| Public holidays in New Zealand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also called | Statutory holidays, stat holidays |
| Observed by | New Zealanders |
| Type | National, regional |
| Frequency | Twelve days a year (from 2022) [1] |
Public holidays in New Zealand (also known as statutory holidays) consist of a variety of cultural, national, and religious holidays that are legislated in New Zealand. Workers can get a maximum of 12 public holidays (eleven national holidays plus one provincial holiday) and a minimum of 20 annual leave days a year.
Bank holidays in New Zealand originated with a celebration of St Andrew's Day in 1857. [2] Nationwide public holidays began with the Bank Holidays Act 1873, which was based on the UK Bank Holidays Act 1871. Initially there was some resistance to it. [3]
Anniversary days celebrated, from as early as 1843, the first arrivals of settlers in each province. [4] By 1846 the Wellington Anniversary Day was described as having the appearance of an English Fair. [5]
Half-holidays, or early closing days, were widespread from the 1900s to 1970s. They allowed 6 day weeks in shops and offices to include a half day off from 1 pm, on a day set by the local council. [6] From the late 1840s the practice spread from Wellington and Christchurch. In the 1870s many towns adopted shopping half holidays, usually a Wednesday Thursday, or Saturday. From 1873 female factory workers had a half-holiday from 2 pm on Saturdays, from 1881 under-18s got it and, after 1891, the holiday started from 1 pm. The Shops and Shop Assistants Act 1892 gave shop assistants half-holidays starting at 1 pm, the shops themselves also being closed from 1894. From 1907 electors could set the day in local elections. [7]
In 2006, Māori Language Commissioner Haami Piripi proposed to make Matariki an official holiday. [8] After public discussion, in 2009 a bill was introduced to make Matariki a public holiday; however, the bill was voted down at its first reading. [9] Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on 7 September 2020 that her government would create a new public holiday to celebrate Matariki should the Labour Party win the 2020 general election. [10] Labour won the election, and in February 2021 Ardern announced that Matariki would become an annual public holiday with a variable date (June or July). [11] The Matariki Public Holiday Bill received royal assent on 11 April 2022. [12] The first Matariki public holiday was observed on 24 June 2022. [13]
Statutory holidays are legislated by the Holidays Act 2003. [1]
| Date | Holiday [1] | Trading restriction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January [a] | New Year's Day | No |
| 2 January [b] | Day after New Year's Day | No |
| 6 February [a] | Waitangi Day | No |
| The Friday before Easter Sunday | Good Friday | Yes |
| The day after Easter Sunday | Easter Monday | No |
| 25 April [a] | Anzac Day | Yes (until 1 pm) |
| The first Monday in June | King's Birthday | No |
| The closest Friday to the Tangaroa Lunar calendar period of the correct lunar calendar month. [14] | Matariki | No |
| The fourth Monday in October | Labour Day | No |
| 25 December [a] | Christmas Day | Yes |
| 26 December [b] | Boxing Day | No |
The holidays that do not always fall on Monday or Friday are "Mondayised".
If the holiday fall on a weekend, and an employee does not work on the weekends, then the holiday is transferred to the following Monday or Tuesday. If the employee works on the weekends, then the holiday is taken on that day. [15]
Christmas Day and New Years' Day have always been Mondayised holidays, and from 2013 Waitangi Day and Anzac Day are also Mondayised. [16]
Waitangi Day and Anzac Day are always commemorated on the exact date, as they remember specific historical events. The statutory holidays, however, are Mondayised.
All workers who work on a public holiday must be paid time-and-a-half, and if it would otherwise be a normal working day for them, be given an alternative holiday (known as a day in lieu). Payment for the alternative holiday is equivalent relevant daily pay for the particular alternative day taken, had they have worked it. [17]
There are special trading restrictions on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday (not a public holiday) and before 1 pm on Anzac Day. On those days, generally only dairies, petrol stations, pharmacies, restaurants, cafés, and shops within an airport or train station may open. All other shops including supermarkets must close.
