Waitangi Day promotion urged

Press, 26 January 1984, Page 7

Waitangi Day promotion urged

More should be done to promote Waitangi Day as New Zealand’s national day, says the Labour Party candidate for Yaldhurst, Mrs Margaret Austin. . Mrs Austin, who recently returned from a holiday in Australia, said Australia Day, celebrated on January 26, was promoted through the news media as Australia’s festival day, when families came together to enjoy sport and entertainment. “The build-up and the enthusiasm round it showed that it meant a lot,” she said. Yet on her return to New Zealand, the only comment made about Waitangi Day related to the protest it attracted. “We have just as much cultural diversity as the Australians, but we are not looking at Waitangi Day as New Zealand Day, when the

cultures that are represented here are drawn together,” she said. Waitangi Day could be promoted in the same way that Telethon was promoted. It should express New Zealand's nationhood, its cultural diversity, its arts, sport, and its cultural heritage. Waitangi Day was an appropriate time to celebrate New Zealand’s nationhood, as it was central to New Zealand’s history, Mrs Austin said. She also said that New Zealand should be doing more to promote its goods in Australia. Australians bought New Zealand goods such as camping equipment and furniture because they were of good quality and competitively priced, but the goods were often not even marked “Made in New Zealand.”