John Key on Waitangi Day 2009. Photo: TV ONE
Prime Minister John Key has snubbed the idea of
introducing a "New Zealand Day".
United Future leader Peter Dunne yesterday called for
Waitangi Day to be renamed New Zealand Day, or for another
day to be selected as a national day.
"We have so many wonderful things about this country that we
should be celebrating; we have achieved great things as a
nation and continue to do so.
"We need to be proud of all of that and celebrate what it is
to be a Kiwi," Mr Dunne said.
Waitangi Day had not been about national pride for a long
time, and there had to be more to the national day than
protests, he said.
"And it has got to the point where one ill-informed
individual with a loud-hailer and intimidating thugs
demanding `koha' in a manner that actually breaches their own
tikanga, are turning Waitangi Day into a farce," he said.
"Waitangi Day is important, but it could be so much more. It
has been hijacked by the angry few."
However, Mr Key said he did not support introducing a new
day.
"We shouldn't overstate the impact that that isolated group
of protesters have on Waitangi," he said.
"For the most part, it's actually a very positive,
festival-type atmosphere.
"It's one of the key messages that I was trying to get out,
that I want New Zealanders to feel that they can go to
Waitangi and enjoy the significance of that time."
Mr Key said the protests shown in the media were a very small
part of the event.
Protesters led by Maori Party MP Hone Harawira's nephew,
Wikatana Popata, marched on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in a
peaceful protest on Sunday.
The 200-strong group protested asset sales, desecration of
resources and called for a Maori revolution.
Mr Popata, who was convicted of assaulting Mr Key as he
entered Te Tii marae two years ago, used the protest to call
Mr Key "the enemy".
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