Closing the Gaps

Closing the Gaps was the name given to official New Zealand Government Policy of assisting socially disadvantaged ethnic groups, particularly Maori and Pacific Islanders, through specially targeted social programmes. The phrase came to prominance during the term of various National Party lead governments between 1992 and 1999. All government departments were required to report on how their service contributed to "Closing the Gaps". Shortly after the Labor Party came to power in late 1999, the term was quietly retired from official documents. Oppositin politicians observed that the new government still had a "Closing the Gaps" policy objective, but just did not refer to the policy by that name.