British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas is confident the relationship between New Zealand the UK will remain strong under King Charles III despite tensions around the Treaty of Waitangi.
Speaking in London ahead of the Queen's state funeral, Thomas told Morning Report's Corin Dann that New Zealand and the UK had a deep relationship and that would continue with King Charles.
She said the Queen was "very conscious" of the history and acknowledged this in 1995 when she apologised to the people of Tainui over the confiscation of their land.
British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro at the Credentials Ceremony on 10 August 2022. Photo: Supplied / Governor-General
She said King Charles was also aware of past wrongs.
"In the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Rwanda earlier this year, the King spoke about the history of the Commonwealth, about some of that pain that was associated with him.
"He is very conscious of that, not just in New Zealand but other countries in the Commonwealth and he was very clear that it was up to each country to decide their own constitutional state and also that the Commonwealth is a voluntary organisation of shared values."
Thomas said the Commonwealth was important now more than ever.
"It's a very difficult situation at the moment. There are these transnational challenges, whether that's climate change, whether it's responding to the pandemic, whether it's democracy being under threat.
"The Commonwealth brings together a huge diversity of countries who all stand for freedom and human rights, and so it is important that it does evolve, but as it does so, it remains core to its values."
She said the King had a strong interest in climate change.
"King Charles has been very clear with his commitment to the Commonwealth, to the realm countries and we've seen him meet with those leaders over this weekend. So, I think he will take forward the very strong relationship that Queen Elizabeth had with the realms and the Commonwealth."
Honoured & moved to attend this morning’s Proclamation of the Accession of His Majesty King Charles III as King of New Zealand and its Realms.
— Iona Thomas OBE (@IonaCThomas) September 11, 2022
This follows the Proclamation in the UK yesterday and marks the continuation of our shared Sovereign.
God Save The King.
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