Beginning of the end for Queen's Birthday

MEDIA RELEASE 1 June 2011

The Republican Movement has begun a campaign that will see Queen's birthday fade away and be replaced by a Matariki public holiday.

"Under the new Holidays Act legislation workers can now transfer their existing Queen's birthday holiday to Matariki,or any other day significant to them simply by signing an agreement with their employer" said Savage, vice-chair of the Republican Movement. "We're making it easy for both workers and employers by providing an easy to download guide from our website."

Every year starting this year we will be encouraging more and more New Zealanders to say goodbye to Queen's Birthday and say hello to a day that actually means something to New Zealand's place in the world.

Queen's Birthday is only on the first Monday in June because the Monarchy wanted to herald the start of the British summer. They don't even celebrate it as a holiday in the UK anymore and it is certainly not summer in this part of the world. It is a relic of a bygone era.

"For the third year in a row, a survey by the Republican Movement has found no city or district council in New Zealand holds celebrations for the Queen's Birthday holiday. Matariki celebrations are everywhere. Observing and celebrating Matariki is not only more meaningful and it is a lot more colourful and fun" said Savage.

This year Matariki and Queen's Birthday fall on the same weekend so its perfect timing to launch our campaign. 2011 will be the beginning of the end of Queen's Birthday weekend in New Zealand. June 6th is D-Day for Queen's Birthday weekend.