Some shops open each year despite the law and are fined. [18]
Certain areas have exemptions allowing them to trade one or more of the restricted days. These areas include Parnell Road in Parnell, Auckland, Paihia, Picton, and Queenstown. [19] The Shop Trading Hours Commission decided where exemptions were to apply but it was shut down in 1990, leaving the existing exemptions in place but no longer having a mechanism for other places to apply. In 2016, regional councils were given the power to set Easter Sunday trading rules in their area. [20] Around 44 councils, covering around one-third of the population, have set policy allowing trading on Easter Sunday. [21]
Shops that can open on the restricted days are still subject to conditions and subject to any other law to the contrary. For example, alcohol can only be sold with a meal or to people staying on the premises overnight. [22]
In addition to the eleven national public holidays, section 44 of the Holidays Act 2003 specifies as public holidays the anniversary days of each province (or the day locally observed as that day) to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces. [1] : Section 44 These are only celebrated within each province, not nationwide. Exact dates of the various provinces' anniversary days are not specifically stated in the act, and are instead determined by historical convention and local custom. The regions covered are set by provincial district (as they stood when abolished in 1876), plus Southland, the Chatham Islands, South Canterbury, and Northland. The actual observance days can vary even within each province and is due to local custom, convenience or the proximity of seasonal events or other holidays and may differ from the official observance day.
| Provincial District | includes | Actual Day | Observance Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington Province | Wellington, Manawatu, Whanganui | 22 January | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Auckland Province | Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne/East Coast | 29 January | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Northland | Whangārei | 29 January | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Nelson | Nelson, Tasman, Buller and parts of North Canterbury | 1 February | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Otago Province | Dunedin, Queenstown | 23 March | Monday nearest to the actual day (this can vary if it would otherwise coincide with Easter Monday) |
| Southland | Invercargill, Bluff, Milford Sound, Fiordland | 25 March [23] | Easter Tuesday [24] |
| Taranaki (New Plymouth) | New Plymouth | 31 March | Second Monday in March – to avoid Easter |
| South Canterbury | Timaru | 25 September | Fourth Monday in September — Dominion Day |
| Hawke's Bay | Napier, Hastings | 1 November | Friday before Labour Day |
| Marlborough | Blenheim, Picton | 1 November | First Monday after Labour Day |
| Canterbury | Christchurch, Ashburton | 11 November | Christchurch Show Day (North Canterbury) |
| Christchurch Show Day (Central Canterbury) | |||
| Second Friday after the first Tuesday in November (Christchurch City) — to coincide with the Canterbury A&P Show. | |||
| Chatham Islands | Waitangi | 30 November | Monday nearest to the actual day |
| Westland | Hokitika, Greymouth | 1 December | Monday nearest to the actual day (Greymouth) |
| Varies (outside Greymouth) |
In addition to the above holidays, from 1 April 2007 all workers must be given four weeks annual leave, often taken in the summer Christmas – New Year period. [25] In many industries there is a Christmas – New Year shutdown of business. With only three working days between Christmas and New Year, many workers take this time off, as they can have a ten-day summer break for only three days leave. Many retail outlets also hold sales at this time to stimulate business while others close down due to low demand for services. The days from 25 December to 15 January are not considered to be working days for official government purposes. The public counters of most government departments do open on weekdays during this period, though often only a limited service may be available.[ citation needed ]
State schools have a 4-term year, of about ten weeks each and usually with a two-week holiday between terms. [26] Although standard term dates are set by the Ministry of Education each year, schools can vary these to account for local holidays and school closures due to weather. The first term commences in late January or early February. Occasionally, Easter holidays and/or Anzac Day may fall within these holidays. The holiday between terms two and three is generally known as the midwinter break[ according to whom? ] and occurs in July, while that between terms 3 and 4 occurs in late September, early October. Term four ends in mid December, generally a week or two before Christmas, though for many senior students this term ends after their final NCEA examination in late November or early December.[ citation needed ] From time to time, state schools are entitled to schedule a "teacher only" day for teacher training and administration. These days count as a public holiday for the students of that particular school -- who do not attend on that day -- but not for the teachers or the broader non-student population.
A "one off" national public holiday, known as Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day, was declared by the Prime Minister for 26 September 2022 to allow people to pay their respects for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch of New Zealand. [27] [28] South Canterbury Anniversary Day, which was due to be observed on 26 September, was moved to be observed on Friday 11 November. [29]
Following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary in 2008, the Green Party proposed a public holiday in his honour. [30] There is also support in some quarters for the old Dominion Day holiday to be revived as "New Zealand Day". [31]
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From the 1950s to the 1970s it was frequently suggested that the Provincial Anniversary holidays be abolished, as the Provinces ceased to exist in 1876.
Before Waitangi Day was made a national public holiday it was sometimes suggested that a Waitangi Day holiday should replace the anniversary days, and the Waitangi Day Act 1960 made provision for this. Waitangi Day was eventually made an additional holiday and the provincial holidays lived on, primarily because most regions had long established events on those weekends.
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served". Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918).
In Māori culture, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster and a celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. The rising marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar.
