July 2008 newsletter

In this edition: And The Candidates Are...; Ancestry Visas To Stay; Opinion: Olympic Absurdity by Lewis Holden; Gov-Gen's Pay Structure Reviewed; Poll: Should The Governor-General Pay Tax On Their Income?; Republican Movement T-Shirts Are (Almost) Here; Feedback.

And The Candidates Are...

OVER 1,000 RESPONSES were posted on the President of New Zealand website this month for New Zealand's first head of State.

The nominees were ranked by the number of nominations received, with all but the top ten being eliminated. The candidates for the first elected head of State of New Zealand are (in alphabetical order):

• James Belich
• Jim Bolger
• Doug Graham
• Bob Jones
• Kenneth Keith
• Don McKinnon
• Claudia Orange
• Vincent O'Sullivan
• Kiri Te Kanawa
• Wilson Whineray

Voting will open soon for the first knock-out round. A second round will be held for the top five candidates from the first round. All current members of Parliament and candidates for election to Parliament were ineligible to stand. This means that despite speculation, neither Helen Clark or John Key would be eligible to stand for the office.

There were a handful of nominations for New Zealand's current head of State, the Queen. The Queen is not a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand and would not meet the requirements of being one – neither is any other member of the Royal family. For that reason the Queen was not eligible to stand.

Ancestry Visas To Stay

PRIME MINISTER HELEN CLARK has announced that the United Kingdom's Ancestry Visa program is to remain. Clark said the decision not to abolish the visas "...reflects the huge goodwill towards New Zealand in Britain". The decision also reflects the economic reality that New Zealanders like to earn British Pounds before traveling across Europe, and Britain's need for skilled labour.

While the decision is good news for New Zealanders who are planning on going to the United Kingdom for long periods of time, the fact that the British government even considered getting rid of the visas shows a sea-change in attitudes in the "mother country". The European Union is continuing to expand, and thus so to the numbers of migrants from the Euro-bloc seeking to live and work in the UK. The pressures which led the Home Office to suggest abolishing the ancestry visas remain, and Britain seek to tighten its immigration rules still further.

Gov-Gen's Pay Structure Reviewed

THE LAW COMMISSION has released a review on the Civil List Act 1979 (1.3Mb PDF). This Act defines what the Governor-General, Prime Minister and MPs are paid while in office, when they get paid, and their entitlements once they leave office. Law Commission President Sir Geoffrey Palmer said "Despite its relatively obscure status, the Civil List Act 1979 contains important provisions that should be both accessible and comprehensible. The proposals on which we seek comment are intended to clarify the legislative framework, and to improve transparency."

On the Governor-General's office, the Review asks three key questions:

Should the Governor-General's salary to be exempt from income tax?, Should the Minister of Finance be able to grant exemptions from any public or local tax, duty, rate, levy or fee as currently set out in section 7 of the Civil List Act 1979?, Does the role of Administrator of Government require a separate salary?

The Review suggests one option would be to scrap the Civil List Act altogether, and create a single "Governor-General (Renumeration) Act" with the Governor-General's pay schedule. The Commission is accepting submissions on its review, due by September 5.

Republican Movement T-Shirts Are (Almost) Here

WE'RE TAKING ORDERS's for the Republican Movement's first T-shirt production: "Heart NZ". Our first shirt is based on the "Heart NZ" designed by Matt Curran.

White Republican Movement T-shirt

Because of the economics of t-shirt prints, we need to get 10 orders before commencing with a production run. All t-shirts will be supplied as soon as we reach the 10th order.

The t-shirts are locally produced and come in three different sizes - small, medium and large and are $25.00 for members and $30.00 for non-members. To order yours, click here.

Feedback

THE COST OF THE MONARCHY AND THOSE DARN HANGERS ON:

For some reason the issue of how much the monarchy costs the New Zealand taxpayer versus the potential cost of a New Zealand head of State is a big issue for supporters of the monarchy. One nomination of Queen Elizabeth II on The President of New Zealand caught our attention:

"So NZ can continue its de facto republic, which costs taxpayers a tiny cost."

That "tiny cost" is $11 million per year to maintain the office of Governor-General. That's more expensive than the President of Ireland ($6.7 million per year).

"We function as a republic but masquerade as a monarchical state."

This is nothing more than evidence that a New Zealand republic is a workable proposition, not a justification for the monarchy.

"The low cost is one huge benefit. The other is keeping hack NZ politicians and hangers on from aspiring to a new local presidential post that would have more powers than the token Governor-General, cost heaps more, and must diminish the power of our House of Representatives."

As noted above, low cost is not a benefit. There is no evidence that a republic would be more expensive - and the precedent from overseas suggests otherwise. As for the comment that "hangers on" would aspire to be the local president, how terrible it would be for New Zealanders to aspire to be head of State of their own country! In any case, if you're worried about a politician being a token head of State, look no further than the Governor-General: the Prime Minister can choose whomever he or she wants to do the job. Sir Keith Holyoake's appointment is a prime example - we are much more likely to have a Governor-General Clark than a President Clark.

As for the statement on the powers of the Governor-General, Keith Locke's Head of State (Referenda) Bill makes it clear that the powers of the new head of State are to be exactly the same as the Governor-General. The only difference will be that the Prime Minister could not arbitrarily remove the new head of State from office, as they can for the Governor-General. Finally, the submitter is probably the only person in New Zealand to argue diminishing the power of the House of Representatives is a bad thing!