Forward Contract The forward contract is a non-standard contract to buy or sell an underlying asset between two independent parties at an agreed price and date. The Future Contract The futures contract

511-453: A loss when trading an asset or a liability due to a difference between the accounting value and the price effectively obtained in the trade. In other words, valuation risk is the uncertainty about the difference between the value reported in the balance sheet for an asset or a liability and the price that the entity could obtain if it effectively sold the asset or transferred the liability (the so-called "exit price"). Operational risk

584-478: A new job, with some exceptions, are automatically enrolled in KiwiSaver. New employees can choose to opt out from day 14 to day 56 of their employment. Participants choose to put their savings in one of several "approved savings schemes". They can only belong to one scheme at a time but can change schemes at any time. If they do not choose a scheme, and the participant is aged 18 or over, they will be assigned either to

657-556: A number of incentives originally designed to encourage KiwiSaver enrolment. KiwiSaver has been labelled a "poor cousin" by international standards, including comparable government supported schemes in the UK, US, Australia, and Singapore. In most cases the tax advantages in other countries are substantial, and earlier withdrawal options are possible in most cases. Russel Norman of the Green Party has earlier proposed directing KiwiSaver funds into

730-466: A portfolio by including a wide variety of equities, it will tend to exhibit the same risk and return characteristics as the market as a whole, which many investors see as an attractive prospect, so that index funds have been developed that invest in equities in proportion to the weighting they have in some well-known index such as the FTSE. However, history shows that even over substantial periods of time there

803-458: A rate (unless employers agree to a shorter time frame). These contributions are deducted from an employee's pay and sent by the employer to Inland Revenue alongside their PAYE tax returns. The self-employed and unemployed can choose how much they want to contribute; while most KiwiSaver schemes have minimum contribution amounts for people in this category, several schemes allow any level of contributions. All eligible participants aged 18 to 64 starting

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876-406: A record low 20.9% of the vote. After initial doubt as to what date the election would be held, 17 September was the chosen day. After falling behind National in the initial opinion polls, Labour fought back to obtain 41.1% of the vote. Although this was a 0.2% decrease from the previous election, it still saw them sit ahead of National by 2%. The 2005 election saw a dramatic fall in the success of

949-585: A refusal by United Future and NZ First to work with the Greens in cabinet. They were, however, able to negotiate a cooperation agreement which saw limited input into the budget and broad consultation on policy. Almost immediately, the Government parties became involved in a protracted funding scandal, having apparently used public money for party political purposes during the election campaign. A heavy-handed attempt at campaign finance reform later in this term also harmed

1022-477: A result of the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act , they oversaw a successful campaign based on a critical assessment of Labour's record with Maori issues. Their success was highlighted by the decline of ACT New Zealand, who won two seats, and the Progressive Coalition and United Future, who each won only a single seat. The table below shows the total party votes for Labour and parties that supported

1095-513: A statistical model in finance is a risk factor distribution. Recent papers treat the factor distribution as unknown random variable and measuring risk of model misspecification. Jokhadze and Schmidt (2018) propose practical model risk measurement framework. They introduce superposed risk measures that incorporate model risk and enables consistent market and model risk management. Further, they provide axioms of model risk measures and define several practical examples of superposed model risk measures in

1168-418: A stock it is possible to buy an option to sell that stock at a defined price at some point in the future. The combined portfolio of stock and option is now much less likely to move below a given value. As in diversification there is a cost, this time in buying the option for which there is a premium. Derivatives are used extensively to mitigate many types of risk. According to the article from Investopedia ,

1241-521: Is a specialized discipline within risk management. It constitutes the continuous-process of risk assessment, decision making, and implementation of risk controls, resulting in the acceptance, mitigation, or avoidance of the various operational risks. Non-financial risks summarize all other possible risks Financial risk, market risk, and even inflation risk can at least partially be moderated by forms of diversification . The returns from different assets are highly unlikely to be perfectly correlated and

1314-410: Is a standardized contract to buy or sell an underlying asset between two independent parties at an agreed price, quantity and date. Option contract The Option contract is a contract gives the buyer (the owner or holder of the option) the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price prior to or on a specified date, depending on the form of

