Newmarket Poll Shows “Keep the Flag” Mood Is Prevailing
Auckland, New Zealand: Wednesday 2nd March, 2016

It’s the debate which has divided the nation, and today the Newmarket Business Association has released its own survey findings on the upcoming referendum, which further suggest that support for the existing flag is on the up.

Following a number of polls which have put the two alternatives almost neck-and-neck, these latest results show the gulf may be widening, with 57% of the nearly 1000 respondents coming out in favour of the current design.

Newmarket residents, commuters and workers were asked simply if they wanted to ‘keep’ or ‘change’ the current flag, and of the 907 individuals who took part, only 42.9% (or 390) supported change.

Mark Knoff-Thomas, Newmarket Business Association Chief Executive, said “Some recent survey findings show only one or two percent in it. Our results would suggest, however, that as we get closer to the second referendum, and the possibility of change, public preference is shifting in favour of the traditional flag.

“Interestingly, we found older people were more inclined to vote for change than younger generations. Our pollsters spoke to a wide cross-section of people that included students, commuters, retailers, corporate workers, the old and the young, coupled with a range of ethnicities,” Knoff-Thomas concludes.

Asked for his flag views, local MP David Seymour said “I think the proposed design is a let-down. It is overly complex and as a result it will date quickly. In 20-years we’d look at it the way we look at eighties corporate logos now.”

Mr. Seymour added “I disagree that it is desirable to rid our flag of the Union Jack. We inherited one of the world’s best legal systems, parliamentary democracy, and fish and chips from the British. I reckon that’s worth a quarter of a flag.”

The referendum runs from March 3-24, coinciding with the release of findings from the next Newmarket Poll, to be conducted at the end of March. It is the first of what will become fortnightly polls, designed to tap into the sentiment of its residential, commuter and worker populations.

ENDS

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