Chairmen: Rev. J. Thomson Macky (1941–46); Right Rev. Herbert Holland (1946); Rev. P. Gladstone Hughes (1947–48); Rev. W. A. Burley (1949–50); Right Rev. E. J. Rich (1951); Rev. G. H. Goodman (1954–55); Rev. J. S. Somerville (1956–57); Right Rev. E. J. Rich (1958); Col. A. Bramwell Cook (1959–60); Mr H. W. Milner (1961– ). Vice–Chairman for 1961: Rev. E. R. Vickery. Secretaries: Rev. L. A. North (1941–43); Rev. Ashleigh K. Petch (1943–47); Mr C. Gibson Young (1947–61); Mr H. W. Shove (1961– ).

The Council serves as a body through which the churches can consult together for the purpose of initiating common action in matters of social and moral importance. The Council is composed of three representatives from each of the member churches, and its officers consist of a chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary-treasurer, to be elected annually, though it is now the custom to allow each chairman two years of office and for the vice-chairman to succeed the chairman. The expenses of the Council are borne by contributions of the constituent churches. The officers themselves constitute a committee to decide when meetings shall be held, and public action is taken only when there is unanimity on the part of the constituent churches. To date there have been remarkably few matters brought forward for consideration on which the Council was precluded from action.

A wish of the late Right Hon. Peter Fraser, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, brought about the formation of this Council. Mr Fraser invited the churches to get together to devise a plan for providing chaplains to the forces. The consequent meeting, called by the National Council of Churches, was held at Wellington on 23 July 1941. After fulfilling the Prime Minister's request, the meeting proceeded to consider a suggestion from the National Council of Churches, namely, “that an Inter-church Council on Public Affairs should be instituted in Wellington for consultation and common action”. The outcome was the establishment of the Inter-church Council on Public Affairs, sponsored by representatives of the following churches: Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Churches of Christ, Congregational, Salvation Army, and Society of Friends. At a later date the Lutheran Churches of New Zealand were added.

In New Zealand all property insured against fire is deemed to be insured to the extent of the indemnity value against earthquake and war damage. Premiums at the rate of 1s. for each £100 of insurance cover are collected by the insurance companies and, less 2½ per cent commission, are paid into the Earthquake and War Damage Fund. This Fund, which is another particularly interesting feature of New Zealand insurance, was set up under legislation enacted in 1944. At 31 March 1961 the Fund amounted to £24.8 million, which included over £500,000 in a special Disaster Fund. Assets at that date comprised mainly New Zealand Government securities (£18.4 million) and British Government securities held in London (£5.5 million). The Disaster Fund was established over 10 years ago to provide some protection to the insured against storm and flood losses. Disaster damage also includes volcanic eruption and, since 1954, the Commission has authority to accept voluntary insurance against landslip.

The total amount at risk under earthquake and war damage insurance is in excess of £3,700 million. During the year ended 31 March 1961, 228 claims were lodged as compared with 624 and 110 in the two previous years, while claims under storm and flood insurance numbered 445. This was appreciably less than in the two preceding years. No claims have been received in respect of volcanic eruption and it is fervently to be hoped that this state of affairs will continue.

Although the statistics in this section cover the periods 1959–60 or 1960–61, the major picture presented is still generally accurate. Growth has, of course, taken place. One change worthy of comment is the slightly different pattern of life assurance offices' assets. By 1962–63 there had been a fall in the percentages held in Government and local authority securities, while company shares and debentures had increased to be about 10 per cent of total assets, which in this period totalled £329.7 million. Assets of the accident insurance companies rose to £106.1 million in the same period.

by Robert John Familton, M.COM., Economist, Reserve Bank, Wellington.

• Insurance, Raynes, H. E. (1960)
• Bold Century, New Zealand Insurance Co. Ltd. (1959)
• The Australian Insurance and Banking Record (monthly).

State insurance activities in New Zealand are conducted by the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Office, and the State Insurance Office (formerly known as the State Fire and Accident Office). The Government Life Insurance Office was established in 1869 to augment the then rather inadequate life assurance facilities. In 1901 this office opened an Accident Branch which was transferred to the control of the State Fire Office in 1925. The State Fire Office opened for business in 1905. Since 1947 this Office has also undertaken marine business. The State offices function as competitive trading Departments and pay taxation. For the calendar year 1960 the Fire Office earned a net surplus of almost £206,000 and the Accident Branch a net surplus of over £126,000. In the field of general insurance in New Zealand, the State Insurance Office has the largest premium income, the greatest number of policyholders, and the widest branch representation. Total assets of the Office at the end of 1960 in respect of both accident and fire business were over £75 million. Total assets of the Government Life Office as at the same date were in excess of £475 million. Loans to local authorities and New Zealand Government securities accounted for nearly £18 million of this sum. At the end of 1960, 292,173 life policies were in force with a total sum assured of more than £230 million. In the seven years ended 1960, the accumulated funds of the Office have more than doubled.

