New Zealand’s Acting PM Has Accused Australia Of Stealing The Kiwi Flag
Just like pavlova and Russell Crowe.
New Zealand’s acting prime minister, Winston Peters, has accused Australia of copying his nation’s flag. And so begins maybe the dumbest diplomatic spat since the last one.
“We had a flag that we’ve had for a long time, copied by Australia,” Peters told local TV station TVNZ earlier this week. “They should actually change their flag and honour the fact that we got there first with this design.”
Peters is filling in for PM Jacinda Ardern while she’s on maternity leave. His comments came amidst heightened tension between the neighbouring nations over Australia’s deportation of hundreds of New Zealand citizens.
New Zealand adopted its current flag in 1902, while Australia adopted ours in 1954.
In 2016, New Zealand held a referendum about adopting a new flag. One of the major arguments for change was that the current flag was often mistaken for Australia’s. But 56 percent of voters opted for the status quo.
So really, they only have themselves to blame for the confusion.
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Feature image via Wikimedia, Mike Cassano/Flickr
