Originally posted by Tristanchi
The queen is head of state for the Commonwealth because they are British colonies, a status which may not be common knowledge but is still legally so.
Aaaaah....NO
Representative government for the colony was provided for by the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by the United Kingdom. The 1st New Zealand Parliament met in 1854. In 1856 the colony became effectively self-governing with the grant of responsible government over all domestic matters other than native policy. Power in this respect would be transferred to the colonial administration in the 1860s. In 1863 Premier Alfred Domett moved a resolution that the capital transfer to a locality in Cook Strait, apparently due to concern the South Island could form a separate colony. Commissioners from Australia (chosen for their neutral status) advised Wellington as suitable because of its harbour and central location, and parliament officially sat there for the first time in 1865. In 1893, the country became the first nation in the world to grant women the right to vote.In 1907, New Zealand became an independent Dominion and a fully independent nation in 1947 when the Statute of Westminster (1931) was ratified, although in practice Britain had ceased to play any real role in the government of New Zealand much earlier than this
Source (wiki)
New Zealand's premier, Sir Joseph Ward, echoed Canada’s concerns, but New Zealand had its own reasons for wanting to become a dominion. When Ward visited London in 1907 for an imperial conference, he raised with officials the idea of New Zealand becoming a dominion. Ward wrote to Lord Elgin of the Colonial Office in May 1907, confirming his views: 'having regard to the position and importance of New Zealand, it had well outgrown the "colonial stage", and was as much entitled to a separate designation as the Commonwealth of Australia or the Dominion of Canada'. He was quite sure that New Zealanders would be 'much gratified' with the title 'The Dominion of New Zealand'.
Ward also had regional imperial ambitions. He hoped the term ‘dominion’ would remind the world that New Zealand was not part of Australia. It would dignify New Zealand, a country he thought was ‘the natural centre for the government of the South Pacific'.
Politicians supported Ward's motion to ask His Majesty the King to take the necessary steps to change New Zealand's status. The Order in Council changing the title from colony to dominion was issued on 9 September, and the proclamation was made on 10 September, taking effect on 26 September 1907, when it was read aloud throughout New Zealand.
Source
Dominion status ended with a whimper. In 1945, when the country joined the United Nations, it was simply called ‘New Zealand’. In January 1946 officials were told to change their letterheads to say ‘New Zealand’ – but not to publicise the change.
In 1953 the official style was changed to the ‘Realm of New Zealand’. The term ‘dominion’ hung on in the names of institutions (the Dominion Museum was not renamed the National Museum until 1972), businesses and in the constitutions of clubs and societies. The name still survives in the title of the Dominion (now Dominion Post) newspaper, first published in Wellington on 26 September 1907.
Although the term is no longer used to describe New Zealand, the 1907 royal proclamation of dominion status has never been revoked and remains in force today. New Zealand’s formal title may therefore still include the term 'dominion'. Generally, however, the country is today known as the Realm of New Zealand.
Source
A New Zealand Dominion Symposium
New Zealand: From Colony to Nation
No longer a Colony.
[edit on 3-9-2009 by aorAki]
thanks for sharing!
