Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi hopes the appointment of Dame Cindy Kiro as Governor General can be a test run for a republican head of state.
Mr Waititi says Dame Cindy and her whānau were part of the community when he was growing up in Te Atatū, and he’s proud of her achievements.
"I'm also proud she's a wahine Māori in that position. Maybe this is an opportunity for us to transform what a head of state looks like in Aotearoa if we were to go to a republic. Do we need to have the head of state connected to the crown or can we look at a personality like Cindy who can walk comfortably in both worlds, her tangata whenua world and her tangata tiriti world, and be able to offer sound advice and guidance in those particular spaces," he says.
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