'It's mocking the system': life in tiny self-declared 'republic'

On a lonely stretch of highway that snakes through the North Island stands the town of Whangamomona, New Zealand’s only self-declared “republic”, with its own borders and passport.

- By Anna Rankin WHANGAMÕMONA

Earlier this year, it held its biennial jubilee and elections where locals participated in old-fashioned carnival amusements: racing sheep, cracking whips and swimming in tanks witheels.

The elections are openly rigged, and past winners include a goat and a poodle. The winner is presented with a presidential chain fashioned from beer bottle tops and boar tusks. President John Herlihy has held the role for eight years. He says his family and friends pushed him into it, and it keeps him busy.

Whangamōmona has a handful of buildings including a pub, arts and crafts shop and a small school. But there are challenges as the eccentric town sees growing numbers of tourists and pressure to upgrade its internet availability, which some residents would prefer to live without.

"How many visitors can we handle? We get peopled out," Herlihy said.

Whangamōmona’s journey to become a republic began in 1989, when a local government reform process redrew district and county council boundaries. The reforms meant the town would be part of the Manawatū-Whanganui region, rather than Taranaki and residents weren't happy.