MPs voted today to congratulate Charles III on his coronation. But while noting the heir, thoughts of an alternative Head of State are not far away. Is it not just inevitable but timely? National's Michael Woodhouse on the Monarchy.
The first thing Parliament did this week was discuss whether to congratulate New Zealand's newish Head of State, King Charles III on his coronation.
Te Pāti Māori were not in favour of doing so and the Green Party were ambivalent about it, but ACT, National and Labour agreed to send the King an 'address' of congratulations.
The King as Head of State is more tangible for MPs than most kiwis. All MPs must swear an oath of allegiance to the Monarch as New Zealand's Head of State as a prerequisite for taking their seats as MPs.
Listen to the Shadow Leader of the House Michael Woodhouse discuss this topic and other aspects of the week in Parliament
Damien O'Connor holds his ministerial oath as he is sworn in as a minister at Government House
That MP's oath does not demand though that MPs be monarchists. Instead, they are allowed to consider and create alternative forms of government for New Zealand. In fact the idea of that is included in the oath itself (more on that later).
Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have agreed that New Zealand discussing becoming a republic is inevitable. The only question is when. Both have deferred that idea.
The question isn't even necessarily a party-political one. Most parties don't have a determined point-of-view on the topic. There are one or two 'out' royalists within National but indications are that most MPs across Parliament tend towards the opposite camp.
When I met Shadow Leader of the House Michael Woodhouse (N) to chat through the coming week in Parliament I asked about the issue.
He describes himself as "an ambivalent royalist, but I really do enjoy the pomp." He watched the coronation all the way until the flypast, so well after midnight.
As a five-term MP and twice-government minister he has, necessarily, sworn allegiance to the crown (and "heirs and successors"), on seven separate occasions. That was compulsory.
"He is, like-it-or-not our Head of State".
That statement comes across more somewhat fiercely than he delivered it.
Shadow Leader of the House - National MP, Michael Woodhouse
Time to consider the alternatives
Each MP's or minister's oath of loyalty includes a line about "heirs and successors". In other words, they swear loyalty not only to heirs, but to anyone who becomes the head of state. It is not compulsory that our head of state be a Windsor or a monarch. …