For reasons that evade me, the New Zealand media seem hell-bent on discussing the flag. Despite describing the referendum as a political distraction and a John Key ego campaign, the same media outlets continue to give the issue oxygen.
 
In fact, Key seems so comfortable with the low levels of public dissent, he has taken to making wild and erroneous statements just to get a reaction. For instance “the flag is gonna be worth billions over time” to the New Zealand economy. Or delegating himself a Canadian spokesperson and asserting not a single Canadian would go back to their old flag. What is that, if not testing the public’s tolerance for baseless claims?
 
But the media are hardly to blame. Even Andrew Little has jumped on the bandwagon, claiming the national anthem too needs a change. Little said that the anthem was so uncompelling, many New Zealanders would rather sing the Australian anthem. A bold assertion, though I also suspect many New Zealanders believe Waltzing Matilda to be the Australian anthem.
 
So, we have the leaders of both major political parties wishing to cast off the shackles of our history, in favour of a new flag and anthem that represents our national interests and identity better.
 
Why stop there? If national identity is a fluid concept, and subject to a chronological bias towards the present, then surely that is only the start of what is wrong with New Zealand.
 
For instance, there is the name: New Zealand. It hardly has a good ring to it. Named after the Dutch province of Zeeland, the term does not reflect the unique Kiwi identity, and is not even spelt right. To represent the Kiwi way, the least we could do is change to the more accurate Nu Zilland.
 
While we are on the subject of naming, surely it is about time the North and South Island got a makeover too. To increase the supply of land and ease housing affordability, my suggestion would be to deem the whole North Island as Auckland. Overnight, a whole lot more people would be able to afford their Auckland dream home.
 
Whether we are due for a change is subjective. But once you start questioning one signifier of our national identity, it is hard not to justify why we do not overhaul the rest.