Ele Ludemann: Don’t need Govt help to celebrate

The government is reducing its funding for Matariki celebrations:

The government is confident a funding cut for Matariki will not hamper future celebrations, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

The coalition government cut funding for Matariki by 45 percent in the 2024-25 Budget.

Goldsmith said it was one of many tough decisions the government had to make.

Despite the funding cut, the government had committed to ongoing funding of $3 million a year for Matariki, he said.

That strikes me as very generous given the state of the economy.

“We think that provides a basis to have continued celebrations and, of course, right across the communities, people are celebrating in their own different ways, so we feel there is a good basis on which to grow.” . .

Celebrating in our own different ways can be done with our own resources rather than those of taxpayers.

This is what Matariki signifies:

. . . Matariki is known as the Māori New Year in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view).

Closely connected with the maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar), the reappearance of the Matariki stars in the early morning sky brings the past year to a close and marks the beginning of the new year.

Mātauranga Māori (ancestral knowledge and wisdom) is at the heart of celebrations of the Matariki public holiday and it will be a time for;

• Remembrance – Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki
•  Celebrating the present – Gathering together to give thanks for what we have
• Looking to the future – Looking forward to the promise of a new year

Historically, the stars of Matariki were also closely tied to planting, harvesting and hunting. If the stars appeared clear and bright, it signified an abundant season ahead. . .

Matariki is essentially a mid winter celebration, something marked in different ways by many cultures and countries.

We have borrowed several celebrations from other places and I like the idea of one of our own. But that doesn’t need taxpayer funding.

Remembering and honouring those who died in the previous 12 months; gathering to give thanks for what we have and looking to the future can be done in a variety of ways, small and big, with our own resources.

New Zealand is deep in debt, has far too many urgent needs requiring taxpayer funding with too little money to fund it.

Tough times require tough decisions about what are luxuries and what are necessities.

Funding celebrations or funding education, health and infrastructure? No contest.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.