Poll: Do you agree Matariki or Māori New Year should be a public holiday?
Hi neighbours,
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has announced Labour will make Matariki New Zealand’s twelth public holiday from 2022 if re-elected.
The new winter public holiday would fall at some point during the Matariki period, with an expectation that it would always happen on either a Monday or a Friday.
The policy announcement follows a series of public campaigns for the Matariki, which acts as the Māori New Year, to be recognised.
The exact timing of Matariki shifts every year as it relates to a star cluster reappearing and has traditionally varied between Iwi.
It would be the first new public holiday since the Third Labour Government made Waitangi Day a public holiday in 1973, although then Prime Minister Norman Kirk called it “New Zealand Day”.
“Matariki will be a distinctly New Zealand holiday and a time for reflection, celebration and to look to the future as we take increasing pride in our unique national identity,” Ardern said.
She said the struggling tourism sector could use the help of another holiday and noted the “long run” with no public holidays that currently happens between Queen’s Birthday in early June and Labour Day in late October.
“We don’t have many statutory holidays compared to other OECD countries and it would be good to break up the long run through winter,” Ardern said.
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63.8% Yes
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36.2% No
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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