New Zealand will soon have its first Governor-General who is both Māori and a woman. While the appointment has received almost universal praise, it’s sparked a wider debate about the colonialism it represents, writes political editor Jo Moir.
ANALYSIS: Dame Cindy Kiro has an impressive background. She’s a former Children’s Commissioner, highly-respected academic and was recently appointed chief executive of the Royal Society.
Asked what she will bring to the role of Governor-General from October, Dame Cindy reflected on her humble upbringing and the struggles and challenges her own parents – one Māori, the other British – had faced in their early years.
She talked about the importance of “old-fashioned’’ service and the connection her Māori (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine and Ngāti kahu) and part-British heritage will bring to that.
Pressed on whether she thought it was appropriate in 2021 for the Queen to be New Zealand’s head of state, Dame Cindy diplomatically dodged the question, instead explaining the constitutional make-up that has put her there.
“Clearly I accept the Queen as the Head of State of the Commonwealth and I’m here to support her. “This is the constitution we have, and I look forward to serving the country,’’ she told media.
Dame Cindy's appointment answered Dr Areti Metuamate’s challenge to the Prime Minister to appoint someone of Māori descent to the role.
He’s long spearheaded calls for a greater Māori presence in the country's senior constitutional positions – pointing to the fact the Prime Minister, her deputy, the chief justice and chief of defence are all Pākehā.
Dr Metuamate, a prominent academic and chief executive of Te Kupenga Catholic theological colleges, is of Ngati Kauwhata, Ngati Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngati Haua and Cook Islands Maori descent.
He told Newsroom he was delighted with Dame Cindy’s appointment but called for Ardern to use her large mandate with both Māori and Pākehā to truly overhaul the constraints of the current system.
It fills him with dread that one day he’ll have to explain to his one-year-old son that he can aspire as Māori to be anything he wants, except hold the highest office of all – the head of state.
In an unusual move earlier this year, the outgoing Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy made her views on the continuation of the monarchy clear.
Former Governors-General have made similar moves, but only after leaving the role.
Dame Patsy, however, is on record saying there will always be a future role for a Governor-General because New Zealand was “uniquely formed by a contract, by a treaty, and that treaty was between the Crown of England and Māori of New Zealand’’.
Dr Metuamate completely disagrees and told Newsroom the Government needs to be bold enough to have a wider conversation around bi-culturalism, equity, partnership and leadership and how that all relates to the country’s overarching constitutional arrangements.
Dame Cindy accepts there’s “some way to go’’ on race relations, but is also “absolutely committed” to her new role representing the Queen.
Even Ardern, a self-professed republican, says ditching the monarchy isn’t a debate she plans to have as part of her political career.
She does anticipate, however, it will happen in her lifetime.
“It’s something we’ve been asked continuously - whether the time is right to put that question to the public.
“I’ve never sensed an urgency around that question in the here and now, and it hasn’t been presented to me as a priority, so it hasn’t been a priority for us,’’ Ardern said.
While the republic debate might have been parked for now at least, there is a conversation underway about Māori self-determination and co-governance.
The public release of He Puapua – a report commissioned by the Government in response to New Zealand signing up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – has certainly prompted that.
Ardern has already ruled out one proposal for a Māori upper house in Parliament, but other work is already underway, such as the removal of a provision allowing voters to effectively veto Māori wards on local councils.
Te Paati Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer points to Dame Cindy’s appointment as an influential one, and says it shows how far Aotearoa has come.
She says it’s a “pivotal time for us in New Zealand’’ and shows “a sign of maturity’’.
On the wider debate about sovereignty, Ngarewa-Packer says the “partnership that was intended for Aotearoa was one that could and should work’’.
She says the intention under the Treaty of Waitangi was that it would be “combined sovereignty’’.
“That was a model our ancestors believed in, and as it evolves it’s about getting the balance right – for now we’ve had 180 years of not getting the balance right’’.
She says Dame Cindy’s appointment is a “great example of what change and evolution could look like’’.
Outside of that, if there are to be constitutional changes (including a proposal to extend the parliamentary term to four years), Ngarewa-Packer says the focus of that debate has to be equity and having representation of tangata whenua at the highest level.
It was ACT leader David Seymour who reignited four-year terms at the weekend during his party’s AGM.
Ardern had already previously signalled she supports the idea and says other political parties will be consulted on it this year.
She’s ruled out any changes taking place at the next election, saying “the most important thing we need to ensure is maintaining public confidence that no party here is trying to advantage themselves’’.
That means any decision would have to be pushed out into the future and she says that’s all part of the consultation she wants to have with party leaders over the coming six months.
On whether a debate about a republic actually went hand-in-hand with a national conversation about race relations, Ardern agreed, but said the sense she got from the public was that inequities like housing, health and education were the focus, not the constitutional arrangement.
“I still think there is a time and a place, I just don’t think it is now.’’
Dr Metuamate says the Government doesn’t require total public consensus to make these sorts of changes.
He pointed to the fact it’s highly unlikely a Māori Health Authority is being implemented because a majority of “Pākehā doctors and nurses were supportive of it happening’’.
His new challenge to Ardern is to think bigger than who should be the Queen’s representative, and whether there should be one at all.
