New Zealanders will choose whether to ditch the current flag in just over a month, but that prospect appears unlikely according to a new poll.
A Newshub/Reid Research poll has revealed that only 30% of voters want the new blue and black silver fern design. Sixty-one percent said they did not want a change.
The alternative flag design, chosen last year in the first referendum, has put off some voters who want change but do not like the chosen design, while 16% will vote for the current flag despite being broadly supportive of a flag change.
A second referendum on March 3 will decide whether New Zealand changes its flag for the first time in more than 100 years.
Prime Minister John Key is displaying the alternative flag on the gate of his Parnell home, and Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon has flown it outside his home for several months.
Other high-profile Kiwis are not so impressed. Actor Sam Neill has said he is sticking with the old flag, tweeting that he could not vote for "the beach towel" alternative design.
I'm sticking with the old NZ flag. Not the beach towel. Dignity.
— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) January 31, 2016
