“Matariki” has a nice ring to it as the name for a public holiday

Agreement prompts royal holiday rethink

By STEVE KILGALLON - The Dominion Post | 9:26AM - Sunday, 02 June 2013

THE Republicans and the Monarchists finally agree on one thing: it might be time to re-name the Queen's Birthday holiday.

The Republic Movement suggesta renaming the holiday Matariki, after the Maori New Year, saying that would better reflect what New Zealanders actually celebrate in June.

Their chairman, Lewis Holden, said you only need to consult the weather forecast to see its irrelevance to regular Kiwis.

"We have it at the start of June because it's good weather in England for parades ... that shows you how relevant the monarchy is to New Zealand when it coincides with our worst weather."

The Queen's official birthday is celebrated on different dates in May and June in various countries, although not Fiji, which abolished the celebration in 2012. The Queen's actual birthday is on April 21st.

Surprisingly, and perhaps for the first time, Monarchy New Zealand president Sean Palmer said he agrees with Holden.

"I actually don't have a problem with a holiday in June being called Matariki — but my caveat would be that the next king's [Charles'] birthday is in November, and we could have a public holiday to mark it. If there was a mood for it, I see no issue with it."

The Republicans commissioned a new poll to coincide with the public holiday they said shows they are slowly winning the argument for dumping the monarchy.

While 52 per cent of Kiwis still support it, Holden said the numbers are the other way around for those under 30, with 52 per cent in favour of a republic.

That shows the Royals' days here are numbered, he said. Older Kiwis are less likely to want change, and only 34 per cent of those over 60 support a republic. "We are definitely looking at the trends and they are pretty positive," said Holden.

Palmer said that figure was "out of step" with other polls which showed the young were second only in their enthusiasm for the royals to the elderly.

Holden believes last year's Royal tour by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall failed to boost popularity for the Royals despite the $1 million price tag, but he was expecting an uptick if Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were to bring their new baby here.

While 48 per cent of those who supported the monarchy said that was because they believed the current system worked, Holden said that meant just 24 per cent overall agreed with that sentiment, "which suggests the public are generally quite cynical; we had assumed it would be a lot higher".

But Palmer dismissed the findings." ...we'd measure the mood of the nation on more than just one poll." The survey of 967 New Zealanders was carried out by pollsters Curia.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8747281/Agreement-prompts-royal-holiday-rethink