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National MP Tau Henare has dismissed Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples' plea to fly the Maori flag above the Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day as an attempt to court free publicity.
Mr Henare said he had little time for the idea, which Dr Sharples plans to ask National ministers to support as a symbol of the new direction the party is taking in its support arrangement with the Maori Party.
"I don't think it's a big issue which flags fly on the bloody Harbour Bridge," said Mr Henare. "What concerns me more is that the Harbour Bridge might fall into the sea one day because we have not looked after it."
Mr Henare said he was more concerned with ideas that provided jobs or uplifted people, and as such flying the flag "is not in my top 10 things to do for 2009".
"New Zealand and Maori have a lot more to worry about than whether the Tino Rangatiratanga flag flies on the Harbour Bridge."
Mr Henare questioned whether the Tino Rangatiratanga was in fact the Maori flag, and said Dr Sharples' plea "might be something to do with the Maori Party wanting some free publicity".
Courts Minister Georgina te Heuheu, National's most senior Maori MP, said she was not sure if she would support it "but I'm certainly happy to hear from Pita about it".
Mrs te Heuheu said she was also not sure whether the Tino Rangatiratanga flag represented all Maori.
Dr Sharples is likely to struggle to get support as Transport Minister Steven Joyce has said he is happy with the present policy that only the New Zealand flag can fly from the bridge.
But Dr Sharples has reignited public debate. By 4pm yesterday 283 people had responded to a Weekend Herald story on Dr Sharples' plea - 155 said no, the flag should not be flown, 114 said yes, it should.
A handful of people said a new New Zealand flag for everyone should be created to fly on the bridge.
Christine Parkes, of Devonport, said it should be flown: "The raising of this flag is a symbol of the path we chose all those years ago and the determination of both peoples to work together to solve our differences."
Catherine Spencer said it should not: "The Maori flag should never fly on the Harbour Bridge. There should be only one flag for this tiny nation. Any alternative would even more divide this country than it is already."
National's MPs on either side of the Bridge, Nikki Kaye in Auckland Central and Jonathan Coleman in Northcote, deferred to Mr Joyce's position.
Epsom MP Rodney Hide, whose Act Party is also in a support arrangement with National, said the flag should not be flown.
"To me, the treaty is about one country and flying the Maori flag is a suggestion we are not," said Mr Hide.
