Could the queen just shut us down?

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JaseNZ

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Topic # 243825 3-Jan-2019 20:59

So I was doing some swatting up on the Queens powers for some unknown reason and it turns out she has some pretty amazing rights to pretty much do what ever she wants to do even though those powers are never used.

She is above the law and could never be prosecuted and could pretty much say hey see all that land there its now mine.

I note that she stepped in and fired the prime minster of Aussie in 1975 and dissolved the government during a government shutdown similar to the states.

I presume because we are part of the commonwealth and she is our head she could just jump in and do the same thing here at any time ??.

What are your thoughts on the Monarchy in relation to us. ??

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Geektastic

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Reply # 2154123 3-Jan-2019 21:33

I can't possibly imagine any circumstances in which the Queen would want to even if she could.

It's just as likely that France would decide to nuke us I should think.

wellygary

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Reply # 2154129 3-Jan-2019 21:49

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Mspec:

I presume because we are part of the commonwealth and she is our head she could just jump in and do the same thing here at any time ??.

What are your thoughts on the Monarchy in relation to us. ??

Its not because of the Commonwealth ( there are a plenty of commonwealth members that have elected ( or otherwise) presidents without the Queen being head of State..

Its simply becuase she is the Queen of NZ and our head of State. ( just like she is also the Queen of Canada and Australia etc), although each of these titles has different powers and are tenchincally different people, ( although they all live at Buck House)

The granting of huge powers that are nver used is not uncommon.... Countries do it all the time, each Ambassador sent overseas is granted the full powers of their home government to negotiate and sign treaties or any other form of international agreement.. (in practice they always do so under instruction from their home country, but if they did go a bit troppo they could do it all on their own)...

freitasm

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Reply # 2154139 3-Jan-2019 22:07

As above, Queen Elizabeth II's title in New Zealand is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith according to the Royal Title Act 1974.

She's our Head of State - and her powers exist not because because of her role as Head of the Commonwealth or Queen of England. As for your question about the Monarchy in relation to us... I present you Presidents in other countries.

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freitasm

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Reply # 2154174 3-Jan-2019 22:12

Also, reading up on The Dimissal, it seems the Governor General, as provisioned by the Consitution, dismissed Parliament - not the Queen.

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Varkk

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Reply # 2155560 7-Jan-2019 09:21

The Governor General is the Queen's representative. Their authority to dismiss parliament etc comes from the Queen. It is also a case of she has a lot of power in theory. However if she were to use it she would probably lose it. Australia has a much stronger republican movement than here, most common reasoning for it is because of the 1975 dissolving of parliament. In the past if a King or Queen over-stepped their bounds e.g by seizing land then they often found themselves on the wrong end of a chopping block as the other lords rallied around a distant cousin as the true heir.

MikeAqua

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Reply # 2155636 7-Jan-2019 10:43

If you are interested in this subject, take a look at the Constitution Act 1986.

And it was the Aussie GG (John Kerr) who dismissed the Aussie govt hence Gough Whitlam, the dismissed PM's famous line: -

" ... god save the queen, because no-one will save the governor general"

In NZ no act of parliament is valid unless it receives the Royal Assent from the GG. As far as I know this has never been withheld under the 1986 Act.

Mike

gzt

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Reply # 2155802 7-Jan-2019 14:12

Mspec:
I note that she stepped in and fired the prime minster of Aussie in 1975 and dissolved the government during a government shutdown similar to the states.

I presume because we are part of the commonwealth and she is our head she could just jump in and do the same thing here at any time ??.

NZ has a untitary parliament so generally speaking this exact same situation does not arise.

If there was a deadlock on supply for some reason and our parliament could not pass supply bills then you could expect the governor general to start negotiations and if that fails then the governor general calls an election to let the electorate decide again. In that respect, similar to Australia but a lot less chance of that happening in practice because we don't have this house/senate federal type government thing that can easily deadlock and peg the cpu at 99% for months.