All Commonwealth countries have individual annual celebrations of the monarch’s birthday. The actual date of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday is irrelevant, since the festivities are held nowhere near April 21. In New Zealand and Australia that is probably caused by the neighboring ANZAC Day (April 25). These countries choose to hold Queen’s Birthday on the 1st and 2nd Monday of June, respectively. Queensland and Western Australia uniquely celebrate the holiday around the beginning of October. Although the observance creates a nice long weekend during the first days of the ski season, some citizens of both Australia and New Zealand express their disapproval of a holiday that brings nothing characteristic to the national culture.

King birthdays had already been celebrated for forty years before first such observances in Australia. In 1788, Captain Arthur Philip proclaimed the birthday of King George III as a special occasion on the new continent. Until King George V’s death in 1936, the holiday had been observed yearly on the proper date of a monarch’s birthday. After that, King Edward VII, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II would be honored near the beginning of June, since that was approximately when George V was born. The observance in New Zealand fell on the first Monday in June, while in Australia it was the second Monday. In 2016, Queensland changed its date into the first Monday in October.

The celebrations of Queen’s Birthday usually boil down to military events and a few official speeches by the authorities. The importance of the monarchy in Australia and New Zealand is ever decreasing, and any influence that Great Britain still tries to have on the countries’ political situations provokes outrage. Even fireworks have been banned in all states except Tasmania; hence the festivities are not as flamboyant as they used to be. What both New Zealand and Australia still choose to demonstrate are the Queen’s Birthday Honours Lists, in which both countries announce the names of the individuals that deserve praise and reward for the contribution to the countries’ respective culture and prosperity. Apart from this, however, the major part of Australia prefers to watch Australian Football League play-offs, and New Zealanders prepare for the impending ski trips.

Queen’s Birthday is a public holiday in both Australia and New Zealand. Hence, most public institutions and private businesses are bound to close; some shops are still open, but at shorter hours. There have been many suggestions over the years to change the holiday’s name and meaning, since both countries can boast with prominent figures more related to their particular cultures. In New Zealand, the government has heard the proposition of Matariki Day, honoring Maori New Year and Edmund Hillary Weekend.