Listen Now: 
Rotorua Lakes Council has again spurned the tino rangatiratanga flag, opting instead to fly the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand alongside the New Zealand flag at the council Civic Centre on Waitangi Day on Friday.
Partnerships group manager Jean-Paul Gaston says that’s in line with the wishes of Te Arawa leaders who don’t consider the country’s official Maori flag as being representative of Rotorua iwi.
The tino rangatiratanga flag will still be flown from government buildings in the town.
Mr Gaston says the United Tribes flag was used in the 1800s to welcome non-Maori visitors to Te Arawa country.
The council is leaving it to its kaumatua advisory group, Te Pukenga Koeke o Te Arawa, to come up with a design for a permanent local flag that will fly in future Waitangi Days.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
