South Island nationalism refers to a nationalist movement in theSouth Island ofNew Zealand.
Julius Vogel, the 8thPremier of New Zealand, was a continual advocate of separation of the North and South Islands, which led to hisdismissal from theOtago Daily Times in 1868.[1] The idea of independence was voted on by theNew Zealand Parliament in 1865, and the concern the South Island could form a separate colony was one of the main factors in moving the capital of New Zealand fromAuckland to the more centrally locatedWellington in the same year.
The successive waves ofMāoriiwi (tribes) to settle the South Island – namely theWaitaha, theNgāti Mamoe, andNgāi Tahu – had been politically independent from their northern counterparts.[2] Several attempts by theNgāti Toa (from theKāpiti Coast) to annex the island during the 1830s, under the leadership ofTe Rauparaha, were eventually repelled by an alliance of the Southern chiefs ofŌtautahi andMurihiku.[3] By the time the first European settlers arrived in the South Island (then known natively asTe Waipounamu) in the early 1840s, the Ngāti Toa only held control of theWairau plains.
This independence from North Islandiwi and their political beliefs is still reflected in modern South Island Māori culture. DuringWaitangi Day celebrations in 2010, Ngāi Tahu refused to fly the controversialTino Rangatiratanga flag, with one tribe member saying the "flag has been nothing but trouble".[4]
There is also greater concern from South Island Māori in that the cultural renaming ofAotearoa does not reflect their ancestry link to their homeland of Aoraki/South Island.[citation needed] As Aotearoa referred solely to the North Island but has been rolled out across the whole country with no consultation.
The first Europeans known to reach the South Island were the crew of Dutch explorerAbel Tasman who arrived in his shipsHeemskerck andZeehaen. Tasman anchored inGolden Bay, at the northern end of the island, (he named it Murderers Bay) in December 1642 and sailed northward toTonga following a clash with local Māori. Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. Tasman called themStaten Landt, after theStates-General of the Netherlands, and that name appeared on his first maps of the country. Dutch cartographers changed the name toNova Zeelandia in Latin, fromNieuw Zeeland, after theDutch province ofZeeland. It was subsequently Anglicised asNew Zealand by British naval captainJames Cook ofHM BarkEndeavour whovisited the islands more than 100 years after Tasman during (1769–1770).[citation needed]
When Britain annexed New Zealand in 1840, New Zealand briefly became a part ofNew South Wales.[5] This annexation was in response toNew Zealand Company attempts to establish a separate colony inWellington, and French claims inAkaroa, and so Lieutenant-GovernorWilliam Hobson declared British sovereignty over all of New Zealand on 21 May 1840 (the North Island by theTreaty of Waitangi and the South by discovery).[6]
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When New Zealand was separated from the colony of New South Wales in 1841 and established as a colony in its own right, theRoyal Charter effecting this provided that "the principal Islands, heretofore known as, or commonly called, the 'Northern Island', the 'Middle Island', and 'Stewart's Island', shall henceforward be designated and known respectively as 'New Ulster', 'New Munster', and 'New Leinster'". These divisions were at first of geographical significance only, not used as a basis for the government of the colony, which was centralised inAuckland. New Munster consisted of the South Island and the southern portion of theNorth Island, up to the mouth of thePatea River.[7]
The situation was altered in 1846 when theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1846.[8] divided the colony into twoprovinces:New Ulster Province (the North Island),New Munster Province (the South Island and Stewart Island). Each province had its own Lieutenant-Governor and Legislative and Executive Council, in addition to the Governor-in-Chief and Legislative and Executive Council for the whole colony. Early in 1848Edward John Eyre was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster. In 1851 the Provincial Legislative Councils were permitted to be partially elective.[9]
The Provincial Council of New Munster had only one legislative session, in 1849, before it succumbed to the virulent attacks of theWellington settlers. GovernorGeorge Grey, sensible to the pressures, inspired an ordinance of the General Legislative Council under which new Legislative Councils would be established in each province with two-thirds of their members elected on a generous franchise. Grey implemented the ordinance with such deliberation that neither Council met before advice was received that the United Kingdom Parliament had passed theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852.
