The national anthem isn't always perfect. Here's an example of one bad, one awkward and one great moment in NZ's national anthem history.

NZ First leader Winston Peters supports a call to dump the national anthem.

Labour leader Andrew Little has described God Defend New Zealand as "a dirge" and claims many Kiwis prefer to sing along to the Australian anthem. A dirge can mean a mournful song or a lament for the dead.

Peters, who has been vocal in his opposition to a flag referendum, agrees.

GETTY IMAGES Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Daniel Carter sing the national anthem before the match between the All Blacks and Argentina.

"He is on to some sound ground there," Peters told reporters on Wednesday.

"It is a funereal dirge ... I've heard people sing Flower of Scotland, I've heard the Irish in full flight, I've heard the French in full flight but I have never heard anyone sing our anthem when they are happy," he said.

A Bill on the flag referendum passed its second reading in Parliament on Tuesday night, 63 votes to 58, with Labour, the Green Party, and NZ First opposing it.

Peters said he would prefer "something that is memorable, stirring, that has got to do with where we are on the globe in the 21st century".

But he rejected Little's claim that Kiwis would plump to belt out Advance Australia Fair.

"It's a pretty poor comparison because the Aussies' is pretty bad as well," he said.

Meanwhile, Peters refused to say if NZ First will back a move by Labour to scrap a second flag referendum if the first attracts fewer than half of eligible voters.

Labour added two Supplementary Order Papers to the flag referendum bill. One seeks to defer the vote for five years. The second would can the final referendum "if voter apathy continues at its current level."

Peters obfuscated when asked if his party would lend support. "One party in this party is opposed to the flag change, it's called NZ First. You all know that ... we will not join this expensive $26m circus," he said.

"Every other party joined. We are not going to have a situation where people are allowed to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds on such an important issue...we are adamantly for the flag.

Labour leader Andrew Little told the House that while many New Zealanders would like something different, they "don't want this change right now".

He also said many New Zealanders preferred to sing along to the Australian national anthem rather than God Defend New Zealand.

New Zealanders were "sick of singing a dirge every time you turn up to a festive occasion", Little said.

The estimated cost of the flag referendum was $26 million, with the majority of that to be spent on two postal votes.

The first referendum would determine which new flag design is preferred by the public, and the second will pit that design against the current flag.

Little said that was money the country could ill afford, and people were not comfortable with the expensive process at a time the economy was struggling.

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said the referendum questions were being asked in a "logical process", despite protests that a Yes/No question should be asked in the first instance on whether people wanted a change of flag.

Opposition parties were "whinging" and making "backward-looking complaints", because they did not like Prime Minister John Key, English said.

Green Party MP Russel Norman said it was a failure of leadership in steering clear of wider constitutional issues.

The flag was "just changing a piece of cloth", and would not celebrate New Zealand's independence, as the head of state would remain the British monarch, Norman said.

The Flag Consideration Panel would release a list of alternative designs in August, and a final four would be selected and voted on by the public in November.



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