Aug 3 (Reuters) - International milk prices fell for a third consecutive internet auction, New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, said on Wednesday. Fonterra's Global Dairy Trade-Trade Weighted Index, which covers a range of 30 products and contract periods on offer, fell 1.3 percent, with an average selling price of $3,716. That followed a 5.1 percent fall in its previous auction, and the index is now down more than 6 percent for the year to date. Prices for most types of dairy products offered were lower, with anhydrous milk power the biggest decliner, down 7.2 percent. Fonterra holds two auctions a month, with the next one is on Aug 16. Full details of the auction are at: www.globaldairytrade.info Fonterra has made an initial forecast of its payout for the just started production season to farmer shareholders of between NZ$7.15 and NZ$7.25, comprising a milk payment of NZ$6.75 a kilo of milk solids and an additional 40 to 50 NZ cents from operational activities. More information on reuters.com

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New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Although it has no codified constitution, the Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of New Zealand's constitutional structure. The constitution has been described as "largely unwritten" and a "mixture of statutes and constitutional convention." Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state and is titled Queen of New Zealand under the Royal Titles Act 1974. She is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the exclusive advice of the Prime Minister. The current Governor-General is Anand Satyanand.



The Governor-General exercises the Crown's prerogative powers, such as the power to appoint and dismiss ministers and to dissolve Parliament, and in rare situations, the reserve powers. The Governor-General also chairs the Executive Council, which is a formal committee consisting of all ministers of the Crown. The main constitutional function of the governor-general is to "arrange for the leader of the majority political party to form a government"; by constitutional convention, the governor-general "acts on the advice of ministers who have majority support in parliament."



Members of the Executive Council are required to be Members of Parliament, and most are also in Cabinet. Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the Prime Minister, who is also, by convention, the Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. This is the highest policymaking body in the government.



The New Zealand Parliament has only one chamber, the House of Representatives, which usually seats 120 Members of Parliament.



Parliamentary general elections are held every three years under a form of proportional representation called Mixed Member Proportional. The Economist magazine explains: "Under MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) there is usually a 120-seat parliament; an extra seat can sometimes be added to ensure truly proportional representation. Of the total number of seats, 65 electorate (directly elected constituency) seats are contested on the old first-past-the-post basis, including seven seats reserved for the indigenous Māori people. The remaining 55 or so seats are allocated so that representation in parliament reflects overall support for each party (the party vote).



Read more about politics of New Zealand on wiki or participate on democracy in New Zealand on Election(s)Meter - online voting polls.