The President of New Zealand

From June to October 2008, the Republican Movement ran a website for the President of New Zealand, and opened nominations which led to an 'election' for New Zealand's future head of State.

Screen shot of the President of New Zealand's website.

The website

We based the President of New Zealand website on the Governor-General of New Zealand's website. The elecotral process used was similar to that of Keith Locke's Head of State (Referenda) Bill.

The Republican Movement's policy is that the exact model be determined by the New Zealand public.

The results

Nominations

Over 400 names were put forward for nomination. We tallied the top ten names to find the list of candidates for the position. They were, in alphabetical order:

1. Professor James Belich, historian
   
2. Jim Bolger, former Prime Minister
   
3. Sir Douglas Graham, former Attorney-General, Minister of Justice
4. Sir Robert Jones, businessman
5. Sir Kenneth Keith, Justice of the Supreme Court
6. Don McKinnon, former Commonwealth Secretary-General
7. Dr Claudia Orange, historian
8. Vincent O'Sullivan, writer
9. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, opera singer
10. Sir Wilson Whineray, former All Black, sports administrator

First round

A vote was taken for the first round. The following candidates were not eliminated:

1. Professor James Belich, historian
   
2. Jim Bolger, former Prime Minister
   
3. Dr Claudia Orange, historian
4. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, opera singer
5. Sir Wilson Whineray, former All Black, sports administrator

Final round

The winner of the final round was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, on first preferences:

Total votes: 3,115

From this position, there was no way any candidate could pass Dame Kiri on preferences.

Head of State Survey

Over 2,500 visitors to the website also took our head of state survey, which asked a number of questions relevant to the republic debate.

What should we name our head of State?

The strongest preference for the head of State's name was "President".

How long should the head of State's term be?

The strongest preference was for a term of similar length to the Governor-General, at five years.

How many head(s) of State should there be?

The result for this question is clear - the vast majority only want one head of state.

What should the maximum number of terms a head of State could serve be?

The maximum terms favoured was two, with a reasonable showing for one term.

Which method should be used to nominate the head of State?

There was a strong preference for public nomination of the head of State.

Which election method should be used to elect the head of State?

This is the most interesting set of results. Those surveyed favoured parliamentary election by a small margin (1%). It seems the three-quarters majority option was the most favoured.

Media

• Media release: 3 November Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Favoured To Become President
• Media release: 15 September Top 5 Presidential Candidates Announced
• Media release: 15 August Election Has Already Begun For New Zealand's Head Of State
• Media release: 31 July Republican Movement Announces Head Of State Candidates
• Media release: 2 July Nominate Your Candidate!