Sir Don Mckinnon: It’s Inevitable That NZ Will Become a Republic

On the eve of the royal tour, Sir Don McKinnon, former deputy Prime Minister and Commonwealth Secretary General, told TVNZ’s Q+A programme that it’s inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic.

“I think it's inevitable. I don’t know when and I'm not going to campaign actively one way or the other. I have a great respect for Her Majesty the Queen. I had so many meetings with her, and I have respect for Prince Charles. We had him here a little over a year ago and he proved very popular with the people. But it's a debate that will continue, it's important we have a good debate about this and about the flag.

“I think we have been for a long time, and I'm quite certain the Royal Family understands that completely. Look, 54 countries in the Commonwealth, only 16 are realms, and I can tell you now, one Caribbean publicly and three Caribbean privately are probably going to give up that relationship with the monarchy when the Queen dies. So it is a diminishing group of countries, and the important thing is for us to openly and candidly debate the issue.”

See the full Q+A interview on the website: http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/ta-tvnz-index-group-2556429

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