Ribbing for Murray McCully from counterparts over flag referendum

Murray McCully said the flag change proposal had been raised with him by his counterparts in other countries "as an item of discussion or amusement". Photo / Getty Images

Foreign Minister Murray McCully admits to taking a bit of a ribbing over New Zealand's flag change process from his international counterparts, but says New Zealanders should be grateful the question will go to the public vote unlike many other countries.

Mr McCully said the flag change proposal had been raised with him by his counterparts in other countries "as an item of discussion or amusement. Sometimes it's the subject of banter on the side of meetings, that's been the case yes."

He did not name which countries, but said it included ministers from countries which had changed their flag without a public vote.

"Obviously some countries have gone through this process without the benefit of the public consultation we've had so I think they find it interesting to compare our approach."

He said he explained to them that New Zealand had a process to allow the public to make the decision.

"And we can contrast this with some other countries that have made these changes without consultation with the public. And I think New Zealanders should appreciate the fact we have such a consultative process."

The Fijian Government is also changing its flag but there is no referendum on it.

Mr McCully said the Fijian Foreign Minister had not discussed it with him "but I'm aware of the process by which they changed their flag which involved somewhat less consultation with the public than is the case here."

He was dismissive about whether the fun at New Zealand's expense in international media had impacted on New Zealand's reputation. "It's not the biggest foreign policy problem we've got today. If it becomes a burden to me I'll let you know."

He refused to give his own view on the question of change or which flag design he liked.

"At the moment we're involved in a process in which we give the public a choice about the flag and that's much more important than my views."

He said he had seen cases in which the Australian and New Zealand flags were mixed up internationally.