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Queen Elizabeth II's personal flag for New Zealand
There has been a Queen of New Zealand as distinct from the Queen of the United Kingdom since the passage of
the Statute of Westminster in 1931 which introduced the
concept that though Britain and the dominions have sovereigns who are legally and
constitutionally distinct even though they are shared in body. New Zealand is thus a Commonwealth realm. The Constitution Act 1986 declares that "The Sovereign in right of New
Zealand is the head of State of New Zealand, and shall be known by the royal style and titles proclaimed from time to time."
The Royal Titles Act 1953 first introduced a New Zealand royal title for use by the sovereign, in this case
Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the
Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. With the passage of the Royal Titles Act 1974 Queen Elizabeth II's royal title in New Zealand has been Elizabeth the Second, By the Grace of God, Queen of New Zealand and Her other
Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
The Queen of New Zealand is the head of a distinct New Zealand hounours system and is the head of the armed forces and patron of a number of
societies in the country.
Her constitutional roles have been entirely delegated to the Governor-General of New Zealand who is the Queen's representative but is appointed on the
advice of the country's prime minister, however the Governor-General
acts on behalf of the Queen who reserves the right to exercise her powers in person.
New Zealand's constitution specifies that the royal succession is governed by the Act of Settlement.
Symbols of Monarchy
References to the monarchy are commonplace in public life in New Zealand. There are references to the Crown (which forms part
of the country's coat of arms) in legal documents, the use of the term
'Royal', as in the Royal New Zealand Navy and Air Force, government stationery still bears the
letters O.H.M.S (On Her Majesty's Service), and oaths taken by politicians, judges, members of the armed forces and new citizens
are to the Queen. The Queen's Official Birthday, unlike in the
United Kingdom, is also a public holiday. The Queen's portrait appears
on the obverse (front) of New Zealand coins, and all banknotes feature the
portrait of the Queen as the watermark. However only the $20 banknote bears her image as the main feature.
Future of the Monarchy
Unlike in Australia where republican sentiment has been strong, there has not been the same agitation for ending the role of
the monarchy in New Zealand. In 1994, when Prime Minister Jim Bolger told
Parliament that he expected the country to become a
republic by the end of the decade, this was met with incomprehension from much of
the public. Opinion polls held at the time showed that most New Zealanders were against such a move.
There has, nonetheless, been a loosening of constitutional links with the United Kingdom, such as the ending of the British honours system, the awarding of knighthoods, and the severing of the link to the Privy Council in London, which has now been replaced by the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Other proposals included the replacement of the title of
Queen's Counsel, given to barristers, with that of Senior Counsel, and the
removal of references to the Queen from oaths. These changes have already occurred in Australia, where they have been criticised
by supporters of the status quo as 'republicanism by stealth'.
Although New Zealand's traditional ties with the former 'Mother Country' are not has strong as they once were, the situation
is still quite different from Australia. Many Maori see the Crown as a guarantor of their
legal rights under the Treaty of Waitangi, which was an
agreement signed between the Maori tribes and the Crown, not with the New Zealand Government. Another factor is that whereas
Australia has large populations of Irish Catholic and Mediterranean European
descent, most Pakeha (New Zealanders of European origin) are of British descent. However, Jim Bolger was the son of
Irish immigrants, and as in Australia, even people of British origin in New Zealand may increasingly regard the monarchy as an
irrelevance or an anachronism.
New Zealand's present Labour Party Prime
Minister, Helen Clark has expressed her support for a republic, describing
the role of the monarchy as 'antiquated', although leaders of the more conservative National Party has expressed less enthusiasm for a change of status, despite former
leader Jim Bolger's earlier pronouncements.
Were New Zealand to move towards becoming a republic, the change would occur with far more ease than in Australia. This is
because New Zealand is a unitary state and has no written constitution, unlike
Australia, where consitutional change must not only be approved in a referendum by a majority of voters, but also by a majority
of states. New Zealand has made radical constitutional changes without difficulty in the past, such as the abolition of its
upper house of
parliament in 1951, and the introduction of proportional representation in 1996.
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