I don’t mean a neo-conservative in the style of the troubled American Republican Party, I mean the type of republican where New Zealand casts off the monarchy and becomes a republic.
We could be similar to the republic of Ireland where we would be governed by a prime minister who has most of the political power and have a president that is mostly ceremonial, like our governor-general.
I came to this realisation while watching our prime minister signing the free trade agreement with India and then securing oil imports from Singapore.
From the coverage I saw he handled himself very competently and confidently and appeared to be in his element.
I had first been impressed with Luxon’s international statecraft on the trade mission to Malaysia and South Korea in November 2025. I had seen a summary of his interviews and activities and thought he was outstanding.
I don’t know whether it was because the same personality traits that can make it a bit cringy watching him perform domestically, becomes assets on the world stage. In New Zealand he can be very uncomfortable, seemingly answering every question in an interview with the same talking point numerous times in a row.
It could be that he is much more reserved in front of the New Zealand media trying to avoid a "Gotcha" moment, but it can be a hard watch seeing him stumbling along trying to explain himself with a "I don’t know how to be any clearer, guys".
However, the overseas version of Prime Minister Luxon seems to be a different man. Maybe he seems to perform better when travelling because the New Zealand media is more united in wanting to see him do well internationally, so he has greater freedom to be confident, competent and engaging.
Seeing Luxon in action I started thinking, "wouldn’t it be good if he was our prime minister for overseas, and we had another prime minister to deal with domestic issues."
This was my eureka moment, the time I became a republican.
We need an international leader and a domestic leader. One to keep our exports on the minds of our trading partners and one to ensure our country and economy operates effectively for the benefit of all.
It is the first time I have contemplated becoming a republican.
It is not because I considered myself a monarchist, but I have been nervous about constitutional change, thinking "better the devil you know than the devil you don’t", particularly with the status of the Treaty of Waitangi constantly up in the air.
Truth be told it has always been up in the air with large parts of the population continually wanting to pretend it doesn’t mean what it says it does.
What solidified my new republican conviction was highlighted this last month by the realities of having a constitutional monarch as our head of state.
While we do have a governor-general who does a lot of the ceremonial work of a monarch, it is King Charles III who is our Head of State and in whose name a lot of government business is conducted.
How many people would have realised that in this last month our Head of State, Charles III, had a triumphant visit with one of our most important trading partners, the United States. From the extensive coverage I saw, we didn’t feature once in any discussion.
Our Head of State was totally devoted to repairing the relationship of his primary realm of the United Kingdom without apparently, any regard to New Zealand’s diplomatic and trade aspirations.
Here was our Head of State promoting another country’s economy, security and relationships.
We were alluded to once when Charles noted that at the Fifa World Cup he is the Head of State for five of the competing nations, but we don’t appear to have been mentioned at all.
Even the New Zealand Queen’s Order Medal that regularly takes pride of place on the far left of Charles’ row of medals, identifiable by its Poutama (Māori staircase) design of red, white and black, was hidden during his duties in the US.
King Charles will rarely be our international advocate. The mess his home country is in takes more than enough of his time and energy.
We need our own president to do the diplomacy, international relationships and advocacy that will prioritise our country, leaving the prime minister to focus on the needs of New Zealanders.
A bonus to being a republic would be that the police, military, parliamentarians and immigrants could finally swear a allegiance to the nation or people of New Zealand, rather than to King Charles III and his heirs and successors, which is increasingly becoming an anachronism.
• Anaru Eketone is a professor in social and community work at the University of Otago
