Flag referendum: Key says no to Red Peak
Social media campaigners want Aaron Dustin's design added as a wild card.
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Hawke’s Bay
Prime Minister John Key has not been swayed by a social media campaign to get the "Red Peak" flag design on the flag referendum ballot.
“To change that now, we literally have to change the law,” Mr Key said this morning.
“We can’t go and change that.”
A Facebook page set up to support Aaron Dustin's Red Peak design has had more than 15,000 "likes"; an online petition has gathered the support of more than 20,000; and on social media the #redpeak hashtag is gaining momentum with a number of people changing their profile picture to the flag design.
Entrepreneur Rowan Simpson, who has been campaigning for Red Peak, says two of the four designs in the final four are identical. One should be pulled and Mr Dunstin's design put in its place.
This morning, the prime minister again defended the fern that appears on three of the final four designs. The fern is used on New Zealand soldiers' graves in Europe, he noted.
A OneNews-Colmar Brunton poll taken over the weekend found 66% were opposed to changing the flag, up 2% from 18 months ago.
Mr Key's only comment was that the poll was taken before the final four were announced. He also noted that more than one million had watched his online video promoting a change.
The postal referendum on the final four flag designs begins November 20.
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Flag referendum: Key says no to Red Peak
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