The Treaty of Waitangi, sometimes referred to as Te Tiriti, is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the treatment of the Māori people in New Zealand by successive governments and the wider population, something that has been especially prominent from the late 20th century. The treaty document is an agreement, not a treaty as recognised in international law. It was first signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson as consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. The treaty's quasi-legal status satisfies the demands of biculturalism in contemporary New Zealand society. In general terms, it is interpreted today as having established a partnership between equals in a way the Crown likely did not intend it to in 1840. Specifically, the treaty is seen, first, as entitling Māori to enjoyment of land and of natural resources and, if that right were ever breached, to restitution. Second, the treaty's quasi-legal status has clouded the question of whether Māori had ceded sovereignty to the Crown in 1840, and if so, whether such sovereignty remains intact.
Public holidays in Australia refer to the holidays recognised in law in Australia. Although they are declared on a state and territory basis, they comprise a mixture of nationally celebrated days and holidays exclusive to the individual jurisdictions.
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is the seat and largest town in the Queenstown-Lakes District.
Waitangi Day, the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing—on 6 February 1840—of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement towards British sovereignty by representatives of the Crown and indigenous Māori chiefs, and so is regarded by many as the founding document of the nation.
Dominion Day was a day commemorating the granting of certain countries Dominion status — that is, "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". It was an official public holiday in Canada from 1879 to 1982, where it was celebrated on 1 July; that date is now known as Canada Day. In the Dominion of New Zealand, the anniversary of the granting of Dominion status, on 26 September, was observed as Dominion Day; it was never a public holiday.
The King's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the monarch's actual birth.
Sunday shopping or Sunday trading refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognises as a day of rest, though the rationale for Sunday trade bans often includes secular reasoning. Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but many countries and subnational jurisdictions continue to ban or restrict Sunday shopping. In the United States, rules are enshrined within Blue laws.
Claims and settlements under the Treaty of Waitangi have been a significant feature of New Zealand politics since the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and the Waitangi Tribunal that was established by that act to hear claims. Successive governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for what are seen as breaches by the Crown of guarantees set out in the Treaty of Waitangi. While it has resulted in putting to rest a number of significant longstanding grievances, the process has been subject to criticisms including those who believe that the redress is insufficient to compensate for Māori losses. The settlements are typically seen as part of a broader Māori Renaissance.
Takaparawhau / Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Ōrākei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests in the late 1970s by Māori against forced land alienation by Pākehā. Takaparawhau is now the site of the private Ōrākei Marae, the public Michael Joseph Savage Memorial, and privately-owned reserve land that is accessible to the public.
The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. Consisting of 75 hectares of land, Auckland Domain is the oldest park in the city. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the parkland is the remains of the explosion crater and most of the surrounding tuff ring of the Pukekawa volcano.
The Ministry of Justice is an executive department of the New Zealand Government, responsible for supporting the judiciary and the administration of justice within New Zealand. It develops justice policy and provides advice to ministers, Cabinet, and other justice sector agencies. Its main functions are to help reduce crime and build safer communities; increase trust in the justice system; and maintain the integrity of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements.
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on such.
The Fifth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand for three parliamentary terms from 19 November 2008 to 26 October 2017. John Key served as National Leader and prime minister until December 2016, after which Bill English assumed the premiership until the National Government's defeat following the October 2017 government-forming negotiations.
The New Zealand Māori Council is a body that represents and consults the Māori people of New Zealand. As one of the oldest Māori representative groups, the council exerts pressure on New Zealand governments to protect Treaty of Waitangi rights.
The judiciary of New Zealand is responsible for the system of courts that interprets and applies the laws of New Zealand. It has four primary functions: to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution; to deliver authoritative rulings on the meaning and application of legislation; to develop case law; and to uphold the rule of law, personal liberty and human rights. The judiciary is supported in its work by an executive department, the Ministry of Justice.
Christmas traditions in New Zealand—like those in Australia—incorporate traditional Christian, British and North American Christmas traditions, including biblical and winter iconography, as well as modern and local customs. As New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, the holiday falls during the summer months, so it is often celebrated outdoors with barbeques, picnics, and trips to the beach. New Zealand Christmas dishes include summer fruits and vegetables, a variety of locally-produced meats and seafood, and pavlova dessert. Pōhutukawa are displayed as well as the traditional Northern European tree. Christian church celebrations are held on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with carols and hymns sung in both English and Māori.
Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day was a one-off public holiday that occurred in New Zealand on 26 September 2022. It was observed to mourn the death of Elizabeth II, who reigned as Queen of New Zealand from 1952 to 2022. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that it was a way to allow people to pay their respects and for communities around the country to come together and pay tribute with local events.
The following lists events that have happened or are expected to happen during 2025 in New Zealand.
