Comparison between the 2008 & 1946 Acts
The main differences included in the 2008 Act are that it:
- binds the Crown and requires that official geographic names must be used in official documents (please note: sections 32 and 33 of the Act, which govern this, have not yet come into force.)
- extends the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) jurisdiction to include undersea feature names over New Zealand's continental shelf
- provides the NZGB with a review and concurrence role for Crown protected area names administered by the Department of Conservation
- formalises the NZGB's long standing naming role in the Ross Sea region of Antartica
- establishes a publicly available New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names
- reports annually to the Minister for Land Information
- simplifies and modernises the public notification requirements
- requires the NZGB to consult with the relevant national and international naming authorities, for those names outside New Zealand's territorial limits
- gives the NZGB additional powers to make final determinations on names where it upholds objections
- provides for the alternation of district and region names of territorial authorities
- provides for recorded names to be reviewed and adopted as official or discontinued
- provides for the gazetting of official geographic names for Antarctica and Crown protected areas that have not been previously gazetted
- increases NZGB membership by two, to represent the naming suburbs and localities, and undersea features
- provides for the NZGB to appoint committees
- provides for the NZGB to delegate its powers and functions.
Download a detailed comparision between the Acts:
