We are honouring who we are as a country. We are a Pacific country, we are anchored in the Southern Hemisphere, and our calendar should reflect that fact. We aren't a European country and we aren't part of the Northern Hemisphere. Before anyone had heard of Pope Gregory and his Gregorian calendar, we had a calendar. We had a calendar based on mātauranga Māori. Māori signalled the new year through the rise of the stars in the southern skies, and that's what we want to celebrate and capture through this public holiday. 