September 12, 2022

Yawn factor counts against royal ruction

Adam Gifford Posted On September 12, 2022

Adam Gifford clip Joneschange12

Former MP Shane Jones doesn’t see any appetite among New Zealanders to change constitutional arrangements with the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Another former MP, Maori Party president John Tamihere, says he does not see a King Charles in his world once Queen Elizabeth is laid to rest, but rather a continued effort by Maori to reclaim sovereignty.

But Mr Jones says change in Aotearoa takes a long time.

“There have been various attempts. (Former Governor General) Sir Paul Reeves chaired a constitutional law reform committee but all those committees, all those efforts, never went anywhere because there is not a deep stirring sense of change amongst the hoi polloi in New Zealand and if that change isn’t there, then why bother?” he says.