8 February 2010
OPINION: Waitangi Day passed with little more than a whimper this year, partly because it fell on a Saturday, and partly because the simmering political tensions that have boiled over in the past have cooled somewhat.
The flying of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag on Government buildings for the first time this year marked a notable step forward in bicultural relations. While there was some debate within Maoridom as to which flag should be flown to represent them, the Government's gesture was commendable.
What it has done, inadvertently, is spark a debate about the suitability of the New Zealand flag as a symbol of our nation. Dissatisfaction with the national flag is nothing new; it is confusingly similar to many other national flags, includes the Union Jack – a symbol that has become increasingly irrelevant – and can not be described as anything more than ordinary. The fact that Maori, the partners in New Zealand's founding document, so strongly felt they needed a flag that represented them to fly on Waitangi Day should be the catalyst for ditching our national flag.
While allowing the Tino Rangatiratanga flag to fly was a wise move for the Government politically, it will not foster racial harmony in the long term. There should only be one flag flying on Waitangi Day, and it should be a symbol that both Maori and Pakeha can embrace.
Despite the myopic nattering of the Don Brash brigade, we must accept that Maori hold a special status in the make-up of our nationhood, and that status is enshrined in the agreement they entered into with the Crown in 1840.
Their voice shouldn't drown out all other views, but it should be listened to carefully and respectfully. That voice has rejected the national flag at a time when many other New Zealanders have rejected it also.
A New Zealand Herald poll of 18 of the 22 members of the Order of New Zealand, the country's greatest living citizens, found eleven of them thought the flag should be changed.
Obviously, that should not be the beginning of the end of the public debate, but it sends a strong message that the time for change has come.
We are a nation of many different parts, and our national symbol has become meaningless to too many of them.
Next Waitangi Day there should only be one flag flying around New Zealand, and it should be one both Maori and Pakeha are proud of.
The Manawatu Standard
© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Limited.