As we reflect on this historical moment, we should look to the future. My entire adult life I have firmly believed that the head of State of Aotearoa should be someone from Aotearoa. It is completely anachronistic to think that values and identity of 21st century New Zealand, a democratic nation, born of the Pacific, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, is best personified by an inherited monarchy from the opposite side of the planet, steeped in the history and values of feudal aristocracy and imperial colonialism.