You have to admit that monarchism is an odd predilection for someone who’s always going on about the Enlightenment.

Recall that Her Majesty is not merely HEAD of state; she IS the state:

– Holds all executive authority; assent is required for parliament to enact laws. Consent must be obtained before Parliament may even debate a bill affecting the sovereign’s prerogatives or interests.

– All law derives from the Crown; the monarch is the source of judicial authority. Grants pardons and immunity from prosecution.

– Regarded as personification of the state, which is referred to as Her Majesty The Queen in Right of New Zealand, or The Crown.

– As the embodiment of the state, is the locus of oaths of allegiance, required of many employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens. The Oath of Allegiance must be recited by all new parliamentarians before they may take their seat.

– Employs all government staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the New Zealand Defence Force, police officers, and parliamentarians)

– Owns all state lands, buildings and equipment, state owned companies, and the copyright for all government publications.

– Accredits and receives ambassadors. Passports are her property.

– Must be an Anglican and a legitimate descendant of Sophia, Electress of Hanover.

That’s the kind of “honorary” job I wouldn’t mind trying.

I don’t have a cat at the moment.

You constantly and deliberately confuse the honorarium “head of state” in NZ (and other Commonwealth countries) as someone who has a role in actually governing the country.

The only qualification for head of state in NZ is to be an Anglican, so technically you’re right. Trump is not an Anglican.

We’d be honoured to have them. Bill Clinton visited with Chelsea. He was extremely popular.

You’re more than welcome to take both Clintons off our hands–plus we’ll throw in a couple of Obamas, if you promise to take immediate delivery.

I don’t think that just applies to NZers. The people of almost every country in the world would have preferred that Clinton won the last election, and mostly by huge margins. There are two exceptions – Russia and Israel.

That has nothing to do with it. New Zealanders have never been stupid, reckless or mean-spirited enough to elect someone like Trump.

We never get them pretending to be from the IRD (Inland Revenue Department). About 30 years ago, a man committed suicide because of a huge tax debt he couldn’t pay. That caused a huge outcry and ever since they’ve made a huge effort to change their image. Because it’s backed up by a genuine change in attitude and policies it’s working. Their motto is “It’s our job to be fair.”

In addition our tax system, especially for PAYE people, is relatively simple, and there’s been a consistent effort by successive governments to continue to simplify it. Most people don’t even have to complete a tax return because everything is done automatically. Everyone can access their details online and have secure email or voice chats with staff if they want to as well.

No one likes paying tax if course, but they make an effort to make it as good as it can be.