Last month, New Zealand Republic complained to Newshub regarding an opinion poll they conducted on the support for a republic. The poll asked:
“When Queen Elizabeth is no longer Queen, should New Zealand break away from the Commonwealth and become a republic?”
This question asked is clearly flawed if you are testing support for the monarchy or a republic in New Zealand. Becoming a republic does not mean leaving the Commonwealth, and as Newshub itself has reported in December regarding Barbados’ transition to a republic, does not mean that a country making the transition has to leave Commonwealth. In fact the majority of Commonwealth members today are republics, and the membership rules mean that a country does not have to leave the Commonwealth and re-join if it transitions to a republic.
We know from our own opinion polling that Commonwealth membership has a material impact (of about 10% in favour of a republic) on support for a republic, which is why this issue keeps cropping up. The public want to remain a member of the Commonwealth once we become a republic.
That being said, our complaint was not against the question asked, but the presentation of the result as being analogous to support for the monarchy. The TV3 Standards Committee has now responded to our complaint:
The Committee is satisfied that the poll question was acceptably worded. As Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, it is reasonable to expect that New Zealanders associate the Commonwealth with the Queen. The issue of becoming a republic was phrased in the question as a separate issue. The Committee is confident the wording of the poll did not seriously affect viewers' understanding of the question being asked or the issue under discussion. We have found no breach of this standard.
TV3’s Standards Committee has clearly not understood the issue. The question clearly links the idea of leaving the Commonwealth with becoming a republic. New Zealand Republic is now taking this complaint up with the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
The Queen’s role as Head of the Commonwealth is separate to her role as New Zealand’s head of state. All members of the Commonwealth - be they republics or monarchies with the Queen as head of state - recognise the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth, it’s one of the membership criteria. Of course the public will associate the Queen with the Commonwealth - the issue is that the question specifically asks “should New Zealand break away from the Commonwealth” - in other words, should New Zealand leave the Commonwealth.
The link between leaving the Commonwealth and becoming a republic is clear, since the proposition of leaving the Commonwealth is linked by the end of the question asking “and become a republic?” (my emphasis).
In the Newshub report that broadcasted the opinion poll finding, there is no acknowledgement at all of the Commonwealth aspect of the question asked. The word “Commonwealth” isn’t even mentioned. What is mentioned though is that the poll’s result reflects support for the monarchy:
Kiwis are keen for King Charles and Queen Camilla, with the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll showing almost half of New Zealanders want to remain a monarchy after the Queen dies.
Since the opinion poll asked whether New Zealand should “break away” from the Commonwealth, this is odd.
It’s our view that Newshub’s opinion poll was a honest mistake, based on a misunderstanding of the issue. They have reinforced this by repeating