Glasgow 2014: Governor-General or Head of State?

If New Zealanders want to know what it would be like to have a Kiwi head of state they need look no further than our current Governor-General.

This week Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae is in Glasgow to "represent the Government and the people of New Zealand".  He has met with the  New Zealand games team and attended the Games closing ceremony. He was part of the launch of Creative New Zealand's promotional events for the Edinburgh Arts Festival and attended the Edinburgh Military tattoo. Today he will participate in a World War One commemoration service along side Prince Charles and the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

In 2014, the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth is New Zealand's head of state in name only. The actual work and the mana of the office all belong to our Governor-General.  Queen Elizabeth has been on the British throne for 60 years and despite all of this happening two hours drive from Balmoral Castle, the Monarch is unable to properly represent New Zealand.  Instead we have sent our 'defacto head of state' to the other side of the world to represent our interests and viewpoint.

The various heads of states of Commonwealth countries have all visited Glasgow and been accorded due respect as their nation's highest representative yet our Governor-General is always in the shadow of the British royal family. Instead of standing aside Prince Charles as an equal Sir Jerry Mateparae will be looked on as a slightly lesser dignatory. Almost, but not quite, a commonwealth head of state.

New Zealanders and their Governor-General deserve better.  We need to drop the pretence and stand with our own authority as a sovereign Commonwealth nation.

Pretending that the Governor-General is the Monarch's representative and not really our head of state is no longer tenable and no longer necessary. Prince Charles has little interest in fulfilling the role and it is time New Zealand reformed the role of Governor-General and made the final changes necessary for New Zealand to achieve full sovereignty.

Kia mana motuhake a Aotearoa. It's time for New Zealand stand with it's own authority.

Most Commonwealth members have their own Head of State

The Commonwealth Games is a big reason why so many New Zealanders value Commonwealth membership but some Kiwis still don't realise that becoming a republic, with our own Head of State, does not mean NZ would leave the Commonwealth.

The majority of commonwealth countries are already republics and choose their own Head of State.  The Commonwealth has 53 member states. 32 are republics, 6 are monarchies and have a hereditary Head of State, 15 more are 'Commonwealth Realms' with the British monarch acting in place of a local Head of State.  

Achieving republic status will not affect Commonwealth membership because Member states have agreed that membership will continue when a state changes its constitutional arrangements:

[W]here an existing member changes its formal constitutional status, it should not have to reapply for Commonwealth membership provided that it continues to meet all the criteria for membership.

(Final Communiqué - CHOGM 2007)

Commonwealth membership does not require New Zealand to have the same Head of State as Great Britain

Membership requires each country to accept the Commonwealth's fundamental values, principles, and priorities. Member states must demonstrate a commitment to democracy, rule of law, judicial independence, good governance, and protection of human rights;

Members must have a historic constitutional Commonwealth association; and accept the conventions for inter-Commonwealth relations. They must also acknowledge that Queen Elizabeth II, holds the symbolic position of ‘Head of the Commonwealth’.

‘Head of the Commonwealth’ is not a hereditary position.  It is separate from the Monarch's role as Head of State.

 18 former Commonwealth realms have all become republics and are still members of the Commonwealth (including India and South Africa).

A New Zealand republic would continue to be a leader in Commomnwealth relations and Kiwis can continue enjoying our role in the Commonwealth Games.

Kia Waimarie. Best of luck to the everyone competing at this year's Games in Glasgow.

Royal tour no king hit

Support for a New Zealand head of state remains high after April's royal visit.

In March, just prior to the visit, a poll of eligible voters had support for a Kiwi head of state at 44%. Support for the next British Monarch was at 46%. 10% were undecided. The same poll taken in June 2014 shows support is still at 44% with a 3% swing toward a royal head of state. There was corresponding 3% decrease in undecided voters.

The latest poll was carried out by Curia Research between 16 June and July 1st. It surveyed 1026 eligible voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. The March poll surveyed 1038 eligible voters and had the same margin of error.

The head of state campaign leader, Savage, is pleased with the result, "Royal tours get a lot of publicity but long-term we don't think they change peoples' opinions very much.  There was a massive amount of hype around this last royal visit but support for a New Zealand head of state remains very strong."

"After the last royal visit we expected a small swing toward a royal head of state so we're confident our campaign is on the right track and that our blueprint for change is a good solution to the debate."

"Royalists threw everything into this visit. They bought in their A-list royals and spent millions of dollars promoting them. We decided to conserve our funds and ride it out."

"A similar shift in the polls happened after the Charles and Camilla tour in 2012. As the hype dies away voters return to looking at the detail and thinking about the advantages of choosing a New Zealander.  The head of state debate is not about personal popularity."

"Support for a British head of state is still lower than two years but we'll be waiting until next time this question is polled to judge the long-term trend."

Extra spending uncovered

"Our monitoring has so far uncovered an extra $700 000 of spending on the royal visit in excess of the 1 million already announced. We expect the final bill for the royal visit to be over $2 million. That equates to about 5 years travel costs for the Governor-General. Spending $200 000 a day on royal publicity tours is not going to deliver a better head of state.  Far better to spend it on the person who is actually doing all the work."

