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Matariki celebrations greatly outnumber Queen's
Matariki celebrations greatly outnumber Queen's birthday
"A survey by the Republican Movement has found none of our local authorities will hold celebrations for Queen's Birthday weekend. New Zealanders are moving away from northern hemisphere celebrations in favour of our own more meaningful winter traditions" said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement.
Queen's Birthday is celebrated on the first Monday of June because King Edward VII wanted to make sure his winter birthday was celebrated in better weather.
"Celebrating the change of seasons in Britain when we live on the opposite side of the world makes no sense" continued Mr Holden.
The Republican Movement wrote to all of New Zealand's district and city Mayors in May. Not one indicated any celebration of the Queen's Birthday for the upcoming long weekend. Several announced they were holding celebrations for Matariki, the Maori new year.
"New Zealanders are creating celebrations and traditions around Matariki and the Winter solstice. Our survey's result underlines the irrelevance of Queen's birthday as a holiday and the monarchy generally to New Zealanders" concluded Mr Holden.
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