ABSTRACT
Republican advocates have sometimes argued that the most obvious trigger to debate a new system for appointing New Zealand's head of state is immediately following the death of the incumbent. The public position of New Zealand’s last three long-serving prime ministers – Jim Bolger, Helen Clark, and John Key – and the incumbent, Jacinda Ardern, has been broadly that New Zealand will and probably should become a republic before too long, but that they have no intention of leading such a process, citing other priorities. Such a position lacks integrity and if continually applied by their successors is the same in practice as the most staunch monarchist. Prime ministerial leadership in a positive context would also allow New Zealand to be innovative in considering who or what should be head of state in a New Zealand republic.
