New Zealand Day - 3rd time lucky

Have posted this three times now. The Blog must really hate it as it keeps disappearing :)

New Zealand Day.

There's a great sound in those words. New Zealand Day - a day to give thanks that we live in such a great country. But this year I just won't call it Waitangi Day. I won't call it Waitangi Day because to me Waitangi Day means protests and mud slinging, and a day where a very small minority make the television news for the same, pain in the arse reasons.

This is a day when anyone looking in from the outside would think we are the least united. This legacy of past wrong-doings and the corresponding settlement process must have an end. And please make it soon.

New Zealand is full of people from different ethnic origins. In the most part these people want to take part in our society in a positive and beneficial way - they want to take the best things from their culture and make it a part of ours. In short "They want to move forward".

I'm really glad that most Maori people feel the same way - and I've heard that Waitangi is a great place to go over the long weekend - a carnival of sorts, with lots of fun to be had. But it all doesnt just happen there. New Zealanders' all over the country take to the beaches, and the parks to enjoy a day, tailor-made for us. I just want this day to reflect on us all - as New Zealanders, not just focusing on 10% of our population.

Be proud of what we achieve, and be proud to be a New Zealander. Remember - We are one nation - and it's time to celebrate that fact.