A Herald-Digipoll of 600 today echoes last Friday’s less scientific Close Up poll of 12,000 New Zealanders who want to see us adopt a new flag with a silver fern.
Oddly, the greatest mood for change comes from 40-70 year olds and those outside Auckland, with Aucklanders and 18-29 year olds favouring the Union Jack.
That’s the exact opposite of what I would have expected – a campaign for change driven by middle-aged provincials.
(Seems we baby-boomers are an island of radicalism in a sea of conservatism.)
It would now be good to see another poll, independent of the newspaper that’s leading the campaign for change.
It will be too easy for conservatives to view this Herald poll as akin to a Greenpeace poll on global warming.
But this is a great day for those wanting change, as it means the issue will start to move on to the government’s radar.
All the moreso as it reinforces the prime minister’s own instincts about the silver fern being the right symbol.
John Ansell 
We are not changing the flag. The only political leaders who were in favour of it were the green communists and the anti-British Irish republican Peter Dunne. People are being manipulated by the Irish owned New Zealand Herald which really ought to change its name to The Irish Republican Herald which would more honestly reflect its ownership and the constant river of anti-British stories that they publish.
Of all the sovereign nations of the World only three have the Union Flag as part of their flag not thirty as the I R Herald has you believing. Only the same three United Nations’ members have the Union Flag as part of there flag. They are New Zealand, Fiji and Underarmland. Note that the survey they had which said a majority of respondents favoured change? Read the fine print which said that there were only 600 respondents with a margin of error of 4%. I assume they mean +/- 2% which could bring the majority down to 50.3% in favour. 52.3% of 600 = 313.8 people in favour. 52.3% of next to nothing is next to nothing and is statistically insignificant.
A lot of people whose ancestors came from Ireland are still burdened with the political baggage from that country but we don’t need it here and we are not going to let them influence vulnerable and unthinking young people and allow be manipulated by undercurrents of which they are totally unaware. Of the 54 nations in the Commonwealth of Nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) only two have the Union Flag as part of there flag apart from the United Kingdom. Fiji is included in the 54 but is suspended.
The New Zealand flag is unique in the World as it is the only one that has red stars on a white background. It is a very pretty flag and we are not changing it just to please those people who forgot to leave their political baggage in their old country.
Try the Ashburton Guardian as below.
Poll – Results
Select Poll:
New Zealand Flag
Does New Zealand need a new flag?
No, it’s fine as it is
69 votes (75%)
Yes, our current one is outdated
17 votes (18.5%)
Two flags would work
5 votes (5.4%)
I don’t know/undecided
1 vote (1.1%)
Number of voters : 92
First vote : Monday, 08 February 2010 08:19
Last vote : Sunday, 14 February 2010 18:42