'The idea of a speech from the throne is absurd in 1999. While Sir Michael Hardie-Boys did a fine job, it seems ridiculous for an accomplished judge to be reading a speech on behalf of the Queen that was written by the Prime Minister,' said Dave Guerin, president of the Republican Movement.

'This embarrassing situation is caused by archaic constitutional arrangements that have not kept up with New Zealanders' lives. The monarchy and all its trappings do not fit with our democratic society.'

'With the millennium just around the corner, it is time to bring our state ceremonies into the 20th century at least. The speech is simply the incoming Government's plan for the next three years, so why can't we have the Prime Minister reading out her own plans?'

ENDS

Contact Dave Guerin on 021-404334
Web site at www.republic.org.nz

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>