Editorial: Anthem a dirge but now is not the time to flag it

All Blacks Conrad Smith, Kieran Read, Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw sing the national anthem. Photo / Brett Phibbs

New song for the nation certain to find similar opposition and indifference as the flag debate.

Andrew Little is right. Our national anthem is a dirge. It pales beside Advance Australia Fair, and even that is sometimes criticised for being boring and not endearing.

At some time, God Defend New Zealand should be replaced by an anthem that is more stirring and more representative of modern New Zealand. The problem for the Labour Party leader is that that time is not now.

The country is already in the midst of deciding whether the national flag will be changed. That is quite enough at the moment. And already it is apparent that those advocating a new flag are treading an uphill path. A campaign for a new anthem would find similar opposition for similar reasons, not least from people always suspicious of change.

And the religious nature of God Defend New Zealand would introduce a further element.

A short-lived attempt to de-christianise the parliamentary prayer eight years ago illustrated the likely strength of the backlash.

Gough Whitlam took Australians down the road to a new anthem more than 40 years ago. He wanted an anthem that would represent the country with distinction, and initiated a competition to find it. By and large, Advance Australia Fair works well.

Australia has also broached the subject of a republic. In time, New Zealand will no doubt hold a referendum on that, too. In time, we might even start to think about the oddity of a country in the South Pacific being named after a province in the Netherlands. But not, according to the prevailing mood, quite yet.