30 March 2001

Helen Clark
Prime Minister’s Office
Parliament Buildings

Dear Ms Clark

Listening to Radio Pacific’s Paul Henry this morning describing yourself and Ms Wilson as extremely articulate and capable of persuasively arguing a case, I was reminded that this magazine has not yet secured an interview with yourself or Ms Wilson on the question of New Zealand’s constitutional position.

Briefly, the factual position that we reached last year – and which no constitutional lawyer or Government official has been able to refute – is this:

At some point, possibly as recently as 1986, New Zealand finally became independent from Britain. At whatever point this happened, the constitutional authority that existed the day before for the New Zealand Parliament ceased.

At that point, under the established principles of international law that New Zealand is a signatory to, sovereignty transferred from the British Crown to the New Zealand people. It did not transfer to the Parliament, nor can sovereignty reside in the New Zealand Parliament.

However, the New Zealand Parliament has continued to reign as if its constitutional authority has continued unchanged, and the 1986 Constitution Act holds that Parliament is Sovereign and supreme over the people.

Lawfully, how could this be when no referendum was called by Parliament to find out what system of Government and law the New Zealand people wished to adopt upon independence, and Parliament had no mandate to assume such power to itself.

It may be that in any interview you might wish to suggest that New Zealand has not yet truly become independent from Britain (and therefore no referendum is necessary), in which case you might also explain how this can be reconciled with membership of the United Nations which is only open to sovereign states, not colonies.

Please advise whether you are willing to be interviewed on this matter, so that the people of New Zealand may judge for themselves how persuasive your case is.

It would be regrettable if a failure by the Prime Minister and Attorney-General to front up for questioning on possibly the biggest political issue facing New Zealand was interpreted by New Zealanders as further proof that the articles in Investigate magazine are indeed right on the nail: that the current Parliament is constitutionally illegal and has no further authority to govern.

We await your earliest response to this invitation.

Ian Wishart