About 70 offices conduct fire insurance business in New Zealand, their head offices being domiciled in the same countries as the accident offices – that is, Great Britain, Australia, the United States of America, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. In 1959–60 their net revenue amounted to £5.6 million and their assets in respect of New Zealand business (including the assets of other departments – accident, life, marine, and so on) to over £36 million. New Zealand Government and local authority securities accounted for over one-third of total assets. Mortgages accounted for less than 10 per cent, in marked contrast to the high figure for life offices. In common with other classes of insurance, business underwritten has grown substantially, especially in recent years. In 1959–60 the gross amount of new and renewal business underwritten (excluding reinsurance) was nearly £3,600 million, which was over 36 per cent higher than five years earlier. Over the years the percentage of claims to premium income, as might be expected in view of the possibility of exceptionally severe losses, has fluctuated considerably. In the 10 years to 1959–60 it has been as low as 26·6 per cent and as high as 52·4 per cent. In 1959, 28,459 fire loss payments to a value of just over £2.6 million were made. The major causes of fire were fireplaces and stoves, electricity, and smoking and matches. Arson and incendiarism caused 76 payments.

Fire insurance is a highly competitive business and competition is reflected in average premium rates. From 11s. 11d. in 1920 the average premium rate per £100 of insurance had fallen in stages to 4s. 9d. some 40 years later.

In the fire and accident insurance business, local companies occupy a prominent place as the following diagram illustrates:

Total accident and fire insurance net revenue in 1959–60 was £22.3 million and local companies accounted for over half. Among the local companies the State offices and two of the long-established companies, the New Zealand Insurance Co. Ltd., founded in 1859, and the South British Insurance Co. Ltd., founded in 1872, are the largest.

Accident insurance in New Zealand is conducted by about 80 companies. Statistics for 1959–60 show the head offices of the companies concerned as being domiciled in Great Britain, Australia, United States of America, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. The principal classes of accident insurance transacted are personal accident, employers' liability under statutory or common law, motor-vehicle insurance – that is, comprehensive and third-party risks – plate glass, and fidelity guarantee. In 1959–60 premiums were £16 million, compared with about £5 million 10 years earlier, and claims were over £10 million as compared with £3 million. Comprehensive motor-vehicle insurance cover accounted for £7.8 million or nearly 50 per cent of total premiums in 1959–60, the next largest source being employers' liability insurance.

With the large number of motor vehicles in relation to population in New Zealand, motor-vehicle insurance (third-party risks) is perhaps of particular interest. Under the Transport Act 1949, all owners of motor vehicles are required to insure against their liability, through their negligence, to pay damages on account of the death of or bodily injury to another person. The insurance premiums are paid at the same time as the annual licence fee, owners being required to nominate each year the company with which the insurance contract is to be made.

The figures for claims have steadily increased. In each of the three years to 30 June 1960, including claims outstanding, they were in excess of the premiums received by as much as 15 per cent. In 1961–62 the premium for private cars and station wagons was £2 6s., which compares with £1 1s. in 1949–50.

The total New Zealand assets of accident insurance companies (excluding those which also conduct fire business) amounted to over £80 million in 1959–60. They included Government and local authority securities, mortgages, property, and company shares and debentures.

As the figures already mentioned would suggest, life assurance offices command large financial resources. In 1959–60 assets (in respect of New Zealand business and for ordinary plus industrial assurance) amounted to £249 million, of which nearly 97 per cent represented life assurance and annuity funds. This total was held as follows:

The importance of life assurance as a source of funds for capital expenditure is clear from these figures. Over recent years mortgages (45·5 of the total above) have absorbed a relatively greater amount of funds, the proportion of assets held in this form having increased from 21·7 per cent in 1949–50. A marked fall in the proportion invested in Government securities was the counterpart of this increase.

