Poll: Do you agree Matariki or Māori New Year should be a public holiday?
Hi neighbours,
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has announced Labour will make Matariki New Zealand’s twelth public holiday from 2022 if re-elected.
The new winter public holiday would fall at some point during the Matariki period, with an expectation that it would always happen on either a Monday or a Friday.
The policy announcement follows a series of public campaigns for the Matariki, which acts as the Māori New Year, to be recognised.
The exact timing of Matariki shifts every year as it relates to a star cluster reappearing and has traditionally varied between Iwi.
It would be the first new public holiday since the Third Labour Government made Waitangi Day a public holiday in 1973, although then Prime Minister Norman Kirk called it “New Zealand Day”.
“Matariki will be a distinctly New Zealand holiday and a time for reflection, celebration and to look to the future as we take increasing pride in our unique national identity,” Ardern said.
She said the struggling tourism sector could use the help of another holiday and noted the “long run” with no public holidays that currently happens between Queen’s Birthday in early June and Labour Day in late October.
“We don’t have many statutory holidays compared to other OECD countries and it would be good to break up the long run through winter,” Ardern said.
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63.8% Yes
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36.2% No
Auckland Harbour Bridge summer works
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is carrying out essential maintenance on the Auckland Harbour Bridge this December and January. The southbound clip-on lanes will be closed (24/7) from 26 December to 5 January for road resurfacing. Night-time lane restrictions will be in place throughout the summer for recoating work on the bridge. Traffic will still be able to travel in both directions at all times.
Poll: 🗑️ Would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Aucklanders, our weekly rubbish collections are staying after councillors voted to scrap a proposed trial of fortnightly pick-ups.
We want to hear from you: would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Keen for the details? Read up about the scrapped collection trial here.
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82.6% Same!
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17.4% Would have liked to try something different
Safety concerns after cheese dumped at Waikato landfill, taken and re-sold
Over The Moon branded cheese was taken from Putaruru Landfill and was reportedly being re-sold on Sunday, despite it being unsafe to eat.
The affected cheeses have the batch numbers 18.11.25, 25.11.25 and 26.11.25. They include:
Camembert
OMG
Black Truffle Brie
Galactic Gold
Halloumi
Gee's Spread (Black Truffle & Garlic Chilli flavours)
Smoked Chilli Camembert
Goat Camembert
Double Delight
See www.rnz.co.nz...
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