New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters has defended the decision to name a new inter-island ferry after Captain Cook, rejecting criticism from those who view the British explorer as a symbol of colonization. The country plans to name two new vessels, purchased from China and arriving in 2029, to transport passengers and goods between the North and South Islands.
One of the ferries will be named after Captain Cook, the British Royal Navy officer who led voyages to the Pacific and arrived in New Zealand in 1769. The decision has drawn backlash, particularly as New Zealand has been actively confronting its colonial history in recent years. Critics argue that naming a ferry after Cook, whose arrival led to conflict and colonization, is insensitive.
However, Peters dismissed the objections, stating that a "mature country does not run from its history" and that "a serious country does not vandalise its memory to satisfy the latest fashion in whinger politics." He suggested that those who see Cook solely as a "harbinger of colonisation" should have a broader understanding of the nation's past.
The second ferry will be named after Kupe, a Polynesian navigator credited by Māori tradition as the first to reach New Zealand. This naming convention deviates from the New Zealand tradition, established in 1962, of naming ships with the Māori prefix 'Ara,' meaning path.
New Zealand's relationship with its history is complex. British colonization began in 1840 under the Treaty of Waitangi, and subsequent conflicts between the British and Māori resulted in an estimated 2,200 indigenous deaths. While Captain Cook himself did not kill any locals, at least nine people were killed or injured during his first landing in New Zealand. Indigenous activists have historically accused the British of violence and oppression following Cook's initial voyages, and several monuments honoring the explorer have been vandalized in the country.
The naming decision comes at a time when New Zealand has been renaming buildings, replacing colonial-era names with indigenous ones, reflecting a broader societal effort to reconcile with its past.