Waitangi Day in 1960

He Iwi Tahi Tatou - Waitangi Day (1960).

Royal New Zealand Navy ships and vessels from England and Australia carry out exercises at the Bay of Islands and take part in ceremonies commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Governor-General Lord Cobham attends the raising of the Union Jack on the grounds in front of the Treaty House.

Prior to the 1957 general election the Labour Party had declared its intention to make Waitangi Day a public holiday. Once in power however Labour announced that the country could not afford another public holiday. Instead the Waitangi Day Act 1960 declared that Waitangi Day would be celebrated as ‘a national day of thanksgiving’. the first such celebration occurred in 1961. In 1963 the National government passed the Waitangi Day Amendment Act. As a result Waitangi Day replaced the Auckland provincial anniversary day for Northland reinforcing identification of the day with the north.