[New Zealand] Vote over republic falls at first hurdle

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[New Zealand] Vote over republic falls at first hurdle

Postby Felix Culpa » 04/ 21/ 10 7:35 pm

<a href=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10640002>
Vote over republic falls at first hurdle</a>

By Audrey Young
4:00 AM Thursday Apr 22, 2010

A bill setting up a referendum on republicanism was defeated in Parliament last night at its first reading, 68 votes to 53.

The Head of State Referenda Bill in the name of Green MP Keith Locke provided for a referendum with three options on how New Zealand should select its head of state.

The three options were the status quo of the British monarch being the head of state, a New Zealand head of state determined by a 75 per cent majority in Parliament or a head of state directly elected by the people under a preferential system.

The bill allowed for a second referendum if none of the three options got 50 per cent of the vote.

The two top options would have had a run-off referendum.

Mr Locke said the debate was about national identity, not like or dislike of the Queen or the royal family.

"The present Queen has been competent in the performance of her duties and she turns 84 this very day. I wish her a happy birthday."

But he pointed to the inherent conflict of interest in the Queen being head of state of two independent countries which had different foreign policies.

"When Britain sent troops into Iraq, the Queen, as Queen of Great Britain, went down to the barracks in military dress to support the soldiers.

"That was in conflict with her role as Queen of New Zealand - a country which opposed that same war."

He said it was important to have a head of state who could operate with true independence under MMP.

National's Tauranga MP, Simon Bridges, said he had been "chuffed" to see Prince William have a barbecue and beer with the Prime Minister recently, but who was New Zealand's head of state was not an issue with which he concerned himself.

Labour supported the bill, MP Charles Chauvel saying New Zealand could be an independent country and stay in the Commonwealth.


Hat tip: <a href=http://madmonarchist.blogspot.com/2010/04/monarchist-victory-in-new-zealand.html>The Mad Monarchist</a>
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Postby One Truth » 04/ 21/ 10 7:46 pm

Good. Friggin' commies.
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Postby Yoda » 04/ 21/ 10 9:03 pm

Some nations never grow up
"Plunderers of the world, when nothing remains of the lands to which they have laid waste by indiscriminate thievery, they search out across the seas. The wealth of another excites their greed, and its poverty their lust of power. Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun can satiate them. They alone are as compelled to attack the poor as they are the wealthy. Robbery, rape, and slaughter they falsely call empire; and where they create a desolate waste, they call it peace."
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Postby Kate Shaw » 04/ 22/ 10 4:39 am

New Zealand is a very small isolated country where the people are pretty much all alike, and virtually everyone is descended from British ancestry. (Yes, I have friends who live there and have spent time there myself.)

Its as much a sportsmans paradise and science experiment as it is a country.
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, nor between political parties, either but right through every human heart." Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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Postby Gerry T. Neal » 04/ 22/ 10 9:41 am

Excellent news. :hurray:

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Postby D. Johnson » 04/ 22/ 10 10:43 pm

They're moving futher with needed reforms than Canada ever will.
Should the next Alberta election be between a PC party led by Morton, and a Wildrose Alliance party led by Smith. No matter the winner Alberta Separatism will rear its head with more force than seen in the 80's before the winner calls a third election.

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Postby Kate Shaw » 04/ 23/ 10 5:33 am

They had to -- their country went broke in 1991 (I was there at the time). They responded by privatizing and selling off everything in sight, and now their post office is so efficient that they give the whole country one free day of mail every year (they never announce it in advance, of course).
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, nor between political parties, either but right through every human heart." Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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