It’s the evening of the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes Day) and I’m trying to get my daughter to sleep, but it’s quite difficult with the noise of those damn fireworks outside!
So what is Guy Fawkes Day and why on earth do we celebrate it in this country? Guy Fawkes, as you may know, was a Roman Catholic conspirator who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London on the 5th of November 1605 (402 years ago!) His plans were thwarted, but essentially Guy Fawkes was a terrorist. So why do we each year celebrate the failure of a terrorist plot over 400 years ago?? Guy Fawkes Day isn’t a world wide event. It’s only celebrated in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the Caribbean.
Even though this year the sale of fireworks has been limited to four days and to those 18 and older, it hasn’t cut down the number of accidents as a result. Tonight is the main night, but over the weekend there were many accidents involving fireworks. A firework at a public display in Auckland mis-fired into the crowd and two men in Christchurch were hospitalised after a public display at a speedway. A Queenstown man was arrested after firing fireworks from a car and a sparkler bomb was posted through an Invercargill returns slot. Police are investigating whether fireworks were involved in two house fires in Christchurch over the weekend - one which left an 8-year-old boy dead. Good grief! I dread to think what is going to happen tonight! I feel really sorry for our fire service who are going to have their busiest night of the year. Personally if someone injures themselves using fireworks carelessly then they shouldn’t be treated!
Fireworks need to be banned! The Prime Minister said today, "If the idiocy which has characterised the previous year’s carries on at those levels and above the government would be duty bound to look at the matter again." Good, let’s hope they do.
When I lived in Australia I told people there about Guy Fawkes Day and they didn’t know what that was! We think the Aussies are a bit stupid sometimes but banning the sale of fireworks to the general public was a very intelligent thing to do!
Aucklanders are being warned to be extra cautious when lighting fireworks tonight as winds are expected to reach over 100kmph in some areas although the Fire Service is hoping bad weather will dampen down fireworks festivities in many areas of New Zealand. Yeah right!!
So come on NZ Government, ban the sale of fireworks to the general public. I think professional fireworks displays are good but why have them on the 5th of November? It would be better to have them at New Years, like they do in Australia.
See:
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/FireServicebracesitselfforGuyFawkes/tabid/209/articleID/38500/Default.aspx?ArticleID=38500
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