NZ Flag Referendum Deferred

After announcing that New Zealand’s next general election will be held two months early in September this year, Prime Minister John Key, also announced that the flag referendum would be delayed until the next term under a National Government but would be held well before the 2017 election. In a speech about ideas and a planned process for the proposed flag change given at Victoria University in New Zealand, Key had this to say about the importance of changing his country’s flag: After the centenary of the Gallipoli landing has passed,” I think it will be time for us to take some decisions about how we present ourselves to the world beyond 2015″; “the design of the New Zealand flag symbolises a colonial and post-colonial era whose time has passed”; “the flag remains dominated by the Union Jack in a way that we ourselves are no longer dominated by the United Kingdom”; “I am proposing that we take one more step in the evolution of modern New Zealand by acknowledging our independence through a new flag”; “…our flag represents us as we once were, rather than as we are now”; “my personal view is that it’s time our flag reflected that we are a sovereign and successful nation that rightfully takes its place among developed economies in the 21st century”; “it’s my contention that when we engage internationally, in forums ranging from secondary school debating to the United Nations, or from age-grade representative teams to the Olympics, we should be represented by a flag that is distinctly New Zealand’s”; “I do not underestimate the significance of our flag to New Zealand’s servicemen and women and their families, but being respectful of our history does not lock us permanently in the past”; “it will be a flag that serves us on every occasion because, in the end, the flag is a symbol of our unity….it’s also remarkable how quickly the new becomes familiar; ” my purpose today is to say that this debate is too important for it to continue rumbling along in such a casual and ad hoc fashion [letters to the editor, editorials, opinion polls and by a few passionate adherents of designs that some people happen to champion]”; “in my view, that’s an appropriate time [after the election] to write one small but significant new chapter in our national story by re-considering the flag…when we go out into the world, we do so with a strong sense of where we come from. Our flag should reflect that”. Striking words and thinking about purpose in national leadership beyond the Anzac Centenary (for full text, click on link below). But the change was deliberately delinked from changing existing constitutional ties between NZ and Britain even though the same arguments/words are used in expressing the desire for a republic in Australia. That such a speech could be made by an Australian PM or Minister. When asked about it on a visit to London, Australian Foreign Minster Julie Bishop, said changing the flag was “not an issue that actually draws much attention in Australia. There’s no great demand to change it and many Australians have fought and died under that flag, sadly. We have competed in Olympic Games under that flag and there’s a sense of pride in it.” Opposition leader, Bill Shorten, was reported as saying that he was “not keen” to change the flag because it reflects Australian history. How behind the times, Australian federal politicians are and how timid they are about change. They neither represent nor lead us well.

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