1387-825: Is a variation adopted from the Basel II regulations for banks: "The risk of a change in value caused by the fact that actual losses, incurred for inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or from external events (including legal risk), differ from the expected losses". The scope of operational risk is then broad, and can also include other classes of risks, such as fraud , security , privacy protection , legal risks , physical (e.g. infrastructure shutdown) or environmental risks. Operational risks similarly may impact broadly, in that they can affect client satisfaction, reputation and shareholder value, all while increasing business volatility. Previously, in Basel I , operational risk

1460-414: Is a wide range of returns that an index fund may experience; so an index fund by itself is not "fully diversified". Greater diversification can be obtained by diversifying across asset classes; for instance a portfolio of many bonds and many equities can be constructed in order to further narrow the dispersion of possible portfolio outcomes. A key issue in diversification is the correlation between assets,

1533-405: Is considered the most critical type of losses as it represents the instability and unpredictability of true losses that may be encountered at a given timeframe. This is the risk that a given security or asset cannot be traded quickly enough in the market to prevent a loss (or make the required profit). There are two types of liquidity risk: Valuation risk is the risk that an entity suffers

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1606-729: Is governed by various Acts of Parliament, including the KiwiSaver Act 2006 (passed in September 2006). As at 31 March 2023, the Financial Markets Authority (NZ) reports $ 93.7 billion in assets is managed by KiwiSaver providers. Anyone who is entitled to live in New Zealand indefinitely and who normally lives in New Zealand is entitled to join KiwiSaver. Those under 18 require parental consent to join. Employee participants can choose to contribute 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of their gross pay, and can switch rates three months after setting

1679-780: Is in addition to the withdrawing savings option. The KiwiSaver scheme was one of the promises on Prime Minister Helen Clark 's controversial 2005 pledge card as part of the Labour Party 's promises for that election. In 2008 John Key , then Leader of the Opposition stated that a National led government would mean that "there won't be radical changes...there will be some modest changes to KiwiSaver". KiwiSaver therefore has broad political support. Additionally, fee subsidy for those people who become members after 1 April 2009, has been removed and for those people who joined before 1 April 2009 only 1 or 2 years fee subsidy will be paid (depending upon

1752-428: Is potential that a borrower may default or miss on an obligation as stated in a contract between the financial institution and the borrower. Attaining good customer data is an essential factor for managing credit risk. Gathering the right information and building the right relationships with the selected customer base is crucial for business risk strategy. In order to identify potential issues and risks that may arise in

1825-503: Is the risk of losses caused by flawed or failed processes, policies, systems or events that disrupt business operations. Employee errors, criminal activity such as fraud, and physical events are among the factors that can trigger operational risk. The process to manage operational risk is known as operational risk management . The definition of operational risk, adopted by the European Solvency II Directive for insurers,

1898-411: Is the risk that interest rates or the implied volatility will change. The change in market rates and their impact on the profitability of a bank, lead to interest rate risk. Interest rate risk can affect the financial position of a bank and may create unfavorable financial results. The potential for the interest rate to change at any given time can have either positive or negative effects for the bank and

1971-694: Is the risk that stock prices in general (not related to a particular company or industry) or the implied volatility will change. When it comes to long-term investing, equities provide a return that will hopefully exceed the risk free rate of return The difference between return and the risk free rate is known as the equity risk premium. When investing in equity, it is said that higher risk provides higher returns. Hypothetically, an investor will be compensated for bearing more risk and thus will have more incentive to invest in riskier stock. A significant portion of high risk/ high return investments come from emerging markets that are perceived as volatile. Interest rate risk

2044-487: Is too much variation between the amount of risks producers and consumers of commodities face in order to have a helpful framework or guide. Financial risk measurement, pricing of financial instruments, and portfolio selection are all based on statistical models. If the model is wrong, risk numbers, prices, or optimal portfolios are wrong. Model risk quantifies the consequences of using the wrong models in risk measurement, pricing, or portfolio selection. The main element of

