Catholics and girls move up the order
The Telegraph reports:
Gordon Brown has paved the way for sweeping changes to the 300-year-old law which prevents Roman Catholics ascending to the throne.
Mr Brown has made it clear he also wants to change the rule of primogeniture, which prevents women taking their place ahead of men in the line to the throne.
The Prime Minister will travel to a Commonwealth summit in Trinidad today and will raise the controversial issue fellow heads of government.
Good to see some modernisation. It has been bizarre that Catholics have been barred from becoming the New Zealand Head of State.
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Tags: Republicanism
November 26th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Modernisation is when NZ gets rid of British monarchy. Let them do what they want for themselves
November 26th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I don’t think any slef respecting papist would want the job although our current Govenor General is a fellow pracising papist (and in fact respected member of the Catholic Church in Mt Victoria)
Did Helen break the law in appointing a papist to the GG role???
November 26th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Maybe the Church of England wouldn’t approve his divorce.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
That’s because the Monarch of the UK is also the head of the Anglican church. Might make things a bit awkward if the head of the Anglican church was Catholic, or Muslim for that matter…
Not that I’d mind. The Anglican church is disovling anyway and returning the Catholic church. So who knows? Maybe its not such a bad thing…
November 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
F**k me, the world must be ticking along really really nicely if this is an agenda item for Heads of Government! Not worth the plane fare for John and assorted hangers-on to be there for. Send a couple of Kaumatua to sort it out with Brown and concentrate on the important stuff at home.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Can we not ban Scientologists instead?
November 26th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Hmmm, a Papist banned from being the head of the Church of England. Whatever next.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
>It has been bizarre that Catholics have been barred from becoming the New Zealand Head of State.
It is equally bizarre that Gordon Brown is driving a change to New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
It’s bizarre Gordon Brown has anything to do with our constitutional arrangements.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Yes the defender of the faith not actually being of that faith. Your logic is not like our earth logic David.
Does Brown not actually have anythign important to do? I’m sure his troops in combat would like it if he spent some time actually giving them the equipment they need to stay alive instead of arsing about trying to lift his ratings with a dead cat bounce.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Britain could elect a monarch every few years, but it might get block voting from Muslims for an Emir, from gays and transvestites for a male queen, or from the lefties for some socialist nob.
Better to make the post as symbolic and powerless as Gov-General is in NZ, and follow us into becoming a de facto republic, but keeping castles and airheads for the tabloids, tabloid TV, and girlie magazines.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
The Act of Settlement 1701 exists for a reason.
England and by default New Zealand are better off because of its existance.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
“Mr Brown has made it clear he also wants to change the rule of primogeniture, which prevents women taking their place ahead of men in the line to the throne.”
What next!! Maybe it will be a big chief like Hone H. insisting women can sit beside men and speak on a Marae..Outrageous.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Seems all a bit academic as it presupposes a member of the Royal Family somehow being a Roman Catholic.
The Telegraph may as well have run a story saying “Mr Brown has paved the way for removing any impediment for people who live in Temuka, New Zealand ascending the Throne…”
or
“Mr Brown has paved the way for removing any impediment for people who have been to the moon ascending the Throne…”
http://www.nightcitytrader.blogspot.com
November 26th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
It has been bizarre that Catholics have been barred from becoming the New Zealand Head of State.
I find it far more bizarre that New Zealanders have been barred from becoming the New Zealand Head of State
November 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
It wasn’t bizarre when it was put in place – the pope had a lot of power over members of the Roman (people always forget that word) Catholic church.
It’s one of those things which could only ever be removed *when* it was bizarre. Sort of like the laws in the old south forbidding calling out the words “hey boy”.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Murray, I’ll think you will find that the title ‘Defender of the faith’ was given to Henry VIII for his support of the One True Faith before he developed his taste for women who were not his wife.
Should a Catholic return to the throne, the monarch will finally be defending the faith they were meant to defend.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
If we had a meaningful Bill of Rights then this provision might be considered contrary to it and therefore unconstitutional in the sense that it would contravene our Bill of Rights. As it is we have a toothless document full of platitudes. Time to sever the links with the United Kingdom and entrench a real document that is representatative of current New Zealand rights and values.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Re MyNameisJack t 4.08….
The effective head of state in NZ is the Prime Minister. The Governor-General, effectively appointed by the Government, is a symbolic figure with no real power at all. The Queen is one step removed from that, a symbol for stamps and coins etc, and provider of a family that feeds the NZ populace’s need for world-leading celebrities occasionally. The Royal family link is also a cultural symbol of the British and Maori treaty and understanding that underpins this country.
If MyNameisJack had his way, we would move from an exceedingly economical political structure of a de facto republic, to an expensive full republic, with another layer of bureaucracy and political lackeys. In all likely we would end up with presidents like Helen the Horrid.
That would be a thousand times more bizarre than our present symbolic heads of state.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
We have a separate act that covers this, we could technically change our own legislation for a new Queen/King if we didn’t like the British sucession. But as we have a double eldest male sucession coming up, this is probably the time to do it before the next generation in line appears.
I’m in favour of keeping the British royal family as our Head of State, but if republicism is done right I can live with it. At the moment there doesn’t appear to be any clarity about how NZ could proceed on this, do we want an Irish model, a French model, or a US model?
November 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
How about a New Zealand model
November 26th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Why not just make the Maori King (or Queen) our Head of State…so easy.
And cheap! A couple of blankets, an axe or two…
November 27th, 2009 at 2:54 am
Michael E (260) Vote: 1 0 Says:
November 26th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
We have a separate act that covers this, we could technically change our own legislation for a new Queen/King if we didn’t like the British sucession. But as we have a double eldest male sucession coming up, this is probably the time to do it before the next generation in line appears.
I’m in favour of keeping the British royal family as our Head of State, but if republicism is done right I can live with it. At the moment there doesn’t appear to be any clarity about how NZ could proceed on this, do we want an Irish model, a French model, or a US model?
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Indeed. My greatest concern about changing our constitutional arrangements is that the entire process becomes a means to give politicians and interest groups yet more power with out any checks or balances.
November 27th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Good to see that Brown is so on top of his job that he can spend time on this slick-fisted pc trivia.
Yes- let’s make NZ a republic. That way Helen Clark can ultimately return to the homeland and supplant the GG as our new figurehead State President. A Latin American presidential sash really goes well with trouser suits.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Re Lucy Hansen 1t 11.13 pm on the cost of a Maori sovereign “…cheap! A couple of blankets, an axe or two…”
Must be a different member of the Lucy consortium to the ones who chatter on about racism.