NEWS Jan 22, 2010
New Zealand’s provincial anniversary days
New Zealand’s provinces (Auckland, New Plymouth, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago) were formed as a sub-national government by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852. As soon as they were formed, the provinces were the source of controversy. 'Centralists' favoured a central government, while 'Provincialists' favoured regional governments. The two sides fought it out in the newspapers, lecture halls and theatres of the time producing notices like the one shown hereis to rally their followers.
You can find many notices and essays on the centralist vs. regionalist in the National Library’s Papers Past website. Try search terms like ‘centralists’, ‘provincialists’ and ‘constitution’.
In the 1870s Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel initiated immigration and public works schemes which took a lot of power away from the provincial governments. They were finally abolished by the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, but national law still provides for an anniversary day for each of the former provinces.
Anniversary Days of the Provinces of New Zealand from the Department of Labour