2117-510: The 2005 election , the Government was returned with a slim margin on the strength of the Working for Families assistance package and financial assistance to students, benefiting also from mistakes in National's campaign. Helen Clark moved even more to the centre, enlisting support for her Government from both New Zealand First and United Future. Greens were excluded from the resulting coalition, due to

2190-457: The Alliance Party . While undertaking a number of substantial reforms, it was not particularly radical compared to previous Labour governments. The previous government, the fourth National government , had been in power since 1990. It was widely unpopular by 1999, with much of the public antagonised by a series of free-market economic reforms, and was bedevilled by weakness and instability. In

2263-454: The Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income both divide funds into five broad categories, based on their investment composition: Some providers offer a "lifetime" fund option, which sees the member's savings move to more defensive funds as the member ages. An example may have members aged under 35 in an aggressive fund, those aged 35 to 49 in a growth fund, those aged 50 to 59 in

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2336-487: The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (also known as the "Cullen Fund") to reduce high fees paid to financial industry. It was announced on 30 August 2007 that nearly 130,000 New Zealanders had signed up for the scheme. In October 2007, after 3 months of operation, 200,000 people had signed up, leading Revenue Minister Peter Dunne to say that If take-up continues at this rate it might be easier to make

2409-471: The Progressive Coalition Party . However, some critics believe that Labour could have continued to govern for the remaining few weeks. They say that the election was called early to capitalise on high opinion poll ratings before they could be undermined by a potential softening in the New Zealand economic performance. After initial polls indicated Labour might win enough seats to govern alone,

2482-550: The variance (or standard deviation ) of a portfolio is used as the definition of risk. According to Bender and Panz (2021), financial risks can be sorted into five different categories. In their study, they apply an algorithm-based framework and identify 193 single financial risk types, which are sorted into the five categories market risk , liquidity risk , credit risk , business risk and investment risk . The four standard market risk factors are equity risk, interest rate risk, currency risk, and commodity risk: Equity risk

2555-559: The 1999 general election, the Helen Clark -led Labour Party defeated the National Party easily, becoming the largest single party in the House of Representatives . Labour formed a minority coalition government with the left-leaning Alliance party, supported by the Green Party . During its first term, the government pursued a number of reforms. The controversial Employment Contracts Act

2628-441: The Government, which by now appeared tired and at a loss for direction, although it did succeed in implementing a wide range of social and economic reforms during its time in office. In a 2000 feature article "Siege of Helengrad", The Australian newspaper wrote that Clark's "uncompromisingly autocratic and pervasive leadership has seen New Zealand dubbed Helengrad". In January 2008, the term 'Helengrad', "a noun used to describe

2701-522: The KiwiSaver Act 2006. If a New Zealander permanently emigrates to Australia, they may choose to keep their KiwiSaver savings in New Zealand or transfer them to a complying Australian superannuation fund . Likewise, if an Australian permanently emigrates to New Zealand, they may choose to keep the Australian superannuation savings in Australia or transfer them to a complying KiwiSaver fund. Regardless of where

2774-556: The Labour-led government. For more details of election results, see the election articles. Notes Helen Clark was Prime Minister from when the government was elected in 1999 until it was defeated by the National Party in the 2008 elections . Financial risk Modern portfolio theory initiated by Harry Markowitz in 1952 under his thesis titled "Portfolio Selection" is the discipline and study which pertains to managing market and financial risk . In modern portfolio theory,

2847-479: The National Government that came into power in 2008, though employees who used this option prior to June 2009 can continue to use it as long as their provider offers it. Persons on the scheme can take savings suspension (previously known as a contribution holiday) after 12 months for any period from 3 months to 5 years without any limits on future savings suspension. People aged under 18 may join KiwiSaver if

2920-616: The Progressives, and turned to the centrist United Future party for confidence and supply . This second term was notable largely for its social and constitutional legislation, with the Government establishing a Supreme Court and ending appeals to the Privy Council , decriminalising prostitution , and providing for civil unions , the latter two changes in particular supported by the Green Party and opposed by United Future. The Government

