Govt set to give Red Peak new life in the flag referendum

Parliament is sitting under urgency to debate a Green Party bill on the Red Peak flag and passed it under the first reading. “I don’t want to speculate on what they are thinking or feeling, but Key did issue a challenge to Parliament last week which is, if all parties except New Zealand First can support a bill, he will too”.

While the Green MP Gareth Hughes welcomed the government’s move to pick up his bill, he said it could have introduced its own weeks ago, and that the party had “a number of concerns” with the handling of the referendum so far.

The Red Peak flag design is likely to be added on to the referendum ballot later on today.

“‘Red Peak’ has been heavily promoted, it is a design from somewhere else, used as a United States corporate logo or by Germans in WW2 for sentry boxes, just like this example in Belgium”.

New Zealanders will vote on whether to replace the current flag in March next year after the current shortlist of five, now including the Red Peak, is reduced to one.

PM John Key had previously ruled out making changing the final line-up.

The New Zealand government on Wednesday bowed to public pressure and added an extra flag design to the four options already being considered for a new national banner. “If people want me to alter the process, I’ll be happy to alter the process – I would have preferred to stick to the one the officials wanted, but you know”.

But Mr Key hit back in Parliament.

“We opposed the flag change and did not sit on the flag change committee”.

“People have been playing politics for ages now and this provides a way through a political deadlock”.

“We won’t be supporting any changes other parties may put up to this Bill”.

A petition calling for Red Peak to be included was presented to parliament with about 50,000 signatures and cross-party support on 16 September.

“We have a Prime Minister who can not help but make a pig’s ear of his job at the moment”, says Labour leader Andrew Little.

Red Flag’s designer has said the flag uses the shape of traditional weaving patterns, and “suggests a landscape of alpine ranges, red earth, and black sky”, while referencing the Maori creation myth of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, also known as Rangi and Papa.

“In the end this is a process that is now become so flawed, handled in such a shambolic fashion, all of the responsibility of which lies at John Key’s feet”.