We were also separated into groups based on our star signs (of all things lol) and asked to debate a particular view point -- which wasn't necessarily aligned with our own personal feelings or beliefs -- regarding the flag change, and public vs. private schooling. I was in the group arguing for keeping the NZ flag. I found this point of view had a decent amount of arguments to bring up so it wasn't too tricky.
I looked into several news stories and articles which covered various sides of this topic, and even watched some international coverage of the issue
On the show 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver', he poked complete fun of the idea of our flag change, showing some of the most ridiculous examples of flag ideas as part of his skit, for example the amazing flag with a kiwi shooting lasers from it's eyes. I found the articles, particularly the ones found on stuff, tend to spin the argument toward being pro-flag change usually. which didn't appear to reflect the sentiments of the general public on social media or comments sections of said articles.
Here are some of the notes and key points we came up with as a group, and then some I wrote after reading opinions about the subject to discuss during the debate.
Points I wanted to make during our debate:
Why the current flag is good:
As far as flags go, the current one is actually pretty decently designed.
People would find issue with any flag we change it to, and we will never be able to please everybody with any alternative we pick.
Like majority of the new flag suggestions, the current flag has the southern cross stars on it, this is a navigational icon and waypoint for both maori and british cultures, and these stars are something unique to our part of the globe and this makes their inclusion in the current flag something which ultimately encompasses all new zealanders as a whole, and all new zealanders should feel like they can relate to.
Uniqueness/Identity:
The design the current flag was based on was first created in 1840, Earlier than the first design of the Australian flag was only used from 1853 onwards. If anybody should be changing their flag, it should be the Aussies. :)
The current flag has been the identity of our nation for well over 150 years and to change it now would be to undermine our nations history and identity. Other nations in the world have a difficult enough time as it is matching a flag to our wee country, and throwing a new flag into the mix after using that one as our brand for so long would be detrimental to our nations identity.
Any 'Identity crisis' new zealand may have standing out in the world, shouldn't be attributed to a mere flag. The flag is only a symbol and it is the merits of the people of our country which determine our place and significance in the world. We don't need to change our flag to get attention.
Alternate versions and flag designs exist within alot of countries and are adopted and freely used by groups who prefer to use those flags, this in no way indicates a country should rethink the flag design for an entire nation.
Patriotism:
The current new zealand flag has been the flag many have fought and died under, and made sacrifices to protect in war. Not only were soldiers killed in action buried with those flags, but many of the brave soldiers who did make it home are elderly now and surely would feel sad about changing the flag. The thought that someone would even humor the thought of changing it is unpatriotic and insulting, and serves as a further showcase of how out-of-touch with the new zealand people our government has become.
Cost:
The thought that 26 million (and probably more) of taxpayers money be spent on something as trivial as proposing to change a flag, an action which accomplishes very little impact or real merit upon us, while many of those same taxpayers can barely afford to feed their own families is shocking. We should not allow such great sums to be spent on such meaningless cosmetic indulgence, the money can easily be put to better more significant uses to better our society.
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