2993-771: The Treaty of Waitangi is shown through settlements. The following positions were appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Government: With the creation of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 2003, the government appointed the first full bench of the Court. Acting judges were also appointed from the retired judges of the Court of Appeal: The government appointed three presidents of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand : The Fifth Labour government

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3066-455: The World Bank and others. Winston Peters has critiqued KiwiSaver as a 'billion dollar rort' by the finance industry and proposed alternatively that private KiwiSaver funds should be invested in a government run "KiwiFund" which would invest mainly in New Zealand assets and infrastructure. KiwiSaver has also been criticized for frequent changes by successive governments, including the removal of

3139-425: The amount of risk one is prepared to accept in pursuit of his objectives), determined by balancing the costs of improvement against the expected benefits. Wider trends such as globalization, the expansion of the internet and the rise of social media, as well as the increasing demands for greater corporate accountability worldwide, reinforce the need for proper risk management . Thus operational risk management (ORM)

3212-554: The basic indicator approach and the standardized approach for calculating operational risk capital . Contrary to other risks (e.g. credit risk , market risk , insurance risk ) operational risks are usually not willingly incurred nor are they revenue driven. Moreover, they are not diversifiable and cannot be laid off. This means that as long as people, systems, and processes remain imperfect, operational risk cannot be fully eliminated. Operational risk is, nonetheless, manageable as to keep losses within some level of risk tolerance (i.e.

3285-407: The basis of permanent emigration to Australia. In 2013 Labour said it would like to make the KiwiSaver scheme universal, in the face of the rising cost of superannuation, while financial organisations called for raising the minimum contributions to 7 per cent. As part of the 2015 New Zealand budget , the National led Government repealed the $ 1,000 "kick-start" payment. Following the presentation of

3358-734: The benefits increasing with lower correlation. However this is not an observable quantity, since the future return on any asset can never be known with complete certainty. This was a serious issue in the late-2000s recession when assets that had previously had small or even negative correlations suddenly starting moving in the same direction causing severe financial stress to market participants who had believed that their diversification would protect them against any plausible market conditions, including funds that had been explicitly set up to avoid being affected in this way. Diversification has costs. Correlations must be identified and understood, and since they are not constant it may be necessary to rebalance

3431-458: The budget, Finance Minister Bill English indicated the government was considering "mass auto-enrolment" of all workers under the age of 65. KiwiSaver has been critiqued as being a part of a strategy to reduce New Zealand Universal Superannuation provision and expand New Zealanders' reliance on private financial institutions to fund retirement income, and can be seen as part of the wider global strategy of pension privatisation originally promoted by

3504-436: The consumer. If a bank gives out a 30-year mortgage at a rate of 4% and the interest rate rises to 6%, the bank loses and the consumer wins. This is an opportunity cost for the bank and a reason why the bank could be affected financially. Currency risk is the risk that foreign exchange rates or the implied volatility will change, which affects, for example, the value of an asset held in that currency. Currency fluctuations in

3577-410: The context of financial risk management and contingent claim pricing. Credit risk management is a profession that focuses on reducing and preventing losses by understanding and measuring the probability of those losses. Credit risk management is used by banks, credit lenders, and other financial institutions to mitigate losses primarily associated with nonpayment of loans. A credit risk occurs when there

3650-438: The correlation may sometimes be negative. For instance, an increase in the price of oil will often favour a company that produces it, but negatively impact the business of a firm such an airline whose variable costs are heavily based upon fuel. However, share prices are driven by many factors, such as the general health of the economy which will increase the correlation and reduce the benefit of diversification. If one constructs

3723-558: The credit event. Some factors impacting expected exposure include expected future events and the type of credit transaction. Expected Default is a risk calculated for the number of times a default will likely occur from the borrower. Expected Severity refers to the total cost incurred in the event a default occurs. This total loss includes loan principle and interests. Unlike Expected Loss, organizations have to hold capital for Unexpected Losses. Unexpected Losses represent losses where an organization will need to predict an average rate of loss. It

