Title change for Queen

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33451, 5 February 1974, Page 3

Title change for Queen

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 4. The Queen is to be known as “Queen of New Zealand” under legislation passed through all its stages in Parliament todav.

Until now her title in New Zealand has been “Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, and Defender of the Faith.” Her new title in New Zealand, after the passage of the bill, will be: “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.” The Prime Minister (Mr Kirk), moving the bill’s second reading, said the reference to “Queen of the United Kingdom” had been omitted with the Queen’s approval. The measure was of significance in terms of constitutional precedence, Mr Kirk said. It reflected mofe clearly the Queen’s correct status in New Zealand. She had, he said, agreed to give her formal consent to the measure personally before leaving New Zealand. The Royal Assent is usually accorded bills by the Governor-General on her behalf. The Prime Minister said there was a case for eliminating from the title the words “defender of the faith,” as New Zealand had no established church. But he thought most would agree that this term was not usually interpreted in the narrow constitutional sense, but in a broader and more significant way. The British Prime Minister! (Mr Heath) had been told of the proposed change, Mr Kirk said, and had told New Zea-

land that the change in no way affected the close ties between the two countries. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Marshall) said that in referring to the Queen as “Queen of New Zealand” Parliament was recognising in a formal and legal way what had been accepted practice for a number of years. Since New Zealand gave legal effect to the Statute of Westminster in 1947, New Zealand’s independent status had become more and more important in the country’s foreign policy and international relations. “It is not something which the present Prime Minister initiated, even though he sometimes tries to create that impression,” Mr Marshall said. The removal of the reference to the United Kingdom was a logical and consistent step in line with changing and developing relationships, such as Britain’s joining the European Economic Community, Mr Marshall said.