Analysis - In 2015, New Zealand s Parliament was in the middle of a fierce debate to change a part of our heritage, the national flag.
But 110 years earlier, there was an argument over an even more fundamental part of NZ identity. Our name.
Musings in Māoriland was a collection of poetry by Thomas Bracken, author of NZ’s national anthem.
Photo: Supplied / Te Ara
It was 1895 and the radical liberal MP Patrick O Regan took the floor of Parliament with a proposal to ditch New Zealand in favour of a new name. Mr O Regan asked the premier if the government are in favour of changing the present inappropriate name of the colony for the more suitable one of Māoriland .