I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous to have almost five months without a holiday then 11 packed into the rest of the year. A holiday in August would surely be beneficial to everyone’s mental health.

Then again, why not introduce a new holiday and keep Jan 2nd! If I had to choose though, I’d choose to have one in August.

leave it as it is if you are going away when like this year new year falls in the middle of the week you at least get 2 days off. If it was changed you would only get 1 day and what would be the point in going away for that not everyone has or takes off the days off between xmas and new year. Highly approve of having a public holiday somewhere in the winter but you can always use one day of your annual leave in the winter.

So if approved, the next question will be, when to have the holiday? Of course, anytime between early June and late October, but exactly when? About the middle, in mid-August? Or closer to a date specific in Sir Edmund Hillary’s lifetime, such as his birthday (20 July), or wedding anniversary (3 September), or in conjunction with the naming of Hillary Ridge in 2011 (18 August)? When would be the best time to have a long weekend to enjoy winter sports, that doesn’t already coincide with school holidays? And should it be a Friday, or a Monday?

Mid August sounds good, as there’s no longer any such thing as August school holidays, it’s right in the middle between Queen’s Birthday weekend and Labour Weekend, and usually by then the mountains have had a good coating of snow and the ski season is in full swing. It’s not too far from the beginning of spring, so those who want to use the long weekend for beginning their spring cleaning chores can dust off their winter doldrums and get to it, without it affecting their day job. International rugby matches are usually on about this time, so could make it easier for such matches to attract live attendance.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense to take an almost redundant public holiday and convert it into one that will mean so much more.

I don’t think this an unreasonable thought. After all, it would just mean transferring a stat day to another time in the year. There would be no extra cost to an employer as it is an expense to them now. Plus you are right, it is a long time between breaks in the gloomier time of our year.
Weatherwise it has been a great month with 49 mils rain and plenty of sun hours here in Lower Northland. Even saw a local farmer still doing some baleage last week which is almost unheard of this time of year. Still plenty of time for more rain before the real cold sets in. Still seeing pukeko chicks around so either they have miscalculated or still some mild weather to come.

Yup, “economic reasons”… But surely to coincide a winter holiday would be more beneficial than everyone taking sporadic sick days.

With National we’ll expect diddlysquat let alone the plantiv wails from business.