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New Zealanders were warned Thursday that they could face a big bill for changing their flag as polls showed stubborn support for the existing flag in an ongoing referendum.
Finance Minister Bill English, who has headed the government's flag referendum process, said Thursday that he has not established the costs of changing the flag on official materials such as police uniforms, driver licenses and navy ships.
"It's hard to say, there's been some work done on it we haven't gone into huge detail," English told the Newshub news organization.
The only concrete figure he could provide was 2.7 million NZ dollars (1.82 million U.S. dollars) to replace about 1,500 flags on government buildings and to update New Zealand Defence Force uniforms.
The figure did not include the cost of changing badges, lapel pins and pennants for official vehicles, a spokesperson for English told Newshub.
The spokesperson said the government would not be changing the New Zealand Coat of Arms, even though the current flag featured prominently.
The opposition New Zealand First party, which has campaigned to keep the current flag, said Prime Minister John Key, who personally initiated the campaign to change the flag, had failed to do basic accounting.
"The prime minister had a whim, set off on his own magical yellow brick road dreaming of securing his legacy, and did not care one hoot about the cost. This is fiscal mismanagement, with no sign of prime ministerial caution and wisdom," New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said in a statement.
A three-week postal referendum on the final choice of flag will close on March 24.
Voters are choosing between the current flag, a blue field with the British Union Jack in the top left corner and the Southern Cross constellation of red stars on the rightly, and a new design that retains the star formation, but replaces the Union Jack with a white stylized silver fern on a blue and black background.
The silver fern design emerged as the winner of a first referendum late last year, in which New Zealanders were asked to grade their preferences for five possible alternatives.
A poll out by UMR Research, the research company, showed 58 percent of New Zealanders favored retaining the current flag, with 35 percent wanting to change and 7 percent unsure or refusing to answer.
That compared with a similar poll late last month showing 59 percent favoring the current flag, 32 percent wanting change and 9 percent unsure or refusing to answer.
The selection and referendum process, which cost more than 26 million NZ dollars (17.55 million U.S. dollars), has been marred by polarizing and sometimes bitter debate.
