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Queen Elizabeth II - Source: Reuters -
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Prime Minister John Key says he "loves the royal family" after debate was stirred about the monarchy over the weekend.
Notes belonging to former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen were made public on Sunday, in which he suggested New Zealand should ditch the British monarchy and become a republic.
Although a self-proclaimed "token monarchist", in his notes Cullen said Britain is less relevant to young New Zealanders, and the royals' preference for male heirs is inconsistent with New Zealand values.
The notes include Cullen calling Prince Charles "strange", and describing the Duke of Edinburgh as "insensitive and prejudiced".
Monarchy New Zealand spokesman Simon O'Connor told Breakfast this morning that Cullen's comments were a little surprising.
"(It's) a little out of left field ... there doesn't seem to be any catalyst or great drive for it," he said.
He said it was strange and harsh that Cullen had focused on personality rather than the constitutional structure.
"Why so personality focussed, when we are talking about a constitutional system?" he said.
"It would be like getting worried if Obama's favourite colour was blue."
Chairman of the Republican Movement, Lewis Holden said he agreed with O'Connor that Cullen's comments were a bit harsh.
"We could do without the personal insults to the members of the royal family."
But he told Breakfast that he welcomes Cullen's comments and his "well thought-through" approach to the issue.
"Cullen has gone through the issues in his speech, and pinpointed the fact that eventually there will come a time when the monarchy isn't as popular as it is today."
However he said it would be a silly idea to wait for the Queen's reign to end.
"Essentially we are saying we should wait for the next election for when John Key is ready to retire or when he dies - it's ridiculous in that respect."
He said the reason most people like the monarchy is because of the Queen.
"However once the Queen goes, you have Prince Charles, who tends to offend conservatives because of his divorce and people on the other end of the spectrum because of the things he says about genetic modification or farming subsidies.
"He is a more polarising person than the Queen."
Key weighed into the debate on Breakfast this morning, saying he was a "royalist through and through" and that he "loved" the royal family.
Key's government reinstated knights and dames to the country's honours list in 2008 after Labour abolished them.
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Post new commentdnmcya0 said on 2010-09-03 @ 21:59 NZDT: Report abusive post
Becoming a republic will produce nothing tangible for us. Everything will still be same and the only difference is that there will be much money spent on changing the current system. NZ is already an independent nation; its actions are independent of mother England. It does not need a republic status to define that.
sadroneru said on 2010-09-02 @ 21:06 NZDT: Report abusive post
People need to appreciate that it is completely wrong to suggest that our monarchy is not an "apron-string" attached to the motherland. Ever since 1947, New Zealand has been independent and had her own monarchy - one that merely shares the same royal family with 15 other states.
davidjh said on 2010-09-02 @ 21:03 NZDT: Report abusive post
Before we decide, what type of Republic will we get? Polititions want to appoint a President not have them elected by the citizens of NZ. We only need a person to sign in our laws as an administrator like as present, A President would feel he must do something, as we would still have a Prime Minister running the Country. It would cost a lot more than present setup.
Barnes said on 2010-09-02 @ 20:26 NZDT: Report abusive post
I respect Cullen but New Zealand should become a rebublic.
Patricia Roberts said on 2010-09-02 @ 20:11 NZDT: Report abusive post
The monarchy is our global family. There are the cousins we know well and the ones we don't, with the odd relation who's a bit cranky or eccentric. It's normal for children to grow up to be independent adults, but they don't normally ditch the wider family. A new flag would be good to show our independence, but I see no real need to become a republic. Canada is a good example. The monarchy is not harming us in any way, and achieves a lot of good in the world, whether it's the Queen or her heirs. We should support that.