Matariki is more than just a day or a long weekend. It is part of a new way of understanding what it means to be a New Zealander. Here at New Zealand Republic our members and supporters are proud of our long involvement in promoting and making Matariki part of New Zealand’s vibrant cultural life. Because celebrating New Zealand is at the heart of what we do.
Matariki recognises Te Ao Māori and New Zealand’s place in the world. A unique nation with its own history and its our own perspective on life. Since 2010 we were part of the many people and groups leading the call for Matariki celebrations and in 2019 and 2020 we were part of the political push to make it it an official holiday.
The Matariki revival started in the 1990s when the history and meaning of Matariki and Puanga was being discussed and written about as part of the wider revival of Te Ao Māori. In 1990, Aotearoa celebrated and commemorated the 150th anniversary of Te Tiriti. In 1995, Pipitea marae in Poneke hosted Te Whakanui i a Matariki festival. In 2000, Ngāti Kahungunu began holding its annual Matariki celebration in Hastings. In 2001, Te Puni Kōkiri began to reclaim Matariki as a focus for Te Reo revival in partnership with Te Papa Tongarewa and the Ministry of Education. Te Puni Kōkiri began calling for it to become a public holiday. By 2009 over 70 Matariki events were happening in Auckland alone.
Calling for change is one thing but making it happen takes concerted and deliberate effort. The iwi and councils and community groups and the many whanau and families holding Matariki events were part of making Matariki happen, but the formal proposal to make Matariki a public holiday was started with a private members bill from Te Pati Māori MP Rahui Katene which was drawn from the ballot in June 2009. Waitakere City Mayor Bob Harvey supported the call to make it a public holiday to replace Queen’s Birthday. In 2010 the film Matariki was released, and in 2010 we escalated our own campaign to replace Queen’s Birthday with Matariki by highlighting the fact that no local authorities were celebrating Queen’s Birthday but that more and more were celebrating Matariki.
To NZ Republic supporters it was simple. Queen - now King’s Birthday - is an empty holiday that commemorates nobody’s birthday and is held at the wrong time of year. Opponents of Matariki said it would cost too much money to have another public holiday. We could see that Matariki was what really mattered. That it was real and it was an honest reflection of how New Zealanders lived. That our cultural history as a nation is rich and meaningful.
After the 2011 election, the National Party and Te Pati Māori agreement supported a heritage bill to recognise Matariki/Puanga. The movement continued, the Matariki events spread. In July 2020, Action Station and NZ Republic delivered two combined petitions signed by 30,000 people calling for Matariki to be made a public holiday . In 2020 the incoming Labour government joined the commitment and in 2022 the first public holiday happened.
Recently an NZ Herald Editorial described us as “anti-monarchists” because we publicly pointed out that the royal soap opera that is King Charles and his family are of no benefit to New Zealand. That only a New Zealander should be New Zealand’s Head of State.
It is true that we are against a monarchist system of any kind for NZ but what their editorial failed to recognise was that our campaign is first and foremost about celebrating New Zealand and New Zealanders. That is what motivates us.
The pathway to recognising and achieving Matariki as a national day was made with specific political commitments to make it law. And that is what New Zealand needs now to achieve our own Head of State. Not just a commitment and talk but a specific and defined pathway to change. We have put that forward. First, parliament elects the Governor-General. Second a referendum is held to transition the role of Governor-General into being Head of State. You can read it online on our website
In 14 years we all reach the 200th anniversary of Te Tiriti. Our vision is simple. That in 2040 NZ’s Head of State and Britain’s Head of State meet at Waitangi as equals. And our call to end King’s Birthday remains. Now that Matariki has been achieved, we are calling for 6 September to become a new public holiday. A day to celebrate the establishment of New Zealand Citizenship 78 years ago. A day that celebrates what is real. When all New Zealanders can celebrate what it means to be here and be part of this unique and special nation.