11 October 2019

MEDIA RELEASE: Royal tour won't make Prince Charles popular

"The latest Royal tour of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla won't fix the next in line for the British throne's popularity problem in New Zealand" said Lewis Holden, campaign chair of New Zealand Republic.

Details of the Royal tour from 17-23 November were announced today. They include a visit to Waitangi.

"New Zealand Republic's own polling from April this year shows that New Zealanders would rather have their own head of state instead of Prince Charles. We doubt this tour will do anything to change that."

"It's time for the government to start that process. Putting in place a clear appointment process for the Governor-General, our de facto head of state, is a logical first step."

"Our values of manaakitanga, or hospitality, mean that we don't spurn visitors, and Aotearoa will always have links to the British Royals as modern representatives of the British Crown - which probably explains why Prince Charles and Camilla are visiting the Treaty of Waitangi Grounds. But it's clear that New Zealanders now believe it's time to move on as a mature nation and have our own head of state" concluded Mr Holden.

ENDS

Media contact: Lewis Holden, phone: 09 889 8426

NOTES

The poll details are here: http://www.republic.org.nz/latestblog/2019/5/15/media-release-opinion-poll-new-zealanders-want-a-new-zealand-head-of-state