Episode 14 is now available. You can also listen to it through the player on the right hand side of my blog, or on my MySpace page.
I recorded this episode early so that I could post it on Friday. I’ll talk about comments on Episode 13 and this episode next time.
Monday is Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday in New Zealand, even though her real birthday is April 21. It’s the only public holiday between Easter Weekend and Labour Day at the end of October.
Queen Elizabeth, as Queen of New Zealand, is Head of State. She’s the only person in the world who is monarch of more than one independent nation. Parliament actually runs the country, which is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is represented in New Zealand by the Governor General, who is appointed by Parliament.
It’s probably inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic, but the new head of state is unlikely to be a US-style president. There’s no urgency to any change however, which is probably many years away
Queen’s Birthday was a kind of gay holiday, a kind of second birthday for everyday queens. That’s probably less common than it used to be. But it’s still a day off for everyone.
Matt Blender’s AIDS Marathon donation page.
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