New Zealand has named one of its future passenger ferries after Captain James Cook, with Foreign Minister Winston Peters defending the decision and warning critics against removing historical figures from public life.
The new vessel, which is being built in China and is expected to enter service in 2029, will operate across the Cook Strait between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. A companion ferry will be named Kupe, the Polynesian navigator who is credited in Maori tradition with being the first person to reach New Zealand.
Peters addressed criticism of the Captain Cook name in parliament in Wellington, saying the country should acknowledge its full history rather than reject parts of it, reports GB News.
"A mature country does not run from its history. A serious country does not vandalize its memory to satisfy the latest fashion in whinger politics," he said. We know what will happen. The snivelling wokesters will work themselves into a lather over the name.It is fashionable now in certain circles to treat Captain Cook as nothing more than a symbol to be condemned, cancelled and cast out."
University of Otago history professor Tony Ballantyne argued that pairing Cook and Kupe presents a complicated historical comparison. "This equivalence between Kupe and Cook as men of the sea and great navigators glosses over the very real differences between 'discovering' uninhabited islands and the 'rediscovery' of already occupied lands in the context of empire building," Ballantyne wrote in The Conversation.
Cook arrived in New Zealand in October 1769, where his expedition had violent encounters with Maori communities already living on the islands. Nine Maori, including local chief Te Rakau, were killed or wounded during the initial landing, with further deaths occurring during later confrontations. Cook himself did not personally kill any Maori. The Maori are beklieved to have arrived in New Zealand around the year 1300.
The ferry naming comes as Australia and New Zealand have moved to replace or update several colonial-era names with indigenous alternatives. New Zealand’s Mount Cook is now officially known as Aoraki/Mount Cook, while Australia’s Ayers Rock became Uluru and Fraser Island was renamed K'gari. New Zeland itself can also be referred to as Aotaroa in official documents.
Cook-related monuments and locations have also faced backlash, with some landmarks renamed and statues vandalized in recent years. Britain formally expressed regret over killings during Cook’s 1769 arrival in New Zealand in 2019.
The new vessel, which is being built in China and is expected to enter service in 2029, will operate across the Cook Strait between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. A companion ferry will be named Kupe, the Polynesian navigator who is credited in Maori tradition with being the first person to reach New Zealand.
Peters addressed criticism of the Captain Cook name in parliament in Wellington, saying the country should acknowledge its full history rather than reject parts of it, reports GB News.
"A mature country does not run from its history. A serious country does not vandalize its memory to satisfy the latest fashion in whinger politics," he said. We know what will happen. The snivelling wokesters will work themselves into a lather over the name.It is fashionable now in certain circles to treat Captain Cook as nothing more than a symbol to be condemned, cancelled and cast out."
University of Otago history professor Tony Ballantyne argued that pairing Cook and Kupe presents a complicated historical comparison. "This equivalence between Kupe and Cook as men of the sea and great navigators glosses over the very real differences between 'discovering' uninhabited islands and the 'rediscovery' of already occupied lands in the context of empire building," Ballantyne wrote in The Conversation.
Cook arrived in New Zealand in October 1769, where his expedition had violent encounters with Maori communities already living on the islands. Nine Maori, including local chief Te Rakau, were killed or wounded during the initial landing, with further deaths occurring during later confrontations. Cook himself did not personally kill any Maori. The Maori are beklieved to have arrived in New Zealand around the year 1300.
The ferry naming comes as Australia and New Zealand have moved to replace or update several colonial-era names with indigenous alternatives. New Zealand’s Mount Cook is now officially known as Aoraki/Mount Cook, while Australia’s Ayers Rock became Uluru and Fraser Island was renamed K'gari. New Zeland itself can also be referred to as Aotaroa in official documents.
Cook-related monuments and locations have also faced backlash, with some landmarks renamed and statues vandalized in recent years. Britain formally expressed regret over killings during Cook’s 1769 arrival in New Zealand in 2019.