"It is inevitable that New Zealand will one day have its own head of State. New Zealand Republic wants to make sure that the office of Head of State serve the needs of all New Zealanders and not just royalists."

The 4th of July: Creating a uniquely Kiwi republic

It has been almost 175 years since the signing of the Treaty and New Zealand is almost independent. The last step is reforming the office of Governor-General and creating a head of state who represents us all. That is what the campaign for a Kiwi head of state is all about.

The word republic means different things to different people and in its simplest form it means not having an hereditary head of state. Yet our campaign is about far more than that. Here in New Zealand, campaigning for a parliamentary republic means a renewed commitment to notions of democratic equality and fairness; to those principles that sit above and beyond party politics. A kiwi head of state is about recognising diversity and building a society that is inclusive. It is about public service and the greater good.

We are proposing a democratically selected head of state who can serve the needs of New Zealand and all New Zealanders.

Looking to other countries to learn from their successes and their mistakes is an important part of creating a uniquely New Zealand republic.  Achieving our own head of state will see us become a parliamentary republic similar to liberal democracies like Finland, Ireland and Iceland. There is no suggestion that New Zealand would adopt a presidential system like the one used in the United States.

As with any process of reform New Zealand needs to keep what is working and replace what isn't.  Our blueprint for change is about slow but steady progress toward this important goal. If you want to be part of creating a better New Zealand then join the campaign for a Kiwi head of state.  The more of us there are the faster it will happen.

Banks resignation highlights use of supermajority voting

John Banks has resigned as an MP but a cross-party supermajority in parliament will over-ride the need for a by-election in Epsom.

New Zealand could use a supermajority to appoint our next head of state so the Epsom decision will be a great opportunity for Kiwis to see how supermajority voting works.

The Epsom by-election vote is necessary under Sections 129 and 131 of the Electoral Act. As soon as the Speaker declares the Epsom seat vacant the Governor-General has 21 days to issue a writ (to the Electoral Commission) to hold a by-election. If the vacancy occurs within six months of a general election however, parliament can stop the writ being issued.

Under the Act the decision can only be made by a supermajority of MPs. This means 75%  - 91 out of 121 - MPs have to support it and in the current parliament only the Labour Party has enough MPs to reach the 75% threshold (National and all non-Labour MPs number only 87).

Supermajority decisions ensure the government of the day consults and reaches a consensus with opposition parties. Supermajorities are also a way to entrench legislation. Certain sections of the Electoral Act (See Section 268) are protected and cannot be repealed or amended except by public referendum or a parliamentary supermajority.

New Zealand Republic supports the use of supermajorities in reforming our head of state. If indirect election (by a parliamentary vote) is chosen by voters as the best way to select a Head of State then a supermajority would be needed.  We also advocate that no democratically selected head of state could be dismissed except by a supermajority. 

It is important that the Head of State is politically neutral and the appointment has widespread support, especially as the office-holder may be called on to act as an independent referee on constitutional issues. A supermajority vote in Parliament is one way of making sure the right person is chosen for the job and the legitimacy of the role is maintained.

Instead of an unelected Head of State and a Governor-General appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister New Zealand would have an independent Head of State protected by a supermajority.

The finer details of how this might work would need to be decided by an independent constitutional commission. Our blueprint for the selection of the Head of State proposes this and builds in tried-and-tested constitutional safeguards. The blueprint also ensures that these technical rules and safeguards are robust and fit-for-purpose.

The two-stage referendum process builds in an independent constitutional commission to review these aspects - dotting the i's and crossing the t's before NZers have a final vote whether to move to an independent NZ HoS. Supermajorities are part of the answer to our head of state problem. You can read more about our proposals on this website.

Costs for 10 day visit equivalent 4 years travel for Governor-General

New Zealand Republic is disputing the cost of hosting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge saying "the money spent for a ten day visit would be better spent on the Governor-General's increasing travel costs".

"The costs of hosting the royal visit in April have been understated and the benefits to tourism in New Zealand have been deliberately overstated"  said Savage, the campaign's Chairman. 

"Internal Affairs has announced it cost $ 1035 000 to host the royal couple but this figure excludes the cost of flying them around, the cost to local councils and the associated costs of numerous other government departments including the cost of entertaining the media who followed them. In 2012 Charles and Camilla cost taxpayers $425 000 for six days of travel. Based on that figure we are looking at another $700 000 on the Air Force alone".

"We are carrying out our own analysis and have requested information from 25 local bodies and government agencies. We expect the figure is closer to $2 million which equates to the Governor-General's travel budget for the next four years".

"Royal visits are interesting for some of us but overall Kiwis would be better off if we spent our money on the Governor-General who is far more important and who does all the actual work of a head of state".

"44% of New Zealanders want a New Zealander to be head of state.  The Governor-General's travel budget has increased because of war commemorations in Europe over the next four years. Last year alone it increased from $307 000 to $465 000. Right now he is in Normandy for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Why spend money hosting royalty when it can be better spent on other priorities".