NEW ZEALAND EUROPEAN

The term 'New Zealand European' refers to New Zealand residents of European descent who identify as New Zealand Europeans rather than some more specific European group. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry, with smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Dutch, German and South Slav.^[2]

Contents

Census statistics

Alternative Terms

Pākehā

British New Zealander

See also

References

External links

Census statistics

The 2006 Census counted 2,381,076 New Zealand Europeans, or 59.1% of those who gave their ethnicity. Most Census reports do not separate New Zealand Europeans from the broader European ethnic category, which was the largest broad ethnic category in the 2006 Census. Europeans comprised 67.6 percent of respondents in 2006 compared with 80.1 percent in the 2001 census.^[3] The apparent drop in this figure is primarily due to the introduction of the category 'New Zealander' to the ethnicity question. In previous Censuses, this category was counted as part of the New Zealand European group.
Eleven percent of respondents identified as New Zealanders in 2006.

Alternative Terms

Pākehā

:''Main article: Pākehā''
The term ''Pākehā'' is often used interchangeably with New Zealand European (although Pākehā can also be used to describe any non-Māori person). New Zealanders who consider "European" to be anachronistic and inadequate often prefer Pākehā, feeling that this better describes their ethnic and cultural identity. However, some New Zealanders of European descent do not like the word Pākehā and consider it to be racist and pejorative.

British New Zealander

:''See also: Briton''
A significant number of New Zealanders are of British ancestry.^[4] As late as the 1950s it was common for New Zealanders to refer to themselves as ethnically British, such as when Prime Minister Keith Holyoake described Sir Edmund Hillary's successful ascent of Mt. Everest as ''"[putting] the British race and New Zealand on top of the world"''.^[5] New Zealand passports described nationals as "British Subject and New Zealand Citizen" until 1974, when this was changed to "New Zealand Citizen".^[6]
While "European" identity predominates political discourse in New Zealand today, the term "British" is still used by some to explain their ethnicity. Others see the term as better describing previous generations; for instance, journalist Colin James referred to "we ex-British New Zealanders" in a 2005 speech.^[7] It remains a relatively uncontroversial descriptor of ancestry.
In an interview with the New Zealand Listener in 2006, the opposition leader of that time, Don Brash, made the following statement:

See also

★ Immigration to New Zealand

★ Europeans in Oceania

References

1. QuickStats About Culture and Identity: European, Statistics New Zealand.
2. Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: New Zealand Peoples
3. Statistics New Zealand Highlights:Ethnic groups, birthplace and languages spoken
4. Te Ara: New Zealanders: New Zealand Peoples: Britons
5. Population Conference 1997, New Zealand: Panel Discussion 3c - Population Change And International Linkages, Phillip Gibson, Chief Executive, Asia 2000 Foundation
6. Carl Walrond. 'Kiwis overseas - Staying in Britain', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 13 April 2007.
7. ''The Pacific-ation of New Zealand''. Colin James's speech to the Sydney Institute, 3 February 2005. Accessed 2007-06-05.

External links

★ Stats NZ site