Dominion centenary time for reflection

25 September 2007

"The centenary of dominion is time for celebration and reconciliation as remembers the last 100 years of being a Dominion" said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand.

"As Pakeha New Zealanders celebrate Dominion Day, we can all use the day to reflect on what the last one hundred years have meant for Maori and Pakeha relations"

"On Dominion Day 1907, British New Zealanders began to think about what it was that made them different from the United Kingdom. At the same time, our national symbols began to be shaped by the Maori culture. Maori and Pakeha have come a long way together, and while the process of reconciliation is not yet over we can now look now forward to living in a country where Maori and non-Maori, iwi and tauiwi, can understand and respect one another's cultures"

"In 1907 we stopped being a colony. The New Zealand government took full responsibility for domestic issues. Colony status was considered by some Maori to represent the conquest of Aotearoa, and its end signalled the end of the period of colonisation. For Maori the last one hundred years has been one of political struggle - Maori already understood that responsibility breaches of the Treaty lay with the government in New Zealand. Since 1882, Maori deputations to the Queen had repeatedly sought redress from the Crown. In every attempt to raise their concerns they were referred back to the New Zealand government on the grounds that the imperial government was no longer responsible for such matters.

"But since 1907 Maori have campaigned hard to win back the rights and resources they had lost. Eighty years ago the first Commission of inquiry into land confiscations began and slowly but surely all New Zealanders have begun to understand and address Maori grievances. In the last twenty years Maori have lead the way toward reconciliation. Maori writers and thinkers have challenged us to think about who we are and what our nation values. Maori artists and musicians have elaborated another way of feeling and seeing the land and people around us.

It is no surprise that Maori are the strongest supporters of republicanism in New Zealand. The last New Zealand Electoral Study, a comprehensive poll of New Zealanders, found more Maori supporting a republic than their Pakeha counterparts. This comprehensive study of 2,762 New Zealand voters at the 2005 election found that 36% of Maori supported a republic, with 34% of Pakeha also supporting a republic - while only 41% of Maori supported the monarchy to 48% of Pakeha supporting the monarchy.

"Republicanism is no threat to Maori. The status of the Treaty will not be diminished when we become a republic. If anything becoming a republic will place a crown on all our heads. It will bring the Treaty home to all New Zealanders."

"The road to republicanism is a potential gateway to reconciliation. As we choose the values of the future we carry with us all of the wisdom of the past. Dominion Day is a day for us all to talk about the principles we will use to guide us into the future"

DEBATE

Kiwi republicans and monarchists will go head to head in a public debate on the centenary of New Zealand's declaration of dominion status.

The topic of the debate will be "That on the centenary of New Zealand becoming a dominion, it is time for us to become a republic". Speakers from the Auckland University Debating Society, the Monarchist League and the Republican Movement will address the topic.

- Where: Pioneer Women's Hall, Corner High Street and Freyberg Place, Auckland

- Entry: Free

ENDS

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