Curran Clare: Head of State Referenda Bill — First Reading 
Curran Clare: Head of State Referenda Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10381] 
CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 I am a staunch and proud republican. I believe New Zealand must and will one day have a New Zealander as its head of State. I thank Keith Locke for his work on the Head of State Referenda Bill and I congratulate him on having it finally drawn from the ballot after 7 years. The Labour Party as we have heard tonight supports this bill being referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee. 
Politics is about timing and the time for New Zealand to have a New Zealand head of State may not be now but it is time to start a discussion about it. It is important to respect everybody’s views on this issue and I do. I think also it is important to stand up for what one believes in. In principle we believe that New Zealand should eventually become a republic but there are many issues that we need to work through first as a country. Those issues include whether we believe that the head of State should be elected by the people or appointed by Parliament and how the Treaty of Waitangi will fit with a new set-up. 
The time is right as we have heard a number of times tonight for a public conversation about this important issue. If anything comes out of this debate tonight that will be the most important thing. As members may already know I have a strong view in favour of New Zealand becoming a republic with an independent head of State which will allow us to become a truly independent nation. I believe that it represents New Zealand growing up as a nation. My views have been public on this issue from day one; I talked about it in my maiden speech in Parliament. In January this year I somewhat controversially stood alongside the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand at the opening of the Supreme Court building. 
Labour leader Phil Goff has expressed the view that we will and should have a New Zealander as our head of State one day. Members of other political parties have expressed similar views including the Prime Minister. In order for that to occur we should have a public debate and now is a good time to start that. I would like New Zealanders to start to honestly debate the issues that need to be discussed because I have always taken the view that talking about issues is a lot better than not talking about them. 
My friend and colleague Charles Chauvel recently reminded me that Labour has a proud tradition in the gradual move towards independence. Peter Fraser caused the adoption of the Statute of Westminster to be proposed from the Speech from the Throne in 1944. In 1946 he was responsible for the appointment of the first Governor-General to have spent most of his life in New Zealand Bernard Freyberg. Norman Kirk amended the 1852 Constitution Act in 1974 to make it clear that Parliament could legislate extraterritorially and to ensure that the Queen’s titles were updated to reflect her role as Sovereign of New Zealand. Geoffrey Palmer repatriated the constitution reformed parliamentary procedure and introduced the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Helen Clark abolished appeals to the English Privy Council New Zealand membership of that body and the awarding of titles to New Zealanders. 
There is a pressing need to confront the question of a resident head of State—a resident for president as my colleague Charles Chauvel said—because the reign of the present Sovereign is approaching an end. The Australian republic referendum in the mid-1990s demonstrated the need to have a viable alternative model that embodies democratic principles and that will garner public support. New Zealand deserves a head of State who is a New Zealander—someone who lives here and somebody who reflects New Zealand values. New Zealand should have a head of State who reflects New Zealand’s position as an independent nation. 
There are many more pressing issues at this time and there always will be but the head of State should be a unifying symbol of our nation because symbols do matter. New Zealand’s head of State should be democratically accountable. The idea of a monarchy clashes with our sense of egalitarianism especially given that no New Zealander can ever become head of State no matter how much ability they have. New Zealand does not need to rewrite its history in becoming a republic; we can retain our flag the Treaty can be honoured and we can remain part of the Commonwealth. These are the reasons that Labour supports this bill being referred to select committee.