New Zealand’s Leader Affirms Support for a Republic, but Not Now

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand reaffirmed her support for the country to eventually become a republic, but said it was not an urgent issue for her government to pursue.

“I do believe that is where New Zealand will head in time,” she told reporters on Monday. Ms. Ardern’s comments came a day after she expressed support for the new British sovereign, King Charles III.

“King Charles has long had an affection for Aotearoa New Zealand and has consistently demonstrated his deep care for our nation,” using the Maori and English names for the country at a proclamation ceremony for the new head of state. That relationship is “deeply valued by our people,” she said, and added: “I have no doubt it will deepen.”

New Zealand has had few publicly republican leaders before Ms. Ardern. But she is unlikely to shepherd in a referendum on the matter. “I believe it’s likely to occur in my lifetime, but I don’t see it as a short-term measure or anything that is on the agenda anytime soon,” she said on Monday, citing a lack of “urgency.”

Former British colonies around the world have begun to re-examine their relationship with the monarchy in the wake of the queen’s death. On Saturday, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda announced plans to hold a referendum on becoming a republic within three years. That follows in the footsteps of another Caribbean nation, Barbados, which last year voted to remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

“This is a matter that has to be taken to a referendum for the people to decide,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda said. Charles III serves as head of state for 15 countries, including Britain.

In New Zealand, there appears to be little public appetite for a major constitutional change away from the monarchy. In a 2021 poll, just one third of New Zealanders surveyed said they would support abandoning the country’s ties to the royal family, while a proposal in 2016 to remove the Union Jack from New Zealand’s flag was roundly defeated.

New Zealand’s Indigenous population has a complex relationship with the British monarchy. In 1840, Maori chiefs joined with representatives of the British monarchy to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, a legal document that has played a key role in the relationship between New Zealand’s government and the Maori population. “They’ve always seen the monarch as the other partner in the Treaty of Waitangi, so that relationship has always been important,” said Jock Phillips, a New Zealand historian.

Earlier this year, Te Pati Maori, a minority party that seeks to represent the interests of New Zealand’s Indigenous population, called for the British royal family to be removed as head of state.

“This is an opportunity to rebalance the scales of power,” Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, a co-leader of the party, said at the time.

Republicanism is more entrenched in Australia, which has a larger population of Irish descent, Dr. Phillips said, and it was hard to know what might bring on a more active debate in New Zealand. “If Australia were to become a republic, I think that would precipitate a much more intense discussion,” he said.

There is some evidence that public sentiment is shifting. During her reign, the queen made 10 visits to New Zealand: In 1953, her first visit to the country, some 75 percent of New Zealanders made an effort to see her. In her most recent trip in 2002, those crowds had dwindled, Dr. Phillips said. “We’re simply not that tied into Britain,” he said.