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Source: The Parliament of New Zealand (Paremata Aotearoa)
The private members bill which proposes that the following Monday be a public holiday when Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall on a weekend has passed first reading in Parliament, as had been predicted by New Zealand's Labour Party leader, David Shearer.
During the last New Zealand election campaign, the then leader of New Zealand's Labour Party, Phil Goff, promised that his party would, if elected, introduce a bill to ensure that if the Waitangi Day and Anzac Day public holidays fall on either a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday would be a public holiday (28-Jan-2011).
However, Labour lost the 2011 general elections and that seemed to spell the end of the idea of Monday-ising the Waitangi Day and Anzac Day public holidays.
But by a luck of the draw, a similar private members bill (the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill), was drawn from the member's bill ballot and introduced to New Zealand's Parliament last February (08-Feb-2012) and will have its first reading next week.
Last week (17-Jul-2012), Labour leader David Shearer was quoted as saying that "It looks like it's got the numbers. It'll be the first that the Government loses a Bill in the house.", based on the assumption that all the parties in New Zealand's parliament, support the bill, except for ACT and National.
Related links:
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New Zealand 2013 bank holidays and public holidays (current year)
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New Zealand 2014 bank holidays and public holidays (next year)
• New Zealand bank holidays and public holidays (news and updates)
• Worldwide
bank holidays and public holidays news updates (July 2012)
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New Zealand 'Monday-ised' Public Holidays Bill Update