Guaranteed no less than 2/3 Kiwi
The number of Kiwis who really make an impression on the world’s stage, in any given generation, can usually be counted on one hand. And yet, as a nation, we are so eager for high achieving celebrities who will put New Zealand on the map.
It is easy, therefore, to understand the pain felt by every New Zealander when, as often happens, yet another of our most cherished, internationally famous actors/musicians/filmmakers/sports stars is mistakenly referred to as an Australian.
Correcting these mistakes is a legal obligation of every New Zealander, under the Treaty of Waitangi.
The best known case of this, concerned our most1 internationally successful recording artists (over the legal age of consent2), Crowded House. Containing 2 New Zealanders and 1 Australian, the 66% Kiwi band was formed out of the ashes of 100% Kiwi group Split Enz, and first rose to fame whilst resident in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. Perhaps because of this, when they achieved number one success in USA and Britain, the press commonly referred to them as Ockers.
This caused an uproar amongst New Zealanders living abroad at the time. Countless letters were written to the editors of the publications concerned, pointing out that “2/3 easily constitutes a respresentational majority, and, besides anyway, the guy who writes all the songs is a Kiwi, so that absolutely clinches it…”.
And although none of these letters ever made publication, their writers still refer them as one of the ‘defining moments in their adult lives’. For many abroad, it is still a topic for dinner party conversation.
Boring dinner parties.
An equally well known, and more recent example of this identity faux pas, concerns actor, musician and common or garden thug, Russell Crowe. Born in Wellington in 1964, Crowe followed in a popular New Zealand tradition by moving with his family to Sydney at the age of four. Growing up rough near the harbour docks, his father forced him to sweep chimneys by day and fight in underage Pikey bare knuckle boxing contests by night, betting against him to double up his weekend drinking money. When Crowe later became a famous Hollywood bad guy, the press consistently, and uniformly referred to him as, “that violent tempered Australian”.
And though Crowe lives in Australia, has an Australian passport, calls himself Australian, and never visits New Zealand, Kiwis still feel a deep sense of shame at every instance of his mistaken identity, and are obligated by law to correct it whenever, and to whoever possible3.
1. technically ‘Only‘.
2. excludes jail-bait warbler, Hayley Westenra.
3. as a consequence of Crowe’s recent, woeful acting performances, the release of ’7 odd foot of Grunts’ debut album, and one crew-member bashing too many, a number of lobby groups in New Zealand have been calling for a case by case review of the blanket requirement to claim international celebrities, born in New Zealand, as Kiwis. A change in the law of this nature could see Russell Crowe effectively struck off the Kiwi register within the next five years. Crowe was unavailable for comment, although, through a representative, he did pass on the following message to the New Zealand media.’F**k off you c**ts’.
Because the admin of this web page is working, noo doubt very
shortly it will be famous, due to its quality contents.
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web
site thus i got here to return the favor?.I’m
trying to find things to improve my site!I assume its
good enough to make use of a few of your concepts!!
Spot on with this write-up, I seriously believe
that this web site needs far more attention. I’ll probably be
returning to read through more, thanks for the information!
My brother suggested I may like this web site. He was totally right.
This put up actually made my day. You can not consider just how much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!
It’s not my first time to visit this site, i am browsing this web site dailly and
obtain good facts from here daily.
An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I do believe that you ought to publish more on this subject matter,
it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t speak about these topics.
To the next! Many thanks!!
Seeming high maintenance or super picky Example, ‘I only want to
date successful people who can treat me the way I deserve to be treated’.
However, there are people out there who have worked hard enough that they have already
forgotten about settling down. There are pretty good numbers of free dating websites waiting
for your data entries exclusively.
thank you
Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too wonderful.
I really like what you have acquired here, really like what yyou are stating and the
way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable andd you
still take care of to keep it wise. I ccan not wait to read much more from you.
This is actually a tremendous web site.
We stumbled over here from a different page and thought I might as well check things out.
I like what I see so i am just following
you. Look forward to checking out your web page yet
again.
Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice while
you amend your site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your
broadcast provided bright clear concept
That is the correct weblog for anybody who desires to search out out about this topic. You notice a lot its nearly hard to argue with you (not that I really would needHaHa). You positively put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
A powerful share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a bit analysis on this. And he in truth bought me breakfast as a result of I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you grow to be expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
Id have to check with you here. Which is not something I often do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make individuals think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
As individual as women are, so are the gifts that can be given to them. Even a box of chocolates these days can be turned into a one of a kind original.
Im happy I discovered this site, I couldnt get any knowledge on this subject matter before. Also manage a site and if you are ever interested in a little bit of guest writing for me if possible feel free to let me know, im always look for people to check out my blog page. Please stop by and leave a comment sometime!
‘Crowded House. Containing 2 New Zealanders and 1 Australian, the 66% Kiwi band’
Now I’ve only just caught that. Nick Seymour is actually an Aussie, so that makes the original 3-piece CH 33% Kiwi. If we include long-standing keyboard player Eddie Rayner (also in the Enz) in the lineup, that makes 50%. The Crowdies reached their peak of Kiwi content at the time Tim Finn joined – 3 out of 5 makes 60% – and are currently at their lowest, 25%.
Split Enz weren’t always 100% Kiwi. They had a Pom playing bass (Nigel Griggs) for much of their career, and another on drums (Mal Green) who was replaced by Paul Hester near the end. In fact the Enz didn’t have a Kiwi on the drumstool after 1976!