Beer and a barbecue. That’s the way to entertain an English Prince on a trip to New Zealand. The iconic photo of the Prime Minister supping a beer – New Zealand beer of course – while Prince William turns the steak was excellent form and a great argument against the pro-republican protesters outside the Supreme Court at its opening earlier in the day.
In New Zealand we treat our guests like our mates. The more like our mates we treat our guests, the bigger the compliment. The women sit back and relax, having spent the afternoon making a salad or the dessert, and the men do the cooking. Even at a first meeting, the blokes retire to fire-up the barbie, crack open a bottle and get to know each other, all the while assessing each other’s prowess at cooking over a grill. Having been to a few posh bar-b-cues, even a couple at Premiere House, I couldn’t help but notice the obvious difference in this latest one. Often the cooking goes on out the back or in the kitchen, by chefs trained and brought in for the purpose. The guests all mix and mingle with the hosts. But on this occasion, the host and guest of honour were the cooks.
I wonder if there is any other country in the Commonwealth, or even the rest of the world, where people show their warmth in such a casual way. By bestowing the tongs on Prince William, John Key acknowledged that the relationship and affinity with the Royal Family was much closer than if the tongs had been withheld, and the prince left to wander from huddle to huddle being nice, just like any other guest. In this rather unique way, New Zealand asserts its independence from Britain. Showing that it is not reliant on her – and if there is going to be a relationship, it is going to be on an equal footing. When Britain shook us off in favour of the European Community in the 1970’s, we first took on ‘cousin status’, rather than the protected ‘youngest child’ role. Consequently we have maintained a noticeable presence without clinging to Britain’s skirt, or an obsequiousness that hungers for any attention the previous ‘mother country’ bothers to extend to us.
New Zealand doesn’t have to become a republic to assert its sovereignty or independence. Maintaining the Queen as Head of State does not mean we tug forelocks, bow and scrape. Remaining in the Commonwealth with the Queen as Head of State does recognise that we are a small family with a very small constitutional gene pool, and it is good to use the Royal Family as a back stop in those sticky issues that, given over to an elected President, could open a door to political manipulation or corruption.
It is interesting to note that those in Labour and the Greens pursuing New Zealand as a Republic keep saying that ‘it is time to have the debate’. Such a debate would rip the scab off issues such as parity of status of all New Zealanders – European, Maori, Chinese, Pacific Island and Middle Eastern. The status of the Treaty of Waitangi would be debated, as would the need for a written Constitution, the status of the Bill of Rights and Human Rights legislation, and all their flow-on arguments. My concern is that the average kiwi would disengage, and just let the boffins and academics have their left-wing, bean sprouting and jandal slapping ways – giving no acknowledgement to history or colonial roots. The Maori relationship with the Crown would be negated, as the Crown would have no status. We’d be left scrapping again over whose family tree stretches back the furtherest.
We don’t need to be a Republic to be respected internationally. The message to Britain is clearly that we’re here, we’re in charge of our stuff, and we don’t actually need you to watch over us. But if you ever pop around, we’ll fire up the barbie in welcome. Help yourself to a beer, mate.
Chester Borrows
MP for Whanganui
