Prince's visit at key time in monarchy debate

OPINION: William may be a fine person but that does not make him qualified to open our Supreme Court, writes Lewis Holden.

Prince William will be visiting our shores for three days next week. His visit could not come at a more precarious time for the monarchy in New Zealand. Not only is there a bill on Parliament's order paper for a referendum on our continued links to the royals, there is an ongoing debate about the succession to the throne.

The prince will ironically be opening the Supreme Court, which replaced Britain's Privy Council as our highest court of appeal in 2003. This first official duty only further underscores the symbolic irrelevance of monarchy.

The prince has been promised none of the traditional "bowing and scraping" that makes the monarchy foreign to most Kiwis, yet makes it appealing to a declining band of royalists.

Parliament is set to debate the Head of State Referenda Bill in March. The bill is the first step to creating a New Zealand republic. It puts forward three options for a referendum: the status quo, a head of state elected by Parliament, or a head of state elected directly by all New Zealanders. Under both republican options, the head of state would have the same powers as the governor-general.

As we approach 2015 and the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty, a new maturity in our sense of how we see ourselves in the world has been reached. That maturity is leading New Zealanders to question the symbols of our national identity ever more intensely.

William's visit will again highlight the issue. A survey in the middle of 2009 found 43 per cent of respondents backed a republic, while 45 per cent supported the status quo. The poll, commissioned by the republican movement, was conducted by Curia Market Research and asked what New Zealanders would like to see happen when the Queen dies.

Interestingly, almost every survey shows a majority of Maori support a republic. These numbers are not surprising: a majority of those under the age of 25 support a republic, while a majority of New Zealanders over the age of 65 support the status quo.

In the 170 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the foundation of New Zealand we have much to celebrate. We are the first country where women voted as equals, we are leading the world toward nuclear disarmament, we are forging ahead with reconciliation of colonial injustices.

We have produced world-beating explorers, inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists, writers, sportspeople, artists and film-makers. And yet our highest court of appeal will be opened not by our finest legal minds. It will be opened by the grandson of our absentee head of state.

Prince William may be a fine person in real life, but that does not mean he is more qualified to open our Supreme Court than New Zealand's chief justice or governor- general, who was previously a judge.

We would think it absurd if these offices were determined by hereditary selection, yet we still have a hereditary head of state.

What's worse, not only is the British monarchy based on hereditary selection, it specifically discriminates against women and Catholics.

Recent suggested reforms to the succession by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown are another controversial issue for the prince to face. While our prime minister has pledged his support for amending the succession so that William could retain his title and marry a Catholic, he would still be banned from converting to Catholicism because our head of state must be the "Supreme Governor" of the Church of England.

Reforming the succession is pointless when the monarchy discriminates against all New Zealanders. Electing a ceremonial head of state would be superior to the status quo. Currently, the governor-general is appointed on the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister can appoint pretty much anyone he or she wants to the job, including ex- prime ministers.

The prime minister also holds the power to dismiss and replace them at any time. And because the Queen will never get involved in New Zealand politics, choosing to remain "above politics", there is no potential for either to act as a check on the Government.

This messy situation is further highlighted by William's visit - while he will be representing his grandmother the Queen, the Queen's actual representative in New Zealand, the governor-general, remains in office.

Becoming a republic is as legally simple as transferring the responsibilities and conventions of the Queen's representative to a new head of state. The symbolism of this transfer will signal the coming of age of our country.

A republic, along the lines of other parliamentary republics in the world, would have a head of state of greater standing than the governor- general.

The only real issue is how to elect them - directly, or by a super majority of Parliament.

The prince's fleeting three-day visit shows us that the royals' commitment to New Zealand is low. It cannot make up for the royal family's non-attendance at Sir Edmund Hillary's funeral in 2008, nor will it create the sort of "informal" atmosphere the royals have been advised to adopt.

How we see ourselves in the world is of great importance to our national identity, which is crucial to New Zealand's success in an increasingly global world. A republic is a signal of our independence to the world.

Even though electing our own head of state is a simple step, it is an important one because it fosters a sense of nationhood. We have the benefit of the last hundred years history to see that many parliamentary republics are just as democratically successful as ourselves.

We have a strong democracy because the people of New Zealand have a strong democratic ethos - not because members of the royal family visit us from time to time.

Lewis Holden chairs the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand and wrote The New Zealand Republic Handbook on the issue.