Christopher Luxon doesn’t agree that Matariki should be given a more "neutral name" as suggested by one of his National MPs, but says it should replace another public holiday like Labour Day.
Legislation setting up Matariki as a public holiday passed in Parliament last Thursday. Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki (the Matariki Public Holiday Bill) marks June 24, the Māori new year, as being New Zealand’s 12th public holiday.
The National leader on Wednesday told Breakfast his party was in full support of the holiday, and that he disagreed with National MP Simon O’Connor that it should be given another name.
“No, I like Matariki, I think it will be a great holiday - our issue with it is not Matariki itself, not celebrating Matariki. We think it’s fantastic,” Luxon said.
O’Connor in Parliament two weeks ago suggested the new holiday needed a more "neutral name", claiming Messier 45 as a good option. Messier 45 is the name given to the star cluster with reference to French astronomer Charles Messier.
Luxon did have some criticisms around potential negative economic impacts from the holiday, especially for small businesses.
He said it would be adding $450 million of extra cost to the country, and placing extra pressure on small businesses that had been doing it tough.
READ MORE: Matariki public holiday criticism an 'ideological issue' - Allan
"So the only question I want to ask is which other holiday do we wanna cancel? Maybe Labour Day would be a good one?" he said.
"Don’t misinterpret it, we’re very, very supportive of Matariki. I really like the idea - it’s just a question of yeah, you can’t just keep adding public holidays and keep adding costs to small businesses at a time where we’ve got a cost of living crisis in New Zealand."
Despite the Opposition’s economic concerns, Parliament was told the additional holiday could boost the economy by $310.4 to $496.1 million.
ACT's Small Business spokesperson Chris Baillie was also last week critical of the holiday’s potential cost, labelling the bill a "ludicrous idea".
Labour MP Kiritapu Allan said the backlash from both National and Act against the bill stemmed from a deeper perspective on national identity.
"I think they're having real ideological issues.
"Anzac Day is something special for us all, Labour Day commemorates the backbone ... of the economic base of our workers.
"We have heard from tourism industries, hospitality industries, those people that have been finding it the hardest ... those are some of the biggest champions when it came to this additional holiday."
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