Insurance is an old, well established, and expanding business in New Zealand and, as figures quoted later demonstrate clearly, is of major importance in the national financial structure. Some features of the New Zealand insurance scene of particular interest include earthquake and war damage insurance, the activities of the State offices, and the role of New Zealand domiciled companies in international business.

Life assurance which, in common with fire and accident insurance, has a century-old history in New Zealand is conducted by 18 offices in this country, of which four are purely New Zealand institutions. The statutory provisions affecting their operations are largely contained in three Acts: the Life Insurance Act 1908, the Inalienable Life Annuities Act 1910, and the Government Life Insurance Act 1953. Any association, other than a friendly society which issues policies or grants annuities on human life in New Zealand, comes within the scope of these Acts.

Growth of life assurance has been steady and at times has verged on the spectacular, even after allowance is made for population increases and the decline in the value of money. Over the decade 1950–51 to 1959–60 in particular, ordinary life assurance business expanded appreciably, partly as a result of innovations introduced by the companies and partly for other reasons. Excluding annuities, the average sum assured per policy, for example, climbed from £759 to £1,621; the number of new policies increased from 60,731 to 96,582; and the number of policies in force from 688,444 to 1,125,624. The expansion continued in 1960–61 when the number of policies rose to 1,185,323. The growing demand for ordinary life assurance has not, however, been shared by industrial assurance for which there has been a long-term decline. In this class of insurance, which is conducted by five of the life offices, the premiums are payable at shorter intervals than three months and the policies must contain only such conditions as have been approved by the Governor-General in Council. Policies issued in 1960–61 numbered 20,312, which was about 35 per cent less than the number in 1950–51. The total sum assured in 1960–61 was not quite £43 million, a low figure when compared with £1,096 million for ordinary life assurance.

Innovations introduced by the life offices in recent years have included the provision of new contracts such as term and mortgage protection assurance, low premium – low bonus tables, and higher non-medical limits. Other factors which have also contributed to the growth in the average sum assured and in premium income, have been higher personal incomes, growing recognition of the advantages of assurance as a method of contractual saving, and the taxation concession in respect of premium payments. Yet another contributory factor has been the relatively high level of death duties. The taxation concession allows a deduction by way of special exemption of the lesser of £250 or 20 per cent of income for premiums on policies on the taxpayer's own life, expressed for his own benefit or for the benefit of his wife or children.

Despite, however, the substantial increases in the average sum assured per head of population over recent years, it is argued by some people that New Zealanders are still considerably underinsured. The argument is mainly based on the view that the average person should carry the equivalent in life assurance of well over one year's annual income. While many individuals undoubtedly achieve this aim, overall figures indicate that the average person – an admittedly elusive figure – does not. For example, in 1960–61 private income was over £1,200 million, whereas the total sum assured under ordinary life policies was under £1,100 million. Whether people will be prepared to pay a greater relative proportion of their incomes in premiums associated with a 10 per cent or higher increase in the total sum assured is, however, doubtful.

Life assurance, as a form of saving, competes not only with other forms but also with consumption expenditure and the total amount an individual carries in assurance policies depends upon a complex of factors, many of a highly personal nature. A relative increase in life insurance premiums could occur if people choose to spend less and save more but, in the absence of additional special incentives or of a marked change in economic conditions, it does not seem very likely that consumption spending will fall relative to incomes and saving rise. Also, in considering the possibility of relative increases in life assurance, it must be recognised that, as compared with other countries, the ownership of life policies in relation to income is absolutely high in New Zealand. Only in Canada and the United States is it higher.

To assist in pollination the honey bee (Apis mellifera) was introduced. Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have been successfully introduced for pollination of legumes (red clover and lucerne).

by Roy Alexander Harrison, D.SC., Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

• Plant Protection in New Zealand, Atkinson, J. D., et. al. (1956)
• Aphides of New Zealand, Cottier, W. (D.S.I.R. Bulletin No. 106, 1953)
• Acalypterate Diptera of New Zealand, Harrison, R. A. (D.S.I.R. Bulletin No. 128, 1959)
• The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand, Hudson, G. V. (1928)
• New Zealand Beetles and their Larvae, Hudson, G. V. (1934)
• A Supplement to the Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand, Hudson, G. V. (1939)
• Bibliography of New Zealand Entomology, Miller, D. (D.S.I.R. Bulletin No. 120, 1956)
• Native Animals of New Zealand, Powell, A. W. B. (1947)
• The Insects of Australia and New Zealand, Tillyard, R. J. (1926).