The Republican Movement is a network of New Zealanders who want our head of state to be elected by New Zealanders, directly or indirectly.
We are committed to:
* involving all New Zealanders in the republic debate;
* providing relevant and reliable information;
* focusing on ideas, not personalities;
* winning a referendum to establish the republic;
Creating a republic does not require any change to the Treaty of Waitangi, flag or Commonwealth membership.
Voting opens today in New Zealand's first ever presidential election, as Kiwis bring their head of State home.
"On the same day political hoardings are going up for the general election, the Republican Movement is allowing New Zealanders set aside party politics and rigid convention," said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand.
"This is our chance to tell the world who we really want as our head of State."
More than 1,300 votes were cast on the Republican Movement's President of New Zealand website over the past month, as voters narrowed down ten nominees to select their five top candidates. Nominees falling by the wayside are writer Vincent O'Sullivan, jurist Sir Kenneth Keith, former politicians Don McKinnon and Douglas Graham and businessman Sir Robert Jones.
Today, Mr Holden announced the five top candidates for the presidency (in alphabetical order) are: Professor James Belich, Jim Bolger, Dr Claudia Orange, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and Sir Wilson Whineray.
"These candidates show that New Zealand is more than capable of producing an able New Zealander to be our head of State" continued Mr Holden.
"We don't need the Royal family to fill in the role - they've shown little interest in it of late - and the process of election is more democratic than the Prime Minister's appointment of the Governor-General."
Voting is by a simple preference, where voters rank their candidates from 1 - 5. Multiple votes from the same computer are not counted. The ballot runs for six weeks, closing on Friday, October 31.
"Whoever takes the Treasury benches on 8 November will have the ability to lead the debate on republicanism."
"Helen Clark and John Key should take note that a growing number of New Zealanders want our head of State to be a New Zealander, and take action to give New Zealanders a choice on the matter" concluded Mr Holden.
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Lewis Holden
The responsibilities of the British Crown were transferred to the New Zealand Crown in 1947, when we adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931 (which made New Zealand independent with its own monarchy).
So while the text of the Treaty may say the "British Crown" that part has changed since 1840. A republic would repeat what happened in 1947 by transferring responsibilities to the new head of State.
The status of the Treaty of Waitangi is not an obstacle to a republic.
7 weeks ago
Kiwi Pride
Article the first of the Treaty of Waitangi:
"The chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the separate and independent Chiefs who have not become members of the Confederation, cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England, absolutely and without reservation, all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which the said Confederation or Individual Chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess over their respective Territories as the sole Sovereigns thereof".
And you're right, becoming a Republic does not mean we have to scrap any treaties that the government has signed up to (since the Treaty of Waitangi). Though if we were it would be a good chance to scrap the Kyoto protocol!
7 weeks ago
Kiwi Pride
Yes the crown is just a legal entity however the Treaty of Waitangi is specifically an agreement between the Maori and the BRITISH crown.
The preamble of the Treaty and Article the first make this especially clear
Preamble to the Treaty of Waitangi:
"Her Majesty, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, regarding with Her Royal Favour the Native Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand, and anxious to protect their just Rights and Property, and to secure to them the enjoyment of Peace and Good Order, has deemed it necessary, in consequence of the great number of Her Majesty's Subjects who have already settled in New Zealand, and the rapid extension of Emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress, to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorised to treat with the Aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereign authority over the whole or any part of these islands. Her Majesty therefore being desirous"
7 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
The move to a republic won't affect the Treaty of Waitangi, as it won't affect any other Treaty the government has signed up to. The Crown is simply a legal entity, its responsibilities can be transferred.
We can keep our flag the way it is if we become a republic. Hawaii still has the Union Jack on their flag, even though they're a US state. We could change our flag with out being a republic - as Canada has.
The monarchy is broken - symbolically and constitutionally.
8 weeks ago
Kiwi Pride
For New Zealand to make the transition to a Republic It would require we first remove the Treaty of Waitangi as it is an agreement between the British crown and the Maori.
It would also mean that we'd have to change the flag as we would no longer be attached to the British and so would have to remove the union jack.
A question, if it aint broke why fix it?
8 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
Well, we don't pay the Royal family anything, thankfully. Nonetheless, it's still a good idea to have a head of State of our own.
8 weeks ago
RAp
Talk about dole bludgers well the roayal family takes the cake and the sooner we get rid of them the better it will be on the NZ economy as i for one am sick of paying for something that is useless and has no meaning " Viva the republic "
Support the legalizing of medicinal cannabis and recreational along with industrial hemp in our country!!
