The Dependencies
Even as early as the 19th century the British government administered a number of
very small pacific islands from New Zealand, and when the country became an independent
nation it retained this responsibility. During the first half of the 21st century
rising sea levels created massive problems for all these island states - they were
literally sinking. Massive emigration to New Zealand had left both Niue and Tokelau
effectively deserted by 2040, and the population of the Cook Islands had shrunk to
around 12,000.
With the development of economical underwater colonies the dependencies suddenly
came to life again. Although reduced to a fraction of their former size, these islands
and their surrounding barely submerged land were ideal starting points for any
construction in the Pacific. Efforts by Dutch reclaimation engineers helped restore
some land, and experimental surf-arcologies were built elsewhere, providing
important practical experience in building subsurface colonies.
The Cook Islands
The largest of New Zealand's Pacific dependencies, and also the only one with anywhere
near sufficient size to contemplate independence. It's original polynesian population
largely emigrated to New Zealand early in the century, and while many have returned
a considerable fraction of the island's current population of 25,000 people
are NZ Europeans. A sizeable NZDF base is maintained at Rakahanga, and serves as
the focal point of Pacific operations. There is a strong discrepancy between the rich
returners from New Zealand, and the poor who stayed. This gulf is feeding a strong
nanosocialist movement, which may soon gain seats in the local assemblies. There is
some suspicion that that TSA memetic engineers are feeding this trend; regardless the
loss of the Cook Islands would be a considerable hindrance to NZ military operations
in the Pacific.
Tokelau
The lowest lying of the NZ dependencies, the Tokelau island group (consisting of
Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo atolls) originally had a highest elevation of
just 5 meters. It was thus the first to be in serious danger from rising
sea levels, and was also chosen as the site for the first surf-arcologies. Today the
three Tokelau arcologies have a total population of some 8,000 people, virtually
all from New Zealand. They extend
from 50 meters below to 120 meters above sea level, and are all
connected by underwater tunnels some 60 kilometers in length.
The Nukunonu atoll features an airport with a 1200 meter runway. The island is a
major surface support base for Elandra and other underwater colonies, and
also a very popular tourist destination.
Niue
Although it survived somewhat longer than the Tokelau atolls, the island of Niue too was
eventually flooded by the rising sea levels. Rather than turning the entire island into
an arcology it was instead decided to create a single traditional (i.e. land based)
arcology to house the permanent residents, and use reclaimation technologies to restore
the island. Today Niue is a designer holiday spot, with several huge lagoons engineered
for perfect beautiful beaches.
The Ross Dependency
The total population of the three New Zealand Antarctic bases (all on or near the Ross
Ice Shelf) is roughly 400 (not counting infomorphs or cybershells),
and is evenly split as scientists and support staff. None of these are permanent residents.
Although the New Antarctic Treaty of 2034 forbids the use of the continent as a
military base, New Zealand maintains an infantry platoon at each of it's
bases, ostensibly for counter-terrorist purposes. In addition unarmed UAVs fly
recon missions over the continent weekly, however between the vast area to be
covered and the harsh Antarctic weather, the resolution of such sweeps is quite
low.