New Zealand Company ships
The New Zealand Company was a 19th-century English company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield's model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.
Foreign relations of New Zealand
New Zealand was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945. New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser felt that in order for New Zealand to be secure in the South Pacific, it need to align itself with major world powers like the United States through some kind of organisation that could guarantee small powers a say in world affairs. Since the defeat of the Royal Navy during World War II it became clear that Britain was no longer able to protect New Zealand so the government decided that a policy of independent relations with a group of strong powers was the best way to defend New Zealand.