新西蘭代總理敦促澳大利亞換國旗 你們是抄襲的!

New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has accused Australia of copying his country's flag, telling its neighbor to get its own design.

日前，新西蘭代總理溫斯頓·彼得斯指責澳大利亞抄襲新西蘭的國旗，並喊話這個“鄰居”去設計屬於自己的國旗。

"We had a flag that we've had for a long time, copied by Australia," Peters told local network TVNZ last Tuesday.

彼得斯上週二在接受新西蘭電視臺採訪時稱：“我們已經使用這個國旗很長時間了，但被澳大利亞抄襲了。”

"They (Australia) should actually change their flag and honor the fact that we got there first with this design," added Peters, who is filling in for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while she is on maternity leave.

在女總理雅琳娜·阿爾登休產假期間代理新西蘭總理的彼得斯表示：“他們（澳大利亞）實際上應該改變他們的國旗，並尊重我們最先使用這一設計的事實。”

The flags are indeed similar. Both are based on the British ensign, with a dark blue background, a United Kingdom Union Flag in the top left corner and the Southern Cross star constellation.

兩國國旗非常相似，均以英國旗幟爲基礎，背景爲深藍色，左上角爲英國米字旗，代表兩國都是英聯邦國家，都採用南十字星座圖案。

Among the few distinguishing features is that Australia's stars are white, rather than red and the flag also features an extra star with seven points representing the Australian states and territories.

兩者的區別是：澳大利亞的恆星是白色的，而不是紅色的，而且國旗上還有一顆額外的恆星，其中恆星七個點代表澳大利亞各州和地區。

New Zealand's flag was adopted in 1902, five decades before Australia's current flag was officially recognized in 1954. Though various versions of the Australian flag have been used since 1901.

新西蘭1902年開始採用這一國旗。澳大利亞則要晚50多年，於1954年才正式採用現有國旗。但在1901年使用過類似設計的國旗。

Peters' comments come at a delicate time in trans-Tasman relations, after the detention of a 17-year-old New Zealander in an adult detention facility in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this month that sparked outrage in New Zealand's capital, Wellington.

彼得斯的此番言論發表在兩國關係的微妙時刻。在本月早些時候，在澳大利亞墨爾本的一個成人拘留所拘留了一名17歲的新西蘭人之後，引發了新西蘭首都惠靈頓方面的憤怒。

Australia has deported hundreds of New Zealanders in recent years, but the incident involving the 17-year-old boy marked a low point in relations between firm allies, according to some analysts.

據一些分析人士稱，澳大利亞近年來已將數百名新西蘭人驅逐出境，但涉及這名17歲男孩的事件標誌着兩個盟友之間關係已至低谷。