A festival of aroha – Let's make Matariki a public holiday in 2021

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

Matariki has become a widely accepted festival across the country. Stuff says it's time for a Matariki statutory holiday to mark the occasion.

The law says public holidays exist to observe days of “national, religious, or cultural significance”, but most of our holidays aren’t expressly Kiwi.

We’re overdue the creation of a unifying holiday that honours Aotearoa’s past and celebrates New Zealand’s future. Matariki is that holiday.

Read the full piece from Stuff's Carmen Parahi and Patrick Crewdson here and tell us what you think in the comments below.

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