I seem to remember that during the late 90s, when the government wasn't prepared to face up to the criticisms levelled at them at Waitangi, they fled back down to Wellington and held the 'official' celebration, ie the one the PM went to, in Parliament. This happened in 1998 and 1999. Apparently it stopped while I was overseas.
There was a tradition in one ancient middle eastern state that the King, who was an absolute ruler for all but one day of the year, had to, on that day, walk through the marketplace without bodyguards and was not allowed to act against anybody who insulted him on that day. Sometimes it seems that Waitangi is a similar sort of thing for our governments - it's the one day of the year when they have to front up to the disatisfaction the people of New Zealand show for their colonialist policies. In an ideal world, every day should be such a day.
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Date: 2007-02-06 10:49 am (UTC)There was a tradition in one ancient middle eastern state that the King, who was an absolute ruler for all but one day of the year, had to, on that day, walk through the marketplace without bodyguards and was not allowed to act against anybody who insulted him on that day. Sometimes it seems that Waitangi is a similar sort of thing for our governments - it's the one day of the year when they have to front up to the disatisfaction the people of New Zealand show for their colonialist policies. In an ideal world, every day should be such a day.