The Maori New Year celebration of Matariki could be a public holiday in New Zealand from next year.
There's growing support for a long weekend around the indigenous occasion, an annual time of reflection and planning among Maori whanau, or families.
Matariki is named after the bright stars of the Pleiades star cluster, which rise in the winter night sky each year.
Traditionally, Maori iwi, or communities, would gather together at night during a time of the constellation's prominence, making use of the period between harvests to celebrate and make offerings for a bountiful future.
The rising sun illuminates the valley and stones at the Hakikino Conservation Reserve on June 22, 2019 in Waimarama, New Zealand Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
More recently, councils and organisations have used the occasion to explain its significance, run family-friendly events featuring cultural displays and light shows.
The Maori Party have long campaigned for a Matariki public holiday for the occasion, failing in a legislative bid back in 2009.
The Republican Movement believe a Matariki long weekend should replace the Queen's Birthday public holiday.
News outlet Stuff are also campaigning for a Matariki holiday, and on Tuesday, the Greens added their support for a long weekend public holiday.
"Here in Aotearoa there has been an incredible push to embrace tikanga Maori (culture)," Greens co-leader Marama Davidson said.
"The time has come for there to be a Maori holiday on our whenua (land), further revitalising Maori culture."
"It gives us time to look up at the night sky and teach our kids about how Maori used the stars to predict the weather and find their way at sea.
"We can teach them how we used this time of year to mark a transition, honouring those that have passed in the previous year and welcoming the Maori New Year."
Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis, and the party's most senior Maori, agreed it was a good idea.
"It's worth considering," he said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern plants a tree during a 'Trees That Count' Matariki tree planting event at Mount Victoria mountain bike skills area Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
"Maori have been calling for it for a while so let's have that conversation."
Current polls have Labour and the Greens on track to form the country's next government after the September 19 election.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put the idea of new public holidays on the radar in May when she suggested long weekends could help bolster domestic tourism.
"That's not something that received widespread support across the government," she acknowledged.
Ms Ardern didn't rule out a move to implement a Maori New Year annual holiday.
"There's been a number of holidays that people have put up that have a particular New Zealand flavour, I've been talking in general terms about public holidays at this stage though."
