Constitutional Stocktake

Discussing our future constitutional arrangements.

Finally, the government is going to start the long-awaited, and promised constitutional "stocktake", which will lead to an all-party select committee to discuss the make-up of our constitution. Basically, what the government wants to achieve is a constitution as a single document, which will set out the powers and responsibilities of the state, and the rights of its citizens. This is a superior solution to what the current situation is - the Constitution Act 1986, the Treaty of Waitangi, and hundreds of passages and clauses in laws make up our current constitution.

It will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

However, there is support within parliament (and society at large perhaps?) to broaden the scope of the constitutional "stocktake" so that it would leave open discussion for the formation of a republic. I think this is a brilliant idea for several reasons:

1. It'll reflect the fact that our nation is a mature one, and doesn't need to have its head of state based in another country.
2. New Zealanders will be able to choose their head of state.
3. It will finally rid our legal system of the undemocratic institution that is the monarchy.

As to whether the constitutional stocktake will actually include discussions regarding the role the monarchy has in our legal system is a different matter. There will be a lot of things to take into consideration, ie:

1. The costs and effort related to converting our country into a republic.
2. What form it will take. Will it be a unitary, or federal republic?
3. Whether the republic will be parliamentary based, or not.
4. And most importantly, how the head of state will be chosen. Will the person be appointed by the legislative assembly? Or will they be directly voted by the people?

For these reasons, I think that it will take a very long time to work through the issue. It's definitely likely that New Zealand will have a unified constitution, but not a republican form of government in the next ten to fifteen years.

Related links:
• The Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Information regarding the Constitution Act 1986.
• News article related to the constitutional inquiry.