The monarchy remains important for Maori

• In 1835 the Declaration of Independence by the United Tribes began the formal relationship between Crown and Maori. This is symbolised by the United Tribes flag, and the similar New Zealand Flag.

• In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi, signed under Queen Victoria, contained promises of protection by the Crown, in return for the allegiance of the Maori people, whatever the exact meaning of the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi may have been.

• The Queen was honour-bound to recognise and protect their rights of tribes, though for practical reasons most decisions were taken on behalf of the Queen, by local representatives.

• It is the New Zealand Government and Parliament which didn't always uphold the rights enshrined in the Treaty.

• Failure to honour the Treaty is as much an attack on the Queen as it is on the Maori people, for the Queen has consistently called for the Treaty to be honoured. The Government may say it speaks for the Crown, but it doesn't always do so – it is Parliament, not the Crown, which is proposing to place ownership of the seabed and foreshore in the name of the Crown.

• Despite occasional confusion and uncertainty, the personal involvement of the Queen as a party to the Treaty remains important to the Maori people, as it does to the Queen.

• A Government which seeks to distance itself, and New Zealand, from the person of the Queen, who is the living symbol of the relationship between Maori and the Crown, is threatening the relationship which has existed since before 1835, and its own legitimacy.

• The ending of the right of appeal to the Privy Council reflects this attitude, since it meant ending the right to petition the Queen in court cases, and also denied Maori and others access to a truly independent judicial tribunal (one which is beyond any possibility of partisanship).

• There is a degree of arrogance seen in the intellectual or political elite telling us that a republic is inevitable; we should have choice.

• New Zealand may have people from any cultures and traditions. But as a country we are bicultural not multicultural, based on the mutual alliance of the Crown and the tangata whenua.

• The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document for our nation. Our modern independent state was not based on colonial conquest, or the illegitimate invasion of settlers. New Zealand is founded on an agreement which continues today as a pact of partnership between Maori and European.

• It is an agreement which established our continuing links with the Crown, an agreement which continues to act as a national symbol of unity and understanding between cultures. Today the Treaty continues as a living document, a focus for all New Zealanders to consider its on-going role for our nation and in the partnership between our cultures – today and in the future.

• "150 years ago something great happened – the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Let the spirit of the Treaty move among us powerfully and bring us even closer together" – Rt Rev'd Sir Paul Reeves.

• "In 1840 a pact was signed with good and true intent and that was the beginning of a nation called New Zealand. It is time for our founding document to be set free and for the Treaty of Waitangi to be a symbol of unity, trust, understanding and goodwill for all the peoples of Aotearoa" – Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

• "It’s a very moot point whether the Maori people do love Governments in New Zealand because of what they have done in the past ... The Maori people really do have no great love for governments  but they do for the Crown" – Sir James Henare.

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