This Act dissolved the New Ulster and New Munster provinces in 1853, after only seven years' existence, and New Munster was divided into the provinces ofCanterbury,Nelson, andOtago. With the establishment of theNew Zealand Parliament,James Macandrew the Superintendent ofOtago Province fought what he saw as a bias towards central government at the expense of Otago. Similar resentment also occurred in other provinces, but the relative wealth of Otago (due to the1861 gold rush) meant that it was felt there more strongly than elsewhere.[10]
During the provincial period of 1853 to 1876, while the North Island was convulsed by theNew Zealand Wars, the South Island, with its small Māori population, was largely peaceful and the southern provinces developed more rapidly than did those in the north. In 1861, gold was discovered atGabriel's Gully inCentral Otago, sparking agold rush.Dunedin became the wealthiest city in the country, and many in the South Island resented financing theNorth Island's war and less ready to accept direction from a General Assembly whose impoverished members "looked with ill-concealed envy" on the resources of the South. It was, noted theOtago Colonist, "the sad but inevitable result of joining by artificial bonds of union countries that Nature (byCook Strait) designed should be separate".Otago, argued its editor,Julius Vogel (who, ironically, was ultimately to lead the centralists to the abolition of provincialism), was in terms of shipping days three times as far from the capital of Auckland as it was fromVictoria orTasmania, and he looked forward to "a glorious future – the separation of the two islands". A well-attended public meeting in 1862 endorsed the principle of separation – thoughSouthland, which had achieved independence from Dunedin only by appealing to central government, andCanterbury, understanding that Dunedin saw itself as the South Island's capital-to-be, were both unenthusiastic.[11]
A "Southern Separation League"[12] was formed, but Vogel had by then recognised the signs of decay in the provincial system. Seeing that the weaker provinces were heading for insolvency, he opted in favour of centralism – and promptly changed his electorate to stand for a northern seat.
In an attempt to hold her place as a capital of some description, in 1865 Auckland joined forces with Otago to support a resolution in the General Assembly calling for independence for both islands. They lost by 31 votes to 17. In the same year the political concerns of the South Island provinces prompted the colonial government to move the capital south from Auckland to Wellington. By 1870 only Canterbury and Otago could be said to be flourishing.[13]
In a 2006 feature article in theNew Zealand Listener on the future of a wind farm in Central Otago, Bruce Ansley expressed the view that the South Island independence movement is kicking back into gear.[14]
In 2007,Richard Prosser called for the establishment of a South Island Parliament as part of a New ZealandConfederation.[15] Mr Prosser later stood as theNew Zealand First candidate for theWaimakariri electorate in the2011 general election and was elected as alist MP.[16] Several internet based groups advocate their support for an independent South Island.[17]
The March 2010 issue ofNorth & South magazine featured an article entitled "The Great Divide" which sought to explain the geographic, cultural and language differences between the North and South Islands through a panel of guest writers.[18]
Anna Rogers, a Christchurch writer, once said "[South Island identity is] based on the kinder, cheaper, less-harried lifestyle of the South Island, as compared, most notably, with Auckland."[19] TheSouthern man remains a familiar stock character throughout the country.
Because New Zealand is aunitary state rather than a federation, there are no specific flags used to represent the two main islands or most of the minor islands other than the national flag (with the exceptions of theChatham Islands andStewart Island / Rakiura). Three designs have been privately proposed for a South Island flag.
Vexillologist James Dignan[27] proposed a flag including theSouthern Cross stars that appear on theNew Zealand national flag, with a depiction of theSouthern Alps (the white peak) and the forests and fields of the south (the green inset). The Southern Alps are the South Island's most prominent geological feature, and agriculture and forestry the main primary industries, making this concept an appropriate representation.[28]
Dean Thomas proposed a flag that reflects earlyMāori Flags. In this concept, the white background represents the snow of the Southern Alps while the red stripe represents the people (Māori and European populace). The New Zealand White Ensign is placed in the canton so as to blend in with the white background colour.Te Wai Pounamu is the Māori name for the South Island.[28]
The New Munster Cross is promoted by the political lobby groupSouth Island First and the New Munster Party. It consists of a Nordic Cross with white background representing the Southern Alps, a green cross representing the lush bush and farmland of the South Island and blue representing the ocean.[21][29][30]
