Matariki welcomed by apprehensive retail and hospitality sectors

Friday, 2 July 2021

The appearance of the Matariki star cluster is a time in Maori culture to think about the past, present and future.

Businesses are anticipating the benefits but also the costs of celebrating Matariki when it becomes a public holiday next year.

The new holiday will fall on June 24 in 2022, and an advisory group has recommended the mid-winter holiday always fall on a Friday, with dates ranging throughout June and July, based on the lunar calendar.

While the traditional Māori New Year festival is expected to provide a welcome mid-winter break, estimates from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment suggest it will cost the country's businesses between $377 million and $448m.

This week some retailers were already getting into the groove with Matariki-themed promotions, but Greg Harford, chief executive of the Retailers Association, said next year the celebration would be bittersweet.

Put June 24 in your diary for next year. it will mark the first Matariki public holiday.

* Retailers are being forced to pay higher wages in the face labour shortages

* Official advice suggests new Matariki public holiday will cost businesses up to $448m

In the Wairarapa, Greytown is looking to boost domestic tourism with a mid-winter Christmas festival which will incorporate Matariki events.

“It's definitely put up the cost of opening on that day and if you want to avoid those costs you will have to close, which means you'll be missing out on revenue.

“I guess the hope in the retail community is that customers do get out and shop while they've got the opportunity to have another day off.”

About 10 per cent of retailers in a recent survey had indicated they were celebrating Matariki in-store this year, although Harford expected it to be much more promoted next year.

Restaurants and cafes also saw Matariki as a mixed blessing.

“As someone who hails from Tauranga Moana (Ngāti Ranginui), I am particularly pleased this will ensure Matariki is seen as a national celebration across Aotearoa,' Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association said.

Matt Blain of the Timaru Fire Bugs rehearses for the town’s Matariki night market next Friday.

Matariki was a time for people to come together, celebrate the year gone and embrace the promise of the year ahead.

However, public holidays did place more pressure on businesses, “particularly in our industry with the added costs of operating on public holidays”.

“Off the back of the last 14 months this is a cost that many are not welcoming, but the principal behind the celebration is welcomed.“

Business groups have voiced concern about a string of changes in recent months that will add to their operational costs, including five days extra sick leave, minimum wage increases and big spikes in the cost of freight.

“Depending on who you talk to, [freight costs] have gone up 200 to 300 per cent over the last 15 months,” Harford said.

“All of that has a flow-on effect into retail.”

ACT leader David Seymour has said the public holiday amounted to a tax on business, and suggested the Government get rid of another public holiday to make way for Matariki.

But Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood said MBIE’s figures did not take into account any of the potential economic benefits of the extra holiday, including productivity gains, increased retail and hospitality demand and increased tourism.

Public opinion appears to be on the Government's side. A 1 News/Colmar Brunton poll from September last year found 69 per cent of voters were in support, with 23 per cent opposed and 8 per cent unsure.