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National

Tino Rangatiratanga to fly proudly above Dunedin Polytechnic

Otago Polytechnic students are celebrating after a year of campaigning to get the Tino Rangatiratanga flag flown over their Dunedin campus.

Ezra Tamati (Te Ati Awa and Ngāi Tahu), the Otago Polytechnic Students' Association president first requested that the flag be flown alongside the New Zealand flag in February 2021.

Tamati said that the consultation to the rūnaka was the reason it took so long for the decision to be finalised. “It came down to the rūnaka really.”

Tamati said not everyone was happy about the flag as every rūnaka has their own flag.

“Most people supported the decision,” he said.

The flag hasn’t been raised yet as the rūnaka and the Otago polytechnic need to come together and make the decision to post the flag up.

“We have already got the flag ready. When it goes up is not really of concern.”

Tamati said that it doesn’t just mean everything to him but to akonga and kaimahi at the polytechnic. “We are beyond blessed and we are beyond stoked”.

Tamati said that he would love to see the change implemented everywhere. “I think in the same situation people will come up against their own fights with going up against institutions.”