Australians have a mixed and confusing solution to the problem that occurs when Anzac Day falls on a weekend or other public holiday.
In the Australian Capital Territory and in Western Australia, if April 25 is on a Saturday or Sunday the holiday falls on the following Monday.
If April 25 falls on a Sunday in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia, the day off is on the following Monday. There is no day in lieu when Anzac Day falls on a weekend in Tasmania and Victoria.
This year, Anzac Day coincides with Easter Monday, and the Australian solution is - from an observance viewpoint - like the curate's egg: the council for the Australian Federation has decided Anzac Day will be observed on Tuesday, April 26.
But states and territories in Australia all have their own legislation designating Anzac Day as a public holiday on April 25.
Tasmania has rejected a substitute holiday for Anzac Day and Easter Monday, and both will be solemnly observed on April 25.
Victorians will observe Easter Monday on April 25 and have a holiday for Anzac Day on April 26, as will South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.
Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory will have an extra holiday on April 26 but will observe both Easter Monday and Anzac Day on April 25.
In this country there is less confusion but no less controversy.
Since last May the Labour Party has without success been attempting to have both Anzac Day and Waitangi Day made public holidays when they fall on a weekend, as they do this year.
It has a private member's Bill awaiting the luck of the ballot before the matter can be debated by Parliament, and its chances of having the matter discussed by our legislators before that event are nil.
Labour's Bill follows a similar debate in Australia, which saw most of the states ensure that if Anzac Day falls on a weekend, there will be a public holiday on the following Monday - but the day itself will continue to be observed on April 25.
The fact that this year the day occurs on another public holiday, Easter Monday, has only served to complicate matters.
But Labour is approaching the matter the wrong way. It has failed to satisfactorily answer two questions: Is the purpose of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day to have a day off work? If it is not, then what particular elements prevent both days being commemorated with appropriate reverence on their due dates?
The MP promoting the Bill, Grant Robertson, certainly seems to think the day off work aspect is important, since he is on record as saying people "deserve" a day off on national days.
But, unless they are required to work on weekends, they already do get a day off when national days coincide with Saturday or Sunday.
There are grounds for believing that demanding an extra day off work for a national holiday actually diminishes the significance of the day.
It is clear from public comment that some people - the actual number may be quite substantial - believe they are entitled to a day off for both days, and that it is not fair to deny them.
The implied sentiment opens up - yet again - what we have national days for, and in New Zealand's case, the particular problem of Waitangi Day.
It cannot be said to be a universally popular celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Maori tribes and the British Crown in the same way that, say, Australia Day is celebrated as the national day across the Tasman.
It may have been the hope of its promoters that Waitangi Day might eventually be the case, but continuing controversy about Maori grievance and the particular Maori focus for all of its short history has ensured a divided response. That will not change until the spotlight shifts from Te Tii Marae.
Anzac Day is, for a great many people, a form of acceptable substitute for a national day. It is growing in popularity and support across ages and generations. Certainly, many young New Zealanders include a pilgrimage to Gallipoli on their OE itinerary long before they consider a pilgrimage to the treaty grounds at Waitangi.
As such, it stands a better chance of becoming our national day and the Labour Party would be better to direct its energies towards achieving this, beginning by ensuring that Anzac Day ceases to be an unsatisfactory hybrid between the solemn observance of the sacrifice of our people in the cause of freedom and democracy, and shopping.
