Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

John MacDonald: Do we need a public holiday to commemorate the Queen's passing?


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I was talking to someone last night who is a staunch royalist.

Ever since news of the Queen’s death came through on Friday morning, this person has been glued to the coverage. On radio, on TV. She’s all over it.

In fact, this person is such a royalist that she very nearly jumped on a plane and flew to London when Princess Diana died 25 years ago.

And when this person did make it to London, I think she spent most of her time at the Tower of London taking it all in, going to Windsor….loved it all.

So when I asked this person last night what they thought about having a public holiday here in New Zealand to mark the Queen’s passing, I was surprised by the response.

She didn’t think a holiday was justified. There was no in-depth reason for why she thought that. She just thought having a public holiday here would be over-the-top. And this is someone who was still a teenager when the Queen’s reign began and has loved the Queen ever since.

But even she doesn’t think a public holiday is justified here in New Zealand. And I totally agree.

The Australian Prime Minister beat us to it, announcing at the weekend that Australians will have a day off on 22 September for a National Day of Mourning.

In the UK, the day of the Queen’s funeral has already been declared a public holiday, and other countries are doing the same. So it’s not just Australia.

But just because other countries are doing it, doesn’t mean we have to.

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Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonaldBy Newstalk ZB


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