This is an unpublished opinion piece, we’ve decided to publish it on our website instead!
Today, we have a day off to reflect on, and if we want, celebrate and commemorate the life of Elizabeth II. No-one can deny that an epoch has ended - that's why the republic campaign respectfully paused campaigning during the mourning period. As that comes to an end, it's clear a national conversation has started. Could it now be time that we drop our collective colonial insecurity and make a New Zealand citizen our head of state?
The end of the Queen's reign is not the end of the British monarchy, in our country at least. A number of Caribbean Commonwealth members are contemplating referendums on the issue, with Barbados making the move last year. Barbados elevated its Governor-General to the role of head of state, while staying a member of the Commonwealth.
Why do we keep clinging to this colonial institution that has no relevance to contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand? Our need for validation by others, especially the British royals, is a sign of immaturity. That our sense of national identity is still tied to the symbols of an Empire that is now dead and buried is a constant source of chagrin for those New Zealanders who want to move our country forward. It's clearly a point of curiosity for our neighbours across the Asia Pacific region, a constant frustration for our diplomats trying to represent our interests overseas.
Some seem still to cling to the royals as a child does to their comfort blanket; there is a prevailing form of national anxiety that sends us down rabbit holes to defend an institution with next to zero constitutional power – other than rubber-stamping the prime minister’s choice of the stand-in head of state, the governor-general.
Opinion polls on this issue emphasise the demographic divide between old and young. Despite some fear-mongering about the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the relationship between government (kawanatanga) and iwi set out within it, significantly more Māori support change than oppose it. There is, despite all attempts to claim otherwise, a clear understanding that when it comes to Te Tiriti, it’s the Beehive that matters, not Buckingham Palace.
Surveys and opinion polls also make it clear though that the monarchy survives largely thanks to the fear, uncertainty and doubt factors. As with the Treaty, there are fears that are deliberately stoked about Commonwealth membership, a political or US-style president, and how we would choose the head of state.
We have the ability to make some straightforward changes: to elevate our stand-in head of state to an actual head of state, to put in place a parliamentary supermajority appointment process that ensures the office has mana and isn’t a sinecure for former MPs (as the governor-generalship has been used for in the past). Barbados put in place specific restrictions on former and current MPs from holding the office of head of state. Change would also clarify the realities of the Treaty relationship.
And once we've done that, perhaps we could have a day off every year - an independence day, if you will.