Do we need to royals? Time to farewell the monarchy

Republican Movement member Roger Hey puts the case for improving New Zealand's democracy by having a New Zealander as our head of State on Stuff:

I've just read a Stuff Nation article which said the monarchy was part of New Zealand's identity. True, it's part of our heritage, but to an increasing number of us, it's not important. Rather, it's a burden and stands in the way of us taking responsibility for running our own country.

An increasing number of Kiwis come from backgrounds not identified with Britain, and to whom the British Monarchy is a curiosity.

Many countries in the Commonwealth have renounced the British monarch as Head of State. There are over 50 nations in the Commonwealth, two have their own monarch, (Tonga and Swaziland), 16 acknowledge the British Queen as Head of State like New Zealand, and by far the majority have full democracy.

It's time we joined the Commonwealth members who have their own Head of State, and introduced full democracy here. We could chose an active Head of State like the Presidents of the USA and France, or a passive one like Germany or Ireland. If we chose a passive Head of State, that person would act much as the Governor-General does now, but without the reference to the Queen.

That's the kind of New Zealand/Aotearoa I want. We would have full democracy and run the country ourselves. Then we'll feel it's ours, we have a full say on life here. A person from one of our many cultures could become our Head of State.

Let's get rid of elitism and privilege, of people living off us, of people making decisions we could be making ourselves.

Let's run our own country. Let's choose someone who represents us and can speak for us. Roll on full democracy.