John Carter

MP for Northland

2 June 2000

Helen Clark must not get away with latest attack on our heritage

"Helen Clark is slowly, brick-by-brick, dismantling every aspect of the heritage which still holds a resonance for the majority of New Zealanders," says National's Northland MP John Carter.

"Her latest exercise in rabid Political Correctness is agreeing to meet with a Hastings man to decide whether she will approve his design as a replacement for the New Zealand flag.

"She's considering trashing the flag which has symbolised New Zealand for generations of kiwis. Pakeha and Maori alike they fought under that flag and fought for it. They watched with pride as it was raised during our victories, and with heart-felt tears as it flew at half mast during our darkest moments of tragedy.

"It's more than just a piece of cloth - and if Miss Clark spent some time in the RSAs, the bars, and the living rooms of New Zealand she'd find out just how much that flag means to people.

"Any decision on whether to change the symbol of our nation must be made by the people - not at the whim of the Prime Minister.

"This is the latest in a series of unilateral decisions aimed at severing all ties with our colonial heritage. It comes on the eve of the first ever Queens Birthday Weekend Honours list with no ties to the monarchy. How long will it be before Miss Clark scraps that public holiday?

"It is republicanism by stealth - and Helen Clark has no right to force that on us," Mr Carter says.

Ends

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