Opinions

This section contains the opinions of New Zealanders in the New Zealand republic debate. The opinions in this section do not necessarily represent the official views of the Republican Movement, but they are provided to highlight some of the different viewpoints in the debate.

Speech to Penrose Rotary, 5 July 2011

Republican Movement chair Lewis Holden's speech to the Penrose Rotary, 5 July 2011.

Harry Lusk: "It is our time, our responsibility"

Youth MP Harry Lusk's speech to the 2010 Youth Parliament.

Speech at the launch of The New Zealand Republic Handbook

This is Lewis Holden's speech at the launch of The New Zealand Republic Handbook, 23 September 2009.

Secularism and Republicanism in New Zealand

Republican Movement chair Lewis Holden gives his views on why supporters of separation of church and state in New Zealand should support a republic.

Centenary time for republican vision

For the centenary of Dominion in 2007, Republican Movement Chair Lewis Holden argued now is the time for New Zealand's politicians to show visionary leadership, as the country's parliament did a century before.

Anna Davidson: It is time for us all to leave home

Anna Davidson was a member of the Youth Parliament in 1997 for Wellington Central MP Richard Prebble. Her speech to the gathering covers all of the essential issues for republicanism in the New Zealand context.

Queen still tops with Hillary

The Queen is still tops for the late Sir Edmund Hillary, writes Jonathan Milne in The Sunday Star Times.

Sucession law

As part of the debate on the succession law, former Republican Movement president Dave Guerin argues that the monarchy is an affront to New Zealand's Human Rights record.

Tom Keneally -- the race is on

Booker Prize-winner Tom Keneally, the former chair of the Australian Republican Movement, says New Zealand could beat Australia to a republic. "Some of these monarchists say that the Queen is above politics. You're not kidding. She's twelve thousand miles above politics. How interested is she in New Zealand?"

Manuka Henare: Principle And Pragmatism

Jonathan Milne, August 1996

One might be forgiven, these days, for thinking that sovereignty is the ball in our national game. The Government admits that it was offside when it took possession in 1840, but it has the ball now and isn't letting go

Maurice Gee: a Republican Heritage

Jonathan Milne, June 1996

Tucked away in one of the quieter of Wellington's hill suburbs, dressed in slippers and a dressing gown, lives a man who loves his country.

He loves it in a manner that is different from the nationalistic jingoism that is often taken for patriotism. He never fought wars for New Zealand. He never played rugby for New Zealand, or raced yachts.

Maurice Gee is a writer who has quietly introduced readers, from New Zealand and abroad alike, to many different facets of the country in which he has grown up.

It seems extraordinary that the person who brought New Zealand to so many -- a person who loves New Zealand in such a way -- is also a person unable to swear an Oath of Allegiance to New Zealand's head of state.

An Ode to the Reigning Monarch on the Occasion of her Majesty's Visit to Pig Island

James K Baxter, May 1963

Monarchy - a Foreign Remnant from a Colonial Past

Michael Laws, March 1995

The case for an independent republic of New Zealand is summed up in one word --nationhood. It is a statement to the world and ourselves that New Zealand is a mature nation, that we possess a constitutional framework that best suits New Zealanders.

Mike Moore has a dream

World Trade Organisation director-general and former Labour prime minister Mike Moore says the directive for New Zealand to become a republic must come from the people, not the government. "Any changes could last for a hell of a long time -- we can't change just because people are pissed off with the current situation."

Referendums and republicanism

While republicanism is not a large issue in this year's election, a diverse group of politicians have endorsed the concept of a New Zealand republic. This process of democratic debate and scrutiny is important in the creation of a lasting republic. Without widespread public participation in the design and creation of the New Zealand republic, the transformation will be nominal only.

Encouraging participation in civic processes is an established feature of republican thought. With the passing of the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act in 1993, New Zealanders now have a potentially powerful vehicle for recording their views on 'important' public issues.

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