24 July 2020

Two petitions which collectively gathered 30,000 signatures for a Matariki public holiday are to be presented to parliament tomorrow by Kiritapu Allan MP. Separate petitions by New Zealand Republic and Action Station collected 3,667 and 26,348 signatures respectively.

“It’s great to see so much support for Matariki as a public holiday. I take my hat off to Action Station and Laura O'Connell Rapira for their petition as well, and thanks to Kiri for presenting our petition” said Lewis Holden, chair of New Zealand Republic.

“It’s time for a Matariki public holiday - and if the argument is that we already have too many public holidays, a quick look at the calendar of holidays in New Zealand will show there’s one or two which are hardly relevant to Aotearoa and could easily be replaced by a Matariki public holiday” concluded Mr Holden.

ENDS

Media contact: Lewis Holden, phone: 09 889 8426