Thousands of New Zealanders are required every year to swear allegiance to the Queen, instead of New Zealand. While not strictly a republican issue, the Oaths debate is part of the republic debate, because it's a question of symbolism.

As part of our campaign for a republic, the Republican Movement wants Oaths to the Queen changed to allegiance to New Zealand. Most of us never have to swear to the Queen and can miss one of the biggest intrusions on our democracy, but every new citizen, police officer, judge, member of parliament or member of the military must swear an oath (religious) or an affirmation (non-religious) to the Queen.

We believe that people should commit to ideas, such as the rule of law, democracy or the biggest of ideas, "New Zealand". Swearing allegiance to the Queen is unnecessary and meaningless. It reflects the constitutional reality that political power in a monarchy comes from a Sovereign, and not the people - when the political reality in New Zealand today is that power comes from citizens. Our oaths should reflect this reality, and our values. Australia has managed to move past swearing allegiance to the Queen and so can we, as outlined below in our opinion piece.

Oaths (Modernisation) Bill

The former Labour Government's review of oaths and affirmations led to the Oaths (Modernisation) Bill, which did not in its final form remove references to the Queen from our oaths and affirmations. Instead, the Bill amends the current Oaths to add loyalty to "New Zealand, its laws and democracy". This amendment will make the Oaths easier to amend in the future, to remove references to the monarch. The Bill passed its first reading and has been reported back to Parliament from Select Committee stage. However, the Bill still languishes at the bottom of Parliament's Order Paper, waiting to be enacted.

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Get involved

We want your feedback - if you've sworn to the Queen recently, or are about to, please contact us.

• Join the Republican Movement
  
• Link to us - add our banner (right) to your website
  
• Write a letter to your MP on the issue of Oaths
  

Resources

• Submission to the Review of Oaths and Affirmations June 2004
• Comparison of Citizenship Oaths
  

Media

• Blog posts on Oaths and affirmations
  
• Opinion: Oaths and affirmations
• Media release (10 May 2005): New oaths step in the right direction
• Media release (14 February 2004): Bring the Oaths into the 21st Century