Matariki. The Maori New Year. A time of renewal and celebration. Matariki is a time to gather with family and friends to reflect on the past, celebrate the present and plan for the future. It’s all due to the appearance of a certain constellation (Pleiades) in the night sky. Maori call that constellation Matariki.
So the rest of us get to have a day off for the Christian New Year, and even a day after that to recover, so why shouldn’t New Zealand workers have another day off for the Maori New Year?
Labour’s MP Nanaia Mahuta says that’s a definite yes from her, and it is only the settling on a date that is holding them up. Well good luck with that then, getting Maori to agree on something as important as what day to take off work could take a while. The only thing you could guarantee would be that it would be mondayised to ensure that the rellies definitely didn’t miss out on those pesky years when it fell on a weekend.
Of course the good folk from National and Act have come out against this idea. Judith Collins had this to say.
Matariki becoming a public holiday is a nice idea with good intentions, but the last thing Kiwi businesses and our economy needs right now is to be burdened with the costs of an extra public holiday, or be told to shut again.
The Nats are again showing that they care about businesses in New Zealand. Labour et al are only too keen to force the poor businessman to pay out for yet another unproductive day.
David Seymour was even more direct.
If people want to celebrate certain days of the year, they’re free to do so using annual leave. We shouldn’t be adding new holidays such as Matariki.
But actually, maybe there is something to this. Personally I am all for it. Bring it on. Matariki kicks off most years around early to mid July, the middle of a long cold winter down my way, and the middle of a long wet one up north. Queen’s Birthday at the beginning of June seems a long way gone. Labour day isn’t due to drop until the last week of October, so a July day off seems like something nice to look forward to. But there is a catch.
There is enough pressure on local businesses to cover the holidays for their workers, so let’s say yes, let’s have a national holiday for Matariki, but only on the condition that one of the other holidays are removed.
But which one would go? The extra days tacked on after New Year and Christmas seem a little redundant. Mainly because I’m not a big partier and not a religious person, but lots of people need a hangover day or a get home from visiting the rellies day so let’s keep them.
Similarly I personally couldn’t care less about the two holidays around Easter, but I accept that these days are a big deal for some, and having both the Friday and the Monday off then makes for a nice long weekend so let’s keep them.
Anzac Day? Nope, touch that and see what happens. Go on, I dare ya.
Nah, there is only one day that seems completely redundant to me. Waitangi Day, or Hug-a-Maori day as it is known in my house, seems like a complete waste of time. Falling the week after the school holidays finish, it has always seemed pointless to me.
Yes I get that there was something important to some people that happened on that day around 150 years ago, but it means nothing to me but heartache, division and hate. Let’s get rid of it. It used to be a date of celebration, but that has long gone, it is now purely political and as such should not be considered a national holiday.
Let’s replace it with Matariki, a day when we can all gather with family and friends to reflect on that past, celebrate the present, and plan for that future.
One where we are all equal.
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