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The Department of Internal Affairs, or Te Tari Taiwhenua in te reo Māori, 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; and advising the government on a range of relevant policies and issues, part of a number of functions performed by Internal Affairs.