Hemp produces the most ethanol per acre and can be made into an alternative bio fuel, with more support to bring down bad views of hemp in our country the progress of hemp being industrial will come closer than ever and our country can be independant and not rely on oversea oil cartels demanding high prices for their oil! Think about the price per litre of a biofuel if it is RENEWABLE and made in our country?
support the cause and change the fuel prices!!! its in our reach....
9 weeks ago
FreedomNZ
FreedomNZ is a New Zealand based organisation aimed at the complete abolition of the Electoral Finance Act (EFA).
FreedomNZ is not aligned with any political or religious organisation and as such is prepared to work with any organisation that opposes the EFA.
FreedomNZ is a group aimed at bringing the protest to the streets through a series of grass roots campaigns such as chalking
14 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
Thanks for that. Interesting reading.
I think the US will more than likely hold onto American Samoa. A huge proportion of the American Samoan population are serving in the US army - it's a big earner for the country.
21 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
Hi NZ - nope, in fact I've never even heard that. Those links were very good.
Samoa and NZ have very close links, there's a Treaty of Friendship between us, and the current government has done a lot to repair the relationship with Samoa particularly with regard to one instance of NZ's rule of Samoa, when pro-independence protesters were shot by NZ police stationed there.
22 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
That could be a reason. The resistance seems to be based on the UN's interference in the process too.
Any union with Island states would need their support first. I suspect they would only accept a supra-national union of some sort. Having the Queen has head of state wouldn't be a barrier, it wasn't for Newfoundland becoming part of Canada in 1949.
I think both the Cook Is and Nuie would probably amend their own constitutions once New Zealand becomes a republic and create local heads of state. Samoa, which is also a former NZ possession, did the same after independence in 1964 - they didn't retain the Queen, but remained in the Commonwealth.
22 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
Legally the Cooks and Niue are independent. The "Free association" part is actually because they have separate agreements with NZ. That won't change if NZ becomes a republic, although there is the strange outcome that the Queen of New Zealand would be head of state of the Cook Islands and Niue while NZ would have its own head of state, but that's not a barrier to a republic. Tokelau is part of NZ still, and doesn't want to become independent (there's been two referendums, both have failed)
As for support for a republic, most PI NZers support the monarchy.
22 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
I don't think a trigger needs to be orchestrated - but we do need to be ready for shifts in the public's mood.
23 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
It is largely a generational issue. According to most of the demographics, supporters of a republic tend to be younger. I don't think that this means it's only a matter of time before we become a republic. There needs to be a trigger - a commission of inquiry or proposed referendum (or one leading to the other). The end of the Queen's reign is another possible trigger, as is the dismissal of a Prime Minister by the G-G. Debate around the succession laws - which is now happening in the UK - could be another trigger.
The Republican Movement's policy (as you can see above) is that a referendum should be held on the republic issue. We're committed to winning such a referendum, of course.
23 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
It depends - Roger Kerr of the Business Roundtable is very anti-republic. However, a Wellington businessman, Lloyd Morrison, backed a campaign to change the flag, which is sort of related, and Sir Robert Jones (a former National stalwart) is pro-republic. Like all NZers, it's a mixed bag.
The problem for the major parties is that 41% is split between them. The only party with majority support for a republic is the Greens.
23 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
United Future NZ are working on a policy of supporting a referendum on the monarchy - but there's been no other movement from the major party's.
23 weeks ago
Lewis Holden
According to NZ Treasury, in 2005 the UK accounted for 14% of FDI in NZ. That's pretty small compared to around 45% for Australia. I think the figures would be even smaller now, as since then a major NZ bank (National) was sold by British bank Lloyds TSB to the ANZ bank. I doubt FDI would change much if we become a republic.
As for how Brits feel, it's anyones guess. A number of ex-pats are members of the Republican Movement, some surveys put ex-pat Brits support for a republic at around 29%, although that may be because of the lack of distinguished between abolishing the monarchy in the UK versus NZ.
My understanding is those agreements, like all others, would stand. The actual agreements would be between the Crown-in-Right of New Zealand and the Crown-in-Right of the United Kingdom. A future New Zealand head of state would acquire the Crown-in-Right of New Zealand's responsibilities.
These links aren't that important - we trade more with Australia, the United States, Japan and China than the UK. At last look the UK only account for 5% of merchandise trade with NZ.
As for support, I can't say about Irish and Scottish New Zealanders. As for breakdowns between groups, basically it's a mixed bag in the North Island, but the South Island is more distinct. Southland & Otago a very Scottish, the West Coast is very Irish, and Canterbury is very English. that reflects the respective migration to those areas.
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