6 February 2024

“This week and for the rest of the year there will be a great deal of discussion about the treaty and its importance in our national culture and our constitution” said Lewis Holden, Campaign Chair of New Zealand Republic, Kia Mana Motuhake a Aotearoa.

“If anyone in New Zealand thinks achieving a Kiwi Head of State and becoming a republic somehow sidesteps or decreases the importance or relevance of the Treaty, they are very much mistaken. The Treaty and a republic go hand in hand. The Treaty is here to stay and we should be proud of our work to make its promise a reality.”

In 1840 the British Queen was a figurehead symbolising the power of the British Parliament and its Empire. The treaty obligations have long since passed to the New Zealand Crown. It has been New Zealanders together, Maori and non-Maori together who have embarked on this partnership to right the wrongs and address the mistakes of the past.

That work must carry on and removing the King and replacing the Governor-General with a democratic Kiwi Head of State would help bring the Te Tiriti home and make it clear that we are all in this together.

Becoming a republic is a logical and necessary step in Aotearoa's development. To have a New Zealander as Head of State would make us finally and fully an independent sovereign state.

ENDS