Making a day of it

In 2022 legislation is expected to pass bringing in Matariki, the Māori New Year, as a national public holiday. Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o Te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill is only the fifth dual-language Bill to be introduced to our Parliament, and when enacted will create the first public holiday to recognise te ao Māori (the Māori worldview).

Set out until 2052, the Gregorian calendar dates will move every year to align with the Māori lunar calendar system, similar to the shifting dates of Easter. The first Matariki public holiday is earmarked for 24 June 2022. The Government has committed to ensuring that mātauranga Māori will be at the heart of celebrations of the Matariki public holiday, and it will be a time for remembrance, gratitude and looking ahead to the new year.

The first public holiday in New Zealand was St Andrew’s Day in 1857, but it wasn’t until the Bank Holidays Act 1873 that the tradition of nationwide public holidays began. Today’s national public holidays are a combination of international and local celebrations, with a mix of commemorative, cultural and religious themes. With the addition of Matariki Day, New Zealand will have 11 statutory national public holidays, with a paid day off work taken on the date or on the following Monday.

The Matariki 2022 stamps issue on 4 May 2022. Stamps will remain on sale until 3 May 2023 and first day covers will be available until 29 June 2022.

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day is a day to remind all New Zealanders - Māori, Pākeha and Kiwis of all backgrounds - of the heritage they share as citizens of Aotearoa. The Treaty of Waitangi is a document written in Māori and English that intended to found a nation state and build a government in New Zealand. It was signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson, several English residents and around 45 Māori rangatira (chiefs). Approximately 540 rangatira from around 39 areas of the country eventually signed. The Treaty consists of nine documents in all - seven on paper and two on parchment. Different understandings of the Treaty have long been a subject of debate. However, today the the treaty claims are being settled by Māori and the Crown and the document is beginning to take on a more mediatory role rather than remaining a point of grievance.

Waitangi Day was first observed in 1934 when Governor-General Lord Bledisloe gifted the Treaty House and grounds at Waitangi to the nation, but it wasn’t until 1974 that it became a public holiday (briefly known as New Zealand Day). Waitangi Day commemorations traditionally take place at the treaty grounds at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. Attended by the prime minister and other politicians, the governor-general and diplomats, events include a dawn service, pōwhiri (welcome ritual), launching of waka (canoes), sports, performances and a naval salute. From the 1970s to early 2000s official functions were sometimes disrupted by protests by Māori who took the opportunity to raise the issues of inequality that stemmed from colonisation and the different interpretations of the treaty.

Although Christmas traditions had been imported by settlers, for many people in the mid-19th century 25 December was just another working day. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 guaranteed a handful of holidays, including Christmas Day and Boxing Day. This was confirmed by the Public Holidays Act 1910.

Homesick settlers ensured that midnight mass and other Christian church services were well attended. Christmas trees, which had been introduced to England by Queen Victoria’s German husband Prince Albert, were gradually adopted in New Zealand. Many of the well-known carols composed in the 1800s made their way to our shores. Children were the main recipients of

presents, especially once the American concept of Santa Claus (better known to young New Zealanders as Father Christmas) caught on in the late 1860s. The pōhutukawa tree, which blooms in December, became known as New Zealand’s Christmas tree, and settlers began to enjoy eating and celebrating outdoors.

Today, many Kiwis enjoy barbecues or lighter seasonal meals rather than traditional Northern Hemisphere roasts. Gifts are exchanged and parents make sure their children wake up to gifts from Santa. A number of New Zealanders in the transport, health and hospitality sectors and essential services work on Christmas Day, but they are entitled to time-and-a-half pay and an alternative day off.

NZ Post Christmas stamps from 1960 and 2019

New Year’s Day and the day after

The Scottish practice of first footing - a custom of trying to be the first to visit your neighbours in the new year - was common until late 20th century. Festivities would continue on New Year’s Day. The traditions of bonfires, fireworks, drinking and singing Auld lang syne spread around the country. New Year’s Day picnics and sporting fixtures became traditions and are still practised today.

In 1921 the Christmas and New Year holidays were ‘Mondayised’ - where a holiday that falls on the weekend is moved to the following Monday - contributing to today’s practice of a long summer holidays from school and work. Today, Kiwis are also treated to a paid day off on the day after New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve concerts, festivals and fireworks are popular, and many people take the opportunity to set goals for self-improvement in January.

Good Friday and Easter Monday

Easter is celebrated in March or April, on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or just after the spring equinox. Lent (the period of self-denial leading up to Easter), Passion week (culminating in Good Friday) and Easter Sunday are important religious days for Anglicans and Catholics, and have been adopted by New Zealanders of other denominations or faiths as autumn holidays. In New Zealand, the Christian Easter holiday takes place on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The next day, Monday, is given as a day off as one of the holy days falls on the weekend. Kiwis indulge in the more modern practices of surprising children with chocolate eggs and other treats from the ‘Easter bunny’. Although traditionally baked and eaten on Good Friday, hot cross buns are on supermarket shelves as early as January, along with chocolate eggs. In the mid-1800s most English Methodist or Anglican and Irish Catholic settlers observed Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but Scottish Presbyterian settlers did not. Instead, the Scots celebrated New Year’s Eve (Hogmanay) and New Year’s Day.

Anzac Day

First observed during World War One (in 1916) and observed as an official day of remembrance in 1921, Anzac Day commemorates the landing of New Zealand and Australian troops at ‘Anzac Cove’ on Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April 1915. The intention of the Gallipoli campaign was to open the Dardanelles strait to the Allied fleet, giving it access to the Ottoman capital of Constantinople to possibly force a Turkish surrender. The ultimately unsuccessful campaign came to an end after nine tragic months.

More than 8,700 Australians and more than 2,700 New Zealanders lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign. It was through this hardship that the Anzac spirit was born, a comradeship felt and remembered to this day with the annual observance of Anzac Day. It is widely believed that for the Gallipoli experience fostered a sense of nationhood in New Zealand. Many New Zealanders rise early on 25 April to attend dawn services, where dedications to remembering those who died in service, and the last post is played. Later in the morning a televised national service is held. Most commercial activities are prohibited until 1pm. 1936 Anzac stamp

Queen’s Birthday Weekend

The sovereign’s birthday was first officially marked for King George II in 1748. The Queen’s Official Birthday is celebrated on various dates throughout the Commonwealth and in the United Kingdom, generally set around the end of May or start of June. In New Zealand, Queen’s Birthday is a public holiday observed on the first Monday in June. Celebrations are mainly official, including the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and military ceremonies. Until the introduction of the Matariki public holiday, it was the last day off before winter and the long wait for Labour Day. 2021 Queen Elizabeth II 95th Birthday stamp

Labour Day

Labour Day was first celebrated by trade unionists on 28 October 1890; they were bringing attention to a campaign to extend the eight-hour working day to all industries. The Labour Day Act 1899 established a public holiday on the second Wednesday of October. From 1910 Labour Day was held on the fourth Monday in October. Today, Labour Day is looked forward to as the first holiday after winter. For many, Labour weekend is the unofficial start of spring, and for gardeners the cue to plant tomatoes.