Everything about New Zealand European totally explained
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.
Census statistics
The 2006 Census counted 2,381,076 New Zealand Europeans, or 59.1% of those who gave their ethnicity. Most Census reports don't 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. The apparent drop in this figure was due to Statistics New Zealand's acceptance of 'New Zealander' as a distinct response to the ethnicity question, along with an email campaign asking people to give this as their ethnicity in the 2006 Census. In previous Censuses, these responses were counted belonging to the New Zealand European group.
well above the trend observed in previous Censuses, and higher than the percentage seen in other surveys that year.
Alternative terms
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 don't like the word Pākehā and consider it to be racist and pejorative.
British New Zealander
» See also: British people
As the vast majority of European New Zealanders are of
British Isles ethnic origin, a sense of 'Britishness' has historically figured prominently in the identity of many New Zealanders. As late as the 1950s it was common for New Zealanders to refer to themselves as 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". New Zealand passports described nationals as "British Subject and New Zealand Citizen" until 1974, when this was changed to "New Zealand Citizen".
While "European" identity predominates political discourse in New Zealand today, the term "British" is still used by some New Zealanders to explain their ethnic origins. 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. 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:
Further Information
Get more info on 'New Zealand European'.
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