What needs to happen for Matariki to become an official public holiday?

Thursday, 6 August 2020

Matariki has become a widely accepted festival across the country. (First published, September 25, 2020.)

EXPLAINER: It’s been almost 50 years since a new public holiday was added to New Zealand’s calendar.

Waitangi Day’s formal recognition in 1974 marks the last time a new holiday was introduced.

A number of campaigns have recently launched to make Matariki the next statutory holiday in Aotearoa. Stuff launched its own campaign in July, activists circulated and presented petitions signed by 30,000 supporters, and politicians voiced their support of the movement. Local councils have been celebrating the season for years.

So what happens next? How is a public holiday created in New Zealand?

Making a new public holiday requires an amendment of the Holidays Act 2003.

Before that can happen, there are a number of hurdles to jump. The journey can start in a number of places – from a public petition, a members’ bill or a government bill, for example.

Members’ bills don’t usually result in legislative change and a couple of politicians have tried to make Matariki a public holiday through this avenue in the past.

To celebrate the end of the 2020 Matariki festivities, Auckland City Council hosted a kapa haka performance at Britomart’s Takutai Square, where bystanders could try a hongi or their hand at poi.

In 2018, Labour MP Paul Eagle introduced his members’ bill calling for the holiday, and in 2009 the Māori Party’s Rahui Katene did the same thing. Of the 30 to 40 members’ bills introduced in each parliament sitting, only a few progress to enact legislative change.

People on the streets of Christchurch share what they know - and in some cases, what they don't - about Matariki.

Action Station and New Zealand Republic got the ball rolling again in July 2020 with a dual petition formally presented to Eagle at the end of the month. The latest petition will be introduced to the House and then allocated to the relevant select committee for consideration.

It’s doesn’t seem likely that this will happen before parliament is dissolved on Wednesday, August 12.

The 12 committees include MPs from different political parties, and Eagle was hopeful the Matariki public holiday petitions would be allocated to the Governance and Administration Select Committee that he is involved in.

The committee is then tasked with considering the petition. To do this, they might ask the petitioner to be present, or they might seek public submissions or external advice before reporting back to the House.

The report will outline the committee’s consideration and any relevant recommendations. If there are recommendations made, the Government has 60 working days to respond to them.

Petitions usually ask the House to pass legislation. The New Zealand Republic petition formally asked the House of Representatives to amend the Holidays Act to include Matariki, which would be “observed on the day of the next new moon following the day in which it rises in the months of May or June”.

From here, if the House agrees, legislative change can occur. This has happened in the past when Wiremu Demchick’s 2016 petition contributed to passing the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Act of 2018, and with the women’s suffrage petition in 1893.

Action Station’s Laura O'Connoll Rapira handed over a petition to MP Paul Eagle in July, calling for Matariki to be a public holiday.

But there are a few more steps between the petition being reported on and legislation being moved. Petitions and legislative process are separate procedures.

To start, a bill needs to be created and presented to parliament. It then needs to move past its first reading, which both Eagle and Katene’s members’ bills failed to do.

The next step involves a relevant select committee. The committee has six months to examine the bill and prepare a report for the House. In this time, public submissions may be sought and public hearings held. The committee will then decide if any changes should be made.

The next step is the second reading, which can happen no sooner than the third sitting day after the select committee delivers its report. It is here that members will debate the bill and vote on any recommended changes from the select committee. A final vote will be cast - if it’s lost, the bill will move no further. If it’s agreed, it will move to the committee of the whole House.

This less formal debate involving the committee of the whole House is open to any member to participate in. It is a chance for the bill to be examined in detail and for members to propose any changes. Once everyone has agreed on it, it will be prepared for its third and final reading.

The third reading is the last bridge to cross and involves a final vote to determine whether it is passed or rejected. According to the New Zealand Parliament website, bills that reach this stage are rarely rejected.

If it gets the green light, the bill will go over its last hurdle before becoming law – the Royal Assent. This step involves the signature of the governor-general.

The Holidays Act was previously amended in 2008 to allow public holidays to be transferred, and in 2013 to introduce ‘Mondayised’ public holidays.

Action Station’s director, Laura O’Connell Rapira, previously told Stuff she had earmarked 2021 as the first year Matariki would be honoured nationally with a public holiday.

While there is no timeframe on the Matariki petitions yet, Eagle noted he would work to get it over the line in due course.

“My task [is] to take Laura's hard mahi, hard work, to the prime minister and say ‘yes please, please consider it and let's get it on the agenda to make formally a public holiday’,” he previously said.