Debate
There is less agitation for ending the monarchy of New Zealand and creating a New Zealand republic than in neighbouring Australia, where Australian republicanism is stronger. Supporters of the monarchy claim that for New Zealand, "...monarchy summarises the inheritance of a thousand years of constitutional government and our links with a glorious past,"
Neither National or Labour, the two major political parties currently in parliament have a stated policy of creating a republic, although Peter Dunne's United Future does and some Members of Parliament have publicly expressed their personal support for a republic. In contrast, some members have also expressed support for the monarchy. Former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen declared that he supported the monarchy, stating in 2004 he was "a sort of token monarchist in the Cabinet these days." However, in 2010 he repudiated that stance, taking the view that New Zealand should move towards a republic once the Queen's reign ends. Presently, Prime Minister John Key has said he is "not convinced will be a big issue in the short term," but does believe that a republic is "inevitable." There are two special-interest groups representing both sides of the debate in New Zealand, and argue the issue in the media from time to time: the Monarchy New Zealand and the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand.
There are a number of legal issues to be addressed in order to abolish the monarchy, though individuals on both sides of the argument take a different view of the level of difficulty faced. Much of the unsurety involves the reserve powers of the sovereign; the relationship between the various regions of the Realm of New Zealand presently sharing the same sovereign (the absence of these matters from republican arguments having been criticised as a "self-centredness of republican discussions in New Zealand"); and effects on the relationship between the Crown and Māori, specifically, the continued legal status of the Treaty of Waitangi and its claims and settlements. Some academics expressed concern that governments could use republicanism to evade treaty responsibilities, while others, such as Professor Noel Cox, Chairman-Emeritus of Monarchy New Zealand, have argued a republic would not absolve the government of its obligations under the treaty.
The New Zealand public are generally in favour of the retention of the monarchy, with recent polls showing it to have between 50 and 70% support. Polls indicate that many New Zealanders see the monarchy as being of little day-to-day relevance; a One News Colmar Brunton poll in 2002 found that 58% of the population believed the monarchy has little or no relevance to their lives. National Business Review poll in 2004 found 57% of respondents believed New Zealand would become a republic "in the future".
However, the institution still enjoys the support of New Zealanders, particularly those born before the Second World War. With the approval of the current monarch, and the position of the Treaty of Waitangi under a republic remaining a concern to Māori and other New Zealanders alike, as well as the question of what constitutional form a republic might take unresolved, support for a republic remains no higher than one third to 40% of the population. On 21 April 2008, the republican movement released a poll of New Zealanders showing 43% support the monarchy should Prince Charles become King of New Zealand, and 41% support a republic under the same scenario. A poll by the New Zealand Herald in January 2010, before a visit by Prince William to the country found 33.3% wanted Prince Charles to be the next monarch, with 30.2% favouring Prince William. 29.4% of respondents preferred a republic in the event Queen Elizabeth died or abdicated.
On 14 October 2009, a Bill put forward in parliament by Keith Locke to bring about a referendum on the monarchy was drawn from the ballot of members' Bills and introduced into the legislative chamber. It had been presumed that this bill would have been binding in New Zealand only, having no effect in the Cook Islands or Niue. On 21 April 2010 the Bill was defeated at its first reading 68 - 53, and did not continue through to Select Committee with the National Party, Act Party, four members of the Maori Party and Progressives opposed and the Labour, Green and United Future party voting in favour.
On November 2012, a ONE News/Colmar Brunton poll showed that 74% of people questioned responded they wanted to "keep The Queen as head of State."
Read more about this topic: Monarchy In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the word debate:
“Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade, as much as indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. But a modest assertion of one’s own opinion, and a complaisant acquiescence in other people’s, preserve dignity.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Like man and wife who nightly keep
Inconsequent debate in sleep
As they dream side by side.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“A great deal of unnecessary worry is indulged in by theatregoers trying to understand what Bernard Shaw means. They are not satisfied to listen to a pleasantly written scene in which three or four clever people say clever things, but they need to purse their lips and scowl a little and debate as to whether Shaw meant the lines to be an attack on monogamy as an institution or a plea for manual training in the public school system.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)