If New Zealand became a republic, NZ would be ruled by a New Zealand Head of State who would take the responsibilities from the Crown. We would lose out ties with the British Crown. The type of Republic that we would become could vary. Most political analysts agree that a referendum would be the best way to decide what type of Head of State New Zealand would have. If NZ was to have a powerful political Head of State like America, that person would hold the most political influence. If NZ was to have a more ceremonial orientated Head of State like India however, not much would change.
I found out that a ceremonial Head of State is more or less the same as the current Queen, although she can make changes she rarely does. She is more of a symbol than an actual politician. This may be biased because this opinion was expressed by a pro-monarchist. Many people have questions about what will happen to the flag and national anthem. I found out that these have nothing to do with the political orientation of the country, so they may remain the same as before.
If New Zealand became a republic the Treaty of Waitangi would legally remain the same, all that would change is the description of the party that the Maori signed the Treaty with, the Crown. Instead of the British Crown, it would be changed to the New Zealand Head of State. All the various parties confirm that this is so. The Pro-Republicans always push this point to gain support from the Maori. However I notice that they do not mention anything about what would happen to the Maori King or Queen if New Zealand became a Republic.
When watching the video "Panel Debate on becoming a republic" the pro-monarchist representative asked the pro-republican about what would happen to the Maori monarchy. He was then forced to reveal that the Maori monarchy would be dissolved. The Maori people would not appreciate this, they respect their leader. This suggests that the pro-republicans are trying to hide this fact, because they would lose the support of the Maori people who support their monarch. So the pro-monarchist who asked the question was clever in the way that the fact that the Maori monarch would be dissolved would be spread more and better known.
One of the arguments that have been used in support of New Zealand becoming a Republic is that New Zealand is moving towards a Republic now. They say that people want a new flag, a new anthem and a Head of State who is currently living in New Zealand. Many pro-republicans and their supporters share this view. I found out by looking at a panel debate video that the flag and anthem have nothing to do with becoming a Republic, in fact New Zealand could still be a monarchy with a flag with a caterpillar on it and an anthem about cheese!
Another argument is that according to some pro-republicans, becoming a republic will "bring the treaty home", that is that the responsibilities of the current Crown [the Queen] will be transferred onto the New Zealand government. I believe that they are pushing this point to gain support [mainly the support of those who are of Maori descent]. In reality the Treaty itself would not change so they are trying to make big things out of nothing.
One of the arguments that have been used in support of New Zealand staying as a Monarchy is that the current system in working so there is no need to change it. This is [apparently according to pro-republicans] the most used argument in defence of the monarchy. Monarchists say that the system of monarchy has worked well in New Zealand for many years so why should we change this? Pro-republicans respond to this by stating that "only need to think of other major constitutional changes in New Zealand"s history'.
They say that our old election system "wasn't broken' when women were denied the right to vote. Yet, that was changed, like the elections pro-republicans say that the system of monarchy also needs to be changed. However, pro-monarchists have counter-argued by saying that the old election system was broken, because women were not allowed to vote and did not share the same freedoms that men do.