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3796-605: The date the member joined). On 16 July 2009, the governments of New Zealand and Australia announced plans to allow funds in KiwiSaver and Australian superannuation to be transferred between the two schemes. This would allow New Zealanders who have worked in Australia to repatriate their superannuation money to New Zealand, and likewise for Australians who have worked in New Zealand to repatriate their KiwiSaver money to Australia. Trans-Tasman portability of retirement savings came into force on 1 July 2013; from that date, New Zealanders could no longer withdraw their KiwiSaver funds in cash on

3869-470: The employee receives in their account is between 1.83% and 2.685%. From the start of the scheme until May 2015, those who joined KiwiSaver received a $ 1,000 tax-free "kick start" to their KiwiSaver account from the government. The Fifth National Government removed it effective from 21 May 2015 as part of its 2015 budget . Those aged 18 and over also receive from the government a "member tax credit" (MTC) of 50 cents per dollar contributed (or part thereof) for

3942-412: The employer's default scheme or to a government-selected default scheme. Each scheme offers several managed funds to invest the participants' savings in, with varying degrees of expected risk and return. Employers are required to contribute at least 3% of an employee's gross pay to the employee's KiwiSaver account. The employer contribution is taxed at the employee's marginal tax rate, so the actual amount

4015-414: The first $ 1,042.86 contributed per year (1 July to 30 June). The MTC is not a true tax credit ; it is a monetary contribution paid by the government via Inland Revenue, mainly to offset the tax paid on interest earned. Those withdrawing KiwiSaver funds to help buy a first home may also get a deposit subsidy of up to $ 5,000 (existing homes) or $ 10,000 (new builds) from Housing New Zealand , provided they meet

4088-405: The future, analyzing financial and nonfinancial information pertaining to the customer is critical. Risks such as that in business, industry of investment, and management risks are to be evaluated. Credit risk management evaluates the company's financial statements and analyzes the company's decision making when it comes to financial choices. Furthermore, credit risks management analyzes where and how

4161-543: The imports and exports of an international firm. For example, if the euro depreciates against the dollar, the U.S. exporters take a loss while the U.S. importers gain. This is because it takes less dollars to buy a euro and vice versa, meaning the U.S. wants to buy goods and the EU is willing to sell them; it is too expensive for the EU to import from U.S. at this time. Commodity risk is the risk that commodity prices (e.g. corn, copper, crude oil) or implied volatility will change. There

4234-521: The iron grip of New Zealand's prime minister over Wellington", was reported as having made Australia's Macquarie online dictionary among 85 other new words. In the 2008 election , the Labour Party lost convincingly to National, and the government was succeeded by the National Party led by John Key as Prime Minister . Treaty settlements: Aspects of the Clark-led governments actions in relation to

4307-502: The loan will be utilized and when the expected repayment of the loan is as well as the reason behind the company's need to borrow the loan. Expected Loss (EL) is a concept used for Credit Risk Management to measure the average potential rate of losses that a company accounts for over a specific period of time. The expected credit loss is formulated using the formula: Expected Loss = Expected Exposure X Expected Default X Expected Severity Expected Exposure refers to exposure expected during

4380-451: The main purpose of the KiwiSaver fund is for retirement savings, money can be withdrawn from the fund at the age at which the person is eligible for the government superannuation , currently 65, as long as they have been a KiwiSaver member for five years. However, money can be withdrawn before retirement in a number of circumstances which are outlined in Schedule 1 (KiwiSaver scheme rules), of

4453-425: The marketplace can have a drastic impact on an international firm's value because of the price effect on domestic and foreign goods, as well as the value of foreign currency denominate assets and liabilities. When a currency appreciates or depreciates, a firm can be at risk depending on where they are operating and what currency denominations they are holding. The fluctuation in currency markets can have effects on both

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4526-485: The minor parties. New Zealand First and United Future each won less than half of the percentage of total votes they achieved in 2002. In order to reach the required majority, Labour entered confidence and supply agreements with New Zealand First and United Future. This was in addition to a coalition agreement with the Progressive Coalition Party, of whom only Jim Anderton obtained a seat. The newly formed Maori Party accrued four seats. After only being formed in 2004 as

