Minister of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)

Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua

Agency overview
Formed	1840
Preceding agency	Colonial Secretary's Office
Jurisdiction	New Zealand
Headquarters	46 Waring Taylor St, Wellington WELLINGTON 6011 41°16′55″S 174°46′35″E / 41.281821°S 174.776408°E / -41.281821; 174.776408
Annual budget	Vote Internal Affairs Total budget for 2016/17 $593,323,000
Minister responsible	Hon Peter Dunne, Minister of Internal Affairs
Agency executive	Colin MacDonald, Chief Executive and Secretary for Internal Affairs Secretary for Local Government Government Chief Information Officer
Child agencies	Archives New Zealand New Zealand Lottery Grants Board Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management Local Government Commission National Library of New Zealand Office for the Community & Voluntary Sector Office of Ethnic Affairs
Website	www.dia.govt.nz

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA; Māori: Te Tari Taiwhenua) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling laws; registering births, deaths, marriages and civil unions; supplying support services to Ministers of the Crown; and advising the government on a range of relevant policies and issues, part of a number of functions performed by Internal Affairs.

Other services provided by the Department include a translation service, publication of the New Zealand Gazette (the official newspaper of the New Zealand Government), a flag hire service, management of VIP visits to New Zealand, running the Lake Taupo harbourmaster's office (under a special agreement with the local iwi) and the administration of offshore islands.

During the late 1990s both the National Library of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand were separated from the Department along with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. On 25 March 2010, the former Minister of State Services Tony Ryall announced that the Library and Archives would be merged into the Department. Library and Archives stakeholders expressed serious concerns about the changes proposed. On 1 February 2011, both were brought into the Department of Internal Affairs.

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