I’m a footy loving pie eating Aussie with a dark secret. No I haven’t been to prison, no I’m not addicted to reality TV and yes I have been faithful to my girlfriend.
The truth is I was actually not born here. That’s right my Dunlop volley wearing, prawn-loving ways are all a sham.
Like many “Australians” I am an expat kiwi that only supports the all blacks when they win and will always pretend to barrack for the Australian cricket team at boxing day barbeques.
I like many New Zealanders hide their true colours. When people ask me what the capital of new Zealand is I will always say Auckland so they don’t get suspicious. If they ask me who invented Pavlova through gritted teeth I will always say “Australians invented it and it’s delicious”.
Maybe I am exaggerating to some degree however Kiwi’s in this country are often keen to ingratiate themselves with Australian society and reluctant to engage in national pride.
Recently however Kiwi’s had something to be proud of. John Key, our – I mean New Zealand’s prime minister recently voiced his willingness to rid the kiwi flag of the union jack.
What’s more Key thinks the flag should be an image of the iconic white silver fern with a black background, much like what you see when the Kiwi’s compete and often lose events at the Olympics.
This has not garnered any coverage at all in Australia. In fact the proposed referendum is hardly spoken of however for Australian kiwi’s this is a reason to be very excited.
The silver fern is a universally beloved symbol in New Zealand. Although there is still some subtle divisions between Maori culture and the countries Pākehā (new Zealanders of an Anglo Saxon back ground) the silver fern is an image that is widely agreed to be New Zealand’s national symbol.
So far however I have only really presented one side of the story.
I am a bonafide fan of the silver fern.
Ever since my grandfather brainwashed me with hours of rugby union and the purities of New Zealand life the silver fern has been everything from my Facebook profile picture to a tattoo on my left pictorials.
If the Kiwi’s revert to a silver fern I feel that I would no longer feel like the Aussies little brother, New Zealand had taken a stand and made a major change to reflect the true identity of their people.
However as the crunch time for this proposed referendum approaches the result is definitely not cut and dry.
Grant is a Kiwi who lived in Australia for 15 years and now lives back in the coastal town of Para Para Umu and hour north of Wellington.
He disagrees with the change of flag saying “As long as we have the Queen as head of state we don’t need to change the flag” and also says that surprisingly people are “not that interested” in the issue.
The view is actually surprisingly common amongst Kiwi’s.
In a letter to popular New Zealand online news site stuff.co, Susan Lester proclaims that New Zealand should “should not fix what isn’t broke” and accuses Prime Minister Key of trying to replicate Alex Salmond in Scotland and selfishly trying make a name for himself by instigating a campaign for a major change.
This has been one of the standard arguments for and against the flag that we often here when a change to the Australian flag is floated.
“My father fought under the flag” or “The flag represents our history” however perhaps the most intriguing came out of the Fairfax owned Sunday Star in Auckland where Tony Burton the secretary of Flags Australia was quoted as saying that the new Zealand silver fern would be compared to the Islamic State flag and be a symbol of violence.
It turns out Burton was not even interviewed by the star and setting the record straight on the city journal he said that the major issue with the referendum ion New Zealand that there are major practical issues with the change of flag that will be hard to execute.
“The proposed flag is a very hard to make and there is already debate as to how many leaves will be on this silver fern” he described his quote in the star that “the design resembles the black and white banner of the Islamic State” is a complete “cock up.”
The referendum date is still not set however it is likely to be held next year with debate already heating up.
This referendum is certain to attract more media coverage than the last vote which took on the riveting subject of state asset sales.
For someone who is sometimes reluctant to speak up as a Kiwi this would be a great source of pride.
It will also no doubt raise the question of whether the Australian flag, which is now one of only 15 flags with the union jack on it, should remain as is.
All of this is now speculation, However the thought of it alone still makes me proud to be a Kiwi.
