New Zealand (/njuːˈziːlənd/ new-ZEE-lənd, Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Māori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.

Population

A census was held in March 1926.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Government

The 22nd New Zealand Parliament continued with the Reform Party governing.

Parliamentary opposition

Main centre leaders

Events

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.

Bernard "Paul" Quinn is a New Zealand rugby union player and politician and a member of the National Party. He was elected into the 49th New Zealand Parliament in 2008 by way of the party list and served for one term until 2011. In 2013, he had the option of returning to Parliament following the resignation of MP Jackie Blue as he was the highest ranked person on the party list, but he declined the opportunity, instead making way for Paul Foster-Bell.

Early life

Quinn has connections to the Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Awa iwi and worked as a manager in the Department of Maori Affairs (now Te Puni Kōkiri) between 1979 and 1984.

Quinn is director and sole owner of "MOCOM LIMITED" (formerly called "M COMMERCE LIMITED"), was a director of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences from 1992–1998 and is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Rugby career

Quinn played Rugby Union for the Wellington Rugby Football Union 1976–1983 (Captain 1981–1983) and for the New Zealand Māori rugby union team 1977–1982 (Captain 1980–1982). He was the Head Coach for the Texas Rugby Union in 1987. He is a former director of the New Zealand Rugby Union since April 2002.

Paul Quinn may refer to:

See also

Paul Walter Quinn (born 1959, Dundee) is a Scottish musician who was the lead singer of cult 1980s band Bourgie Bourgie, and also released records with Jazzateers, Vince Clarke and Edwyn Collins and sang on an early track by the French Impressionists.

Biography

Quinn was a classmate of Edwyn Collins between the ages of 11 and 15, and sang backing vocals on "Rip It Up" by Collins' band Orange Juice. After singing with Postcard Records band Jazzateers (contemporaries of Josef K, The French Impressionists and Aztec Camera) he formed Bourgie Bourgie in May 1983 along with former members of his previous band. Bourgie Bourgie were signed by MCA Records and released two singles in 1984, both of which charted in the UK, "Breaking Point" peaking at number 48 and "Careless" at number 96. The group began recording an album with producer Mike Hedges but it remained unreleased when they split up. Quinn then collaborated with Edwyn Collins on a version of The Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes", released on Postcard Records boss Alan Horne's new Swamplands label, which reached number 72 in the UK in August 1984. In early 1985, Quinn released his first solo single, "Ain't That Always the Way", which again featured Collins but was credited solely to Quinn for contractual reasons, which was also a minor hit, reaching number 98 in the UK. He then collaborated with Vince Clarke on the "One Day" single, which fared similarly.

Paul Quinn (c. 1986 – 20 October 2007) was allegedly killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army

Attack, torture, and murder in Tullycoora

A native of Cullyhanna, County Armagh, Paul Quinn, then 21 years old, was lured to a farm at Tullycoora, near Oram in County Monaghan, where three of his friends were held hostage. When he arrived at the farm, a group of some ten or more men beat him with iron and nail-studded bars for upwards of half an hour, breaking every major bone in his body. Quinn was taken at around 18:00 to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where he died two hours later.

Accusations of Quinn family

Quinn's parents, Breege and Stephen, have said that members of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade were responsible. Their son had had "run-ins with the Cullyhanna ASU on a number of occasions", and had "floored" the son of one of the active service unit (ASU) leaders in a pub row. Following the incident, the mother of the young man appeared at Quinn's family home with a hammer in her hand and told the family their son would have to leave Ireland. The murder is believed to have arisen as a result of a dispute between Quinn and the local IRA.