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Universal Suffrage 1873-1893
1873
- Women rate-payers given the right to vote in local body elections.
1876
- Provincial governments abolished and replaced by local government through county and borough councils.
1877
- Education Act passed to provide free primary education for every child.
- Women 'householders' (that is, all adult women) given the right to vote in and stand for school committees and education boards.
1879
- All males over the age of 21 years given the right to vote to elect members of parliament.
- Term for parliament reduced to three years.
Chinese immigrants
Chinese were able to become permanent residents but because they could not become New Zealand citizens, were still unable to vote. This was part of an unofficial 'White New Zealand' policy, which was supported by the Poll Tax of 1881 and the Immigration Restriction Act of 1920.
More information about the history of Chinese in New Zealand.
1881
- First general election held under universal male suffrage.
- 'Country quota' introduced, allowing country electorates to have fewer numbers of voters than city electorates.
- £10 poll tax imposed on new Chinese arrivals (increased to £100 in 1896).
- Invasion of Māori village at Parihaka.
1890
- First election on one-man, one-vote basis (voters no longer able to vote in more than one electorate even if property owned in other electorates).
- First example of 'special votes', allowing a seaman to vote for a candidate in the electorate where he was registered even if he was not in that electorate on polling day.
- 74 MPs elected.
1891
- John Ballance becomes premier of New Zealand's first Liberal government.
- Also attempts to form first national political organisation in New Zealand.
- Kate Sheppard founds Women's Franchise League to fight for votes for women.
Naturalisation
Naturalisation is when a person legally becomes a citizen of another country, which is not the country of his or her birth.
1892
- First Kotahitanga Māori parliament meets.
- Naturalisation legislation excludes Chinese.
1893
- Electoral Act introduces major changes in New Zealand politics.
- Women given the right to vote to elect members of parliament (first country in the world).
- Māori women win right to vote for members of the Māori Parliament, as well as the general Parliament.
- James Carroll (Ngati Kahungunu) becomes first Māori to win a general (European) seat.
- Richard John Seddon becomes Prime Minister.
- Elizabeth Yates becomes first woman mayor (Onehunga) in the British Empire.
