Blogs

Queen Elizabeth II: "I have to be seen to be believed"

Submitted by Mike Wilkinson on 2 February, 2012 - 16:07
The venerable Economist magazine has just published this article, giving a review of five books that have been released in time for Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee.  The article gives the impression that the Queen is an honourable, dutiful woman, one who insists she must be seen by the public to be believed.

Royalty, the Kiwi way?

Submitted by LJ Holden on 31 January, 2012 - 21:50

Te Ara is a Ministry of Culture and Heritage project which has just published on the Royals and New Zealanders attitudes towards them. It is, despite its title, a reasonably balanced article.

Pull up to my bumper

Submitted by LJ Holden on 30 January, 2012 - 19:54
Bumper Sticker
republic.org.nz bumper sticker

No, not Grace Jones... we have our bumper stickers back in stock in the Republican Movement store, which you can buy for just $3.

Will New Zealand keep up with the changing world?

Submitted by Mike Wilkinson on 28 January, 2012 - 13:44

Plenty of signs are coming now that the world is changing and changing fast: Europe is no longer the powerhouse it once was, America is on the ropes, unrest in questionable regimes is springing up around the world (as I mentioned here yesterday).  Just last ni

Britain's farm no more

Submitted by LJ Holden on 28 January, 2012 - 09:19
The August 1946 cover of the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture was on a similar theme. It depicted a London housewife with her ration book, a bombed shell of a building behind a double-decker bus, and newspaper boy with the headline ‘More food ships from New Zealand’.
The August 1946 cover of the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture was on a similar theme. It depicted a London housewife with her ration book, a bombed shell of a building behind a double-decker bus, and newspaper boy with the headline ‘More food ships from New Zealand’. From Te Ara.

The Queen's 60th anniversary of sitting on the throne, her "Diamond Jubilee" is coming up in 9 days. It's a poignant time to reflect on how New Zealand, the Commonwealth and the rest of the world has changed since that time. In the 1950s, New Zealand was most certainly Britain's farm. We proudly promoted the fact (see the poster to the left). And it provided handsomely for us - we had some of the highest living standards in the world. But the outcome of World War II had taken a huge toll on Britain - times were hard, and the heavily indebted victor could no longer afford its Empire. Within two decades the "winds of change" had blown throughout the former Empire, with India, Pakistan and Nigeria all going. The British Commonwealth became the Commonwealth of Nations, and Australia and New Zealand sought security from the United States.

Around the world, will the 2010s be the decade for countries to rationalise their constitutional structures?

Submitted by Mike Wilkinson on 27 January, 2012 - 11:35

Especially with things like the internet, it appears we now live in a global political environment. In it, did something start with the protests in Iran and the (continuing) Arab Spring? Did it morph into ground-breaking pro-democracy protests in Russia? If the answers to these questions is yes, where will it head next?

Treaty Debates Series 2012 – Pathways to the Future

Submitted by LJ Holden on 26 January, 2012 - 06:02

Te Papa is hosting its annual Treaty debates series, which will be broadcast on Radio New Zealand. The first debate tonight at 6:30, will be on the WAI262.

Not the head of state - just the de facto

Submitted by LJ Holden on 25 January, 2012 - 21:03

Radio New Zealand has made the mistake of giving the Governor-General the title of Head of State. We have, of course, told them off and read the Constitution Act. Their mistake does raise an important point though: the Governor-General is seen as our head of state.

Round II

Submitted by LJ Holden on 24 January, 2012 - 19:22

The first round of Finland's presidential election has been and gone. No candidate made it to the golden 50% mark, so there will be a run-off election on February 5. The election had a respectable 75% turnout.

Not a Kiwi Institution

Submitted by LJ Holden on 22 January, 2012 - 10:21
Real Kiwi looking aye?
Real Kiwi looking aye?

In the long-term, the opponents of a New Zealand republic know that the monarchy won't survive on memories of a time when New Zealand had strong links to the United Kingdom. They are doing all they can to re-position the monarchy as a "Kiwi institution", often claiming, ridiculously, that individual Royals are New Zealanders. For example, the Duke of Edinburgh became "New Zealand's Prince Philip" in a recent statement about the Duke's health. They do so because they know to wreck the prospect of a New Zealand republic long-term, they must appeal to New Zealanders growing sense of national identity which the British monarchy is at odds with.

New survey on republic issue

Submitted by Savage on 18 January, 2012 - 07:20

The jury is still out on a new survey by Research New Zealand that seems to show a big increase in people who are neutral or undecided about becoming a republic. The survey of 1252 people taken in August last year asked respondents to say whether they strongly agreed strongly disagreed or were neutral on the matter.

The "British" Commonwealth?

Submitted by LJ Holden on 17 January, 2012 - 21:18

Te Ara does a great job at documenting New Zealand's history. However, they've made a mistake here:

New Zealand is a small independent country which plays an active role in the United Nations and the British Commonwealth.

If at first you don't succeed...

Submitted by LJ Holden on 16 January, 2012 - 21:34
In May 1973, a remit to declare a New Zealand republic and change New Zealand's flag was defeated a the then ruling Labour Party. Within a quarter of a century the party was led by a pro-New Zealand republic supporter of flag change.

Possible responses to negative automatic rejections

Submitted by Mike Wilkinson on 16 January, 2012 - 17:50
In this post I wrote late last year, I described how it's common for people to hear about a republic and immediately offer one or more of what I call automatic rejections.
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