No haka at closing ceremony says Games boss

MELBOURNE - Melbourne Commonwealth Games boss Ron Walker has given notice to New Zealand athletes and officials - no hakas are to be performed at the closing ceremony.

Discussion about the large number of hakas being performed by the New Zealand team at these Games took another turn when the subject was raised with Melbourne 2006 chairman Walker today.

He favoured as many renditions as possible during competition to bring colour to the Games but said it would not be welcome at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where when the closing ceremony plays out on Sunday night.

"I like the haka, I think it's very exciting," Walker said.

"The more they play it the better, as long as it's not at the opening and closing ceremony."

The New Zealanders were restrained at the opening ceremony last Wednesday, observing Games protocol. However, the closing event is traditionally a more relaxed affair where athletes and officials let off post-competition steam.

Yesterday New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie responded to Australian newspaper editorial criticism of the proliferation of hakas at venues around Melbourne.

Currie said the haka was not being devalued, as critics had suggested.

"There's no embarrassment, no thought that we are doing it too much, we are doing it at the appropriate time," Currie told NZPA.

"The team sees it as a way to express a whole lot of things. To celebrate, to acknowledge, to welcome, to send off."

Currie said other countries "are struggling within their own cultures" to find something to match the haka.

He said the ubiquitous "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" did not have the same resonance.

- NZPA