Waikato Anniversary Day not possible without ‘groundswell’ of council, community support

View from the Hakarimata walkway. Photo / Got to Get Out

Waikato Anniversary as a local holiday seems to be a thing of the distant future - if at all - as local councils say they have more urgent priorities.

At the end of last month, six different regions marked Auckland Anniversary again, but potential alternatives for this public holiday emerged.

While Waikato MP Tim van de Molen suggested renaming the holiday into Waikato Anniversary to reflect the region’s national importance, members of the community re-floated the idea of the region’s own holiday, separate from Auckland.

The Waikato Herald approached Parliament for comment, asking what would need to be done to establish a new regional holiday.

A spokesperson said the dates of anniversaries were set by the local or regional council and referred the question to them.

Waikato Regional Council chairwoman Pamela Storey said the council didn’t have any specific legislative powers to amend the provincial anniversary date.

“In order to record any change of date, there would need to be an amendment to the Holidays Act 2003.

“It is anticipated that a proposal to change the date would require the support of the regional, district and city councils within the Waikato region. There would also need to be strong public support from the people of the Waikato.”

Storey said she wasn’t aware of any previous attempts to set up a Waikato Anniversary Day through the regional council.

“While I believe the people of our region have much bigger issues to grapple with, if there was a groundswell of community support for a Waikato anniversary weekend, this is something that could be taken for an initial discussion at the mayoral forum.”

Waikato MP Tim van de Molen.

A similar sentiment was shared by Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate who said she was generally supportive of the idea, but the council had more urgent matters to tend to.

“It would of course be nice to have our own Waikato anniversary weekend ... but this is not really a council decision. My priority is the long-term planning process, and getting Hamilton’s books in order.”

Waikato Herald also approached Port Waikato MP Andrew Bayly for comment since his electorate covers both, parts of the Waikato and Auckland.

Bayly has yet to respond - maybe van de Molen’s bold idea about changing Auckland Anniversary Day’s name to Waikato Anniversary Day, instead of Waikato having a separate holiday, has left him speechless.

Port Waikato MP and Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Small Business and Manufacturing, and Minister for Statistics Andrew Bayly. Photo / Hagen Hopkins

In case Aucklanders aren’t keen on the idea, van de Molen provided a solution: The winner of the next Waikato vs Auckland NPC rugby match could determine the name of the holiday.

But here is another idea: Since both, Bayly and van de Molen, are keen outdoorsmen, they could battle it out in a race to the Hakarimata summit.

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.

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