4599-495: The money is held, Australian superannuation savings can be withdrawn once the person turns 60 and retires from working, or turns 65 regardless of employment status. Australian savings cannot be withdrawn to help buy a first home. KiwiSaver contributors meeting certain criteria can apply for a cash grant to purchase their first home or a piece of land. This grant is for individuals earning less than $ 85,000 per year or two or more individuals earning $ 130,000 per year in total. This grant

4672-457: The portfolio which incurs transaction costs due to buying and selling assets. There is also the risk that as an investor or fund manager diversifies, their ability to monitor and understand the assets may decline leading to the possibility of losses due to poor decisions or unforeseen correlations. Hedging is a method for reducing risk where a combination of assets are selected to offset the movements of each other. For instance, when investing in

4745-584: The provider allows their enrolment. If not employed, the child has to agree to a level of contributions with the provider. As soon as the child is employed they must contribute and can never opt out. Children are entitled to the tax credits. As of August 2021, there were 252,000 KiwiSaver members aged under eighteen. Each scheme offers several managed funds to invest the participants' KiwiSaver savings in, and members may invest parts of their savings in different funds. Each managed fund has different risks , returns, investment composition and fees. Inland Revenue and

4818-402: The required income, deposit and house price requirements. A participant can access all their KiwiSaver contributions once they reach the age of entitlement for New Zealand Superannuation (currently 65), as long as they have been a KiwiSaver member for five years. Otherwise, KiwiSaver contributions can only be accessed (with restrictions) in the following circumstances: Some provider funds offer

4891-507: The scheme compulsory, thereby removing the employer compliance costs associated with people opting out. He said that these were his personal views and not those of the government. On 6 December 2007, 5 months after the start of KiwiSaver, it was announced that 316,000 people had signed up. Over half were under 45, nearly 20% were under 25, and 33,000 were under 20. By 31 May 2008 uptake had more than doubled to 673,000, with more than $ 900 million having been paid into KiwiSaver schemes. As

4964-458: Was negatively defined : namely that operational risk are all risks which are not market risk and not credit risk . Some banks have therefore also used the term operational risk synonymously with non-financial risks . In October 2014, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision proposed a revision to its operational risk capital framework that sets out a new standardized approach to replace

5037-554: Was Labour's first successful MMP election. The 2002 election was held a few weeks before the Parliamentary term elapsed. This had only occurred twice before in New Zealand's political history, in 1951 and 1984 . The Government cited the collapse of the Alliance Party, with whom they had entered a coalition in 1999, as the reason for the earlier date. The Alliance Party had split after Jim Anderton , their leader, left to form

5110-500: Was a particularly controversial reform among right-wing National and ACT voters. With the disintegration of the Alliance in 2002, Helen Clark called a snap election , even though she still had the confidence of the House. Labour handily won the election. The Alliance failed to return to parliament, although a rump returned as Jim Anderton's Progressives . Labour formed a coalition with

5183-617: Was also faced in this term with the foreshore and seabed controversy . While Labour, in cooperation with the New Zealand First party, eventually resolved the legal dispute by vesting foreshore and seabed title in the Crown , a dissident Labour minister, Tariana Turia , formed the Māori Party, while on the other side of the spectrum a resurgent National Party, now under former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash , became considerably more popular. In

5256-473: Was elected in the 1999 general election, after entering a coalition with the Alliance Party and a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party . Labour managed to increase their percentage of the votes by 10.5% and won 12 more seats than in the 1996 election . With this coalition in place the Labour Party returned to government for the first time in nine years, and Helen Clark became New Zealand's first elected female prime minister. The 1999 election

5329-573: Was repealed, replaced by an Employment Relations Act more friendly to unions and collective bargaining; a state-owned bank, Kiwibank , was created at the behest of the Alliance; a majority stake in the national airline, Air New Zealand , was purchased; and the public health sector was reorganised with the re-establishment of partly elected district health boards . Closing the Gaps , an affirmative action strategy targeting socio-economic inequalities between Māori and Pasifika ethnic groups and other groups,

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