If Waitangi Day truly carried the significance for New Zealanders as the media presents it, instead of its reality, namely another paid holiday off work, then it would manifest itself accordingly with celebrations across the land. It does not. Instead a bunch of victims who by dint of their political career ambitions, feel obliged to turn up at Waitangi. There they adopt day long funereal expressions and walk very slowly behind fat people on to the marae where then are accosted by fat semi-naked men waving spears in their faces and poking their tongues out at them.
Following that massive embarrassing spectacle comes the real horror, namely sitting listening gravely to endless tedious platitudinous speeches, many in a language few present understand.
I have not the slightest doubt that every politician present would gladly exchange that tortuous day for a severe flogging.
Were it otherwise former attendees such as past Prime Ministers Palmer, Bolger, Shipley, Clark, Key and English would continue to attend and likewise other office-holders who hitherto felt obliged or with military personnel, were forced to attend.
Good Lord, not even Jacinda made it this year and she’s only a couple of weeks free of the Prime Ministership. Obviously she would deny it but I’d bet 100 to one she lay in bed that morning chortling with her husband at being free at last of this nonsensical burden.
In fairness this can also be said of many other statutory public holidays such as the ridiculous provincial holidays despite provinces being abandoned over a century ago as administrative regions, Labour Day, a foreign monarch’s birthday and so on.
Exceptions are New Year’s day, New Year’s Eve parties being common-place, Easter, celebrated solely by the fast declining Christian population and Anzac Day which in recent years has for no apparent reason had a minor resurgence in public ceremonial participation. In that respect New Zealand and Australia must be the only nations on earth that celebrate a military defeat. Imagine France celebrating Waterloo or Japan Hiroshima.
The obvious standout widely celebrated public holiday is Christmas day, albeit now totally stripped of its original religious raison d’être.
12 Comments
This is yet another example of extreme PC (political correctness) for you. No politician has the “guts” to call nonsense when they see it. Maybe that is why this term was created in the first place!
Absolutey right Sir Bob once again. I find the whole thing extremely distasteful and very embarrassing for a supposed modern 21st century country to be participating in. Scrap the whole rubbish!
So much BS around Anzac Day. The constant “they went to fight for our freedom” (WW1). What absolute rubbish. They went because they’d never have been able to afford a trip overseas on their own account – here the Government was giving them a freebie – and it was all going to be over pretty quickly, so pile in chaps. Of course as the horror of the European battlefields began to filter home conscription became almost the only means of obtaining reinforcements. By all means remember and honour them – but truthfully.
Australia day is perhaps their biggest party of the year. Well done AU, don’t follow NZs mistake
Entirely agree with all of the above. An absurd and meaningless display of nationhood, run by a bunch of never to be satisfied maori. Complete waste of taxpayer money and time by those attending. Thankfully that dreadful shamless hag Harawira has moved on and off this stage.
Another equally nonsensical theatre set is the Ratana Church commemorative day. (The day of the silly Bands.) There should be no further taxpayer funding go into that fiasco either.
I would seriously consider voting for any politician who had the balls to boycott attendance at this annual farce and say so publicly.
Embarrassing it certainly is. Why can’t they see that?
Waitangi day has been a source of eye rolling cynicism for decades, All the Euromaori working themselves in to a frenzy about how they feel their European ancestors might have cheated their Māori ancestors. My vote goes to whoever stands up and says they are going to the beach.
Yes, well I don’t think we ever celebrate defeat. We recognise that our people have given up their lives, in the past, so that we have freedom to create public holidays and enjoy them today.
It’s a puzzle. If they want to be abused by Maori they could just go downtown in Wellington or Auckland any night.
Hear hear Bob, and funny as hell 🙂 My international family say NZ is a back water now, and will they see me in a grass skirt and a spear next time they visit . How come there are so many whitefellows ?
Isn’t it time there was transparency on Maori handouts and how many generations back receive benefits and how are the identity proofs validated for benefits anyway. Nobody seems to know who is a Maori and who isn’t and who receives benefits and how much the taxpayer forfeits for all the “song and dance”. Isn’t this a democracy so why don’t we know.
What was noticeable, was the media reported thousands turned up, but that did not show on the TV pics. Where the rest hiding in the bushes?
Maybe Bob, you could suggest there will be one day less for paid holidays when we become a republic. Queens’ birthday out.
I’m glad somebody else sees the ‘resurgence’ of Anzac Day as something questionable.When I was a cut lunch commando back in the late 70s I did do a Cenotaph duty once and the crowd was mostly older people(ex-service personnel?) and a small crowd of anti-war protestors. It seems that now the old people have gone and the anti-war people have got their kids out waving flags or whatever for the latest thing, especially wars…..