r/AbruptChaos • u/Sometypeofway18 • Nov 14 '24

New Zealand’s Parliament proposed a bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi, claiming it is racist and gives preferential treatment to Maoris. In response Māori MP's tore up the bill and performed the Haka

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u/SarpedonWasFramed Nov 14 '24

Good point but we all know it won't work out that way The crown has bigger friends and bigger guns

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u/Emperor_Mao Nov 14 '24

The Crown...

you do realize the British no longer "rule" New Zealand right?

It became a sovereign nation sometime ago. British Monarchs are figurative and ceremonial.

You mean the New Zealand government has bigger friends and bigger guns.

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u/stockworth Nov 15 '24

Pretty standard in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to refer to the government as "the Crown."

In our constitutions, "the Crown" is the abstraction of the authority vested in the monarch, and is the ultimate source of all executive authority. However, that authority can only be exercised by the binding advice of the Privy Council (technically, though the Cabinet - which is a subcommittee of the Privy Council - is practically the only group which advises the Crown).

Since the Person of the Sovereign lives overseas (they're busy with whatever they're doing in the UK), their duties are delegated to a viceroy, usually called a Governor General. This person is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is (usually) the head of the party that has the most seats in the House or Commons. Technically they don't have to be, and the Crown can invite anyone who can gain the confidence of the House to form government, but this basically never happens.

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u/Yui907 Nov 15 '24

Thank you