The Case for a National Weekend, Locally

Wellington in the days preceding Waitangi Day is an incredible place to be, alive with excitement, anticipation and enthusiasm. But not for Waitangi Day of course. The bulk of the energy has been stored and saved all year for the International Rugby Sevens, and Waitangi weekend is when all that thrift gets rewarded in spades – and probably a huge amount of alcohol.

Waitangi Day on the other hand is a more sombre affair. It is a call to reflect on what New Zealand is. For some, New Zealand is a sign of European oppression (here's a Stuff opinion piece on this subject - kind of); for others, New Zealand is a flag which is too similar to the ensigns of others (the NZ Herald has a lot of articles on this here); and for others (and dare I say the majority), it is a day off – though this year, the day falls on a weekend, so it doesn’t even have the public holiday aspect going for it.

While I could choose to see the arguments about the flag and about the rights of Maori or the complete antipathy about these as negative, I choose instead to see them as a sign of maturity, as we try and address issues which few other nations are willing or capable of doing. The USA may be all bombast on the Fourth of July, but there are huge social issues there, notwithstanding the treatment of the Native Americans; and the UK may be the home of the Anglo Saxon, but there are Welsh and Scot independence movements and of course issues between cultures caused by the large immigrant legacy from the glorious days of empire. In contrast, the French decree all citizens to be French, and expect them to behave accordingly, no matter their ethnic origins.

New Zealand at least tries to address it, and the apparent ambivalence to the national day could be viewed as a reflection of a fairly considered view of the mixed message of nationhood: we are all together one, no matter how much of our own blood we spilled to get here. There are no huge parades and fireworks displays because New Zealand is aware of the historic price paid to forge a country, perhaps more than any other that tries to bury the fractures that created – and are still in – their society. New Zealanders get lost instead in events that have no historical intellectual baggage, celebrating the trivial because it’s hard to celebrate the meaningful when so much of that meaning can be interpreted in different ways.

It’s unfortunate when so much discourse on the nature of New Zealand nationhood ends up in calls of racism on the sides involved – unfortunate in that, as the discussion tends to be based along ethnic lines, then it really goes without saying that the discussions will be based on race. It’s a silly, childish kind of cat call that shuts down real discussion as people get hung up on the word rather than addressing (and in the case of real prejudice, dismissing) the issues raised.

Again though, I choose to see the fact New Zealand does find a “New Zealand Day” a hard thing to celebrate as a positive thing. It is taking a while to get there, but then it is a very complicated thing to achieve. We can get behind our dead soldiers, but it’s much harder to get behind – and alongside – those we share this country with. We want our New Zealand day to mean not just something for all people, but a something that everyone can be proud of and participate in.

Verdict: Waitangi Day may be the national day, but the Sevens are what it is all about. For now anyway. 3 stars out of 4 for positivity’s sake.