14 June 2004

More big names say 'flag the flag'

Five more high profile New Zealanders are the latest in a line-up of household names backing the recently launched campaign www.nzflag.com to change the New Zealand flag.

Saatchi boss, Kevin Roberts; fashion designer, Karen Walker; mountaineer, Graeme Dingle; artist Dick Frizzell and Trevor Grice, Founder of Life Education Trust are all lending their weight as official endorsers.

'The current New Zealand flag is irrelevant and unidentifiable', says fashion guru, Walker, 'It's not a flag to build a future on'.

'Peter Jackson and LOTR has raised the ante.' says Roberts.

'New Zealand is again a hot dinner topic in Los Angeles and New York. We must capitalize on this and not let the opportunity slip. We need to keep the conversation going; increase our national identity here at home and overseas.'

The diverse grouping of Dingle, Walker, Roberts, Frizzell and Grice is indicative of the wide range of New Zealanders supporting change.

Forty six prominent kiwis across a range of disciplines including sports, the arts, education, religious and business are pushing for a referendum on a new national flag.

Their names and photographs appear on the www.nzflag.com website alongside Olympic gold medallist, Barbara Kendall; world champion squash player Susan Devoy; musician, Neil Finn, and businessmen Stephen Tindall and Chris Liddell and Mayors Sukhi Turner and Garry Moore.

The www.NZFlag.com Trust, established in April seeks to gather around 300,000 signatures early next year to hold a referendum asking New Zealanders to have their say on whether New Zealand should change its flag.

ENDS

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