Māori Language Week: Act charter schools will help support te reo Māori – just like radio deregulation helped iwi radio - David Seymour

Act Leader David Seymour and NZ First Leader Winston Peters enter the marae grounds for the tangi of Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Mike Scott

Act leader David Seymour says future Māori charter schools will ensure the Māori language continues to flourish.

Seymour told the Herald that Māori Language Week - Te Wiki o te reo Māori - was a time to celebrate the native and an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is a week to celebrate the language, obviously,” Seymour said.

“But it should also be a week to celebrate something else - freedom. Freedom and pro-freedom policies have been critical to language revival, whereas anti-freedom policies have been used to suppress the language.

Seymour said Act, like te reo Māori, is founded on freedom.

“Our party and its founders may not spend a lot of time signalling our virtues in relation to Māori language, but we can point to multiple examples where we’ve put in place the policies that allow all people to flourish,” he said.

Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi was a founding member of Act.

“Kōhanga reo [language nests] are a perfect example. Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi was a founding member of Act.

“She used choice in education to create new early childhood options for Māori parents wanting their children to learn te reo. Today it is not only Māori parents.”

Seymour said Act’s founding fathers were movers and shakers when others wanted the status quo and opened up the airwaves by deregulation which helped Māori radio.

“Our founding leader Richard Prebble was responsible for deregulating broadcasting. Prior to 1987, only a tightly held group of licensees could do radio broadcasts. Richard’s deregulation unleashed radio like a coiled spring. Among the cornucopia of offerings New Zealanders listeners have today is the Iwi Radio Network, spreading te reo over the airwaves,” he said.

Act's founding fathers Richard Prebble (left) and Sir Roger Douglas (right).

“Today, Act continues its tradition of educational freedom.

“Charter Schools | Kura Hourua are back. They are endorsed by the Iwi Leaders Forum.

Seymour said at the recent tangi for Kīngi Tūheitia a number of Māori school old boys approached him about opening another Māori charter school.

“At the tangi of Kīngi Tūheitia, old boys of the old King’s school urged me to ‘haina te pepa’ – sign the paper - so that Tipene St Stephen’s could become a charter school next year,” Seymour said.

“Charter schools give more freedom to take control of education, including the language it’s in. They are tino rangatiratanga in action.

“Freedom works. Others will talk up their good intentions for Māori language and culture, but no Government can make culture happen. Language and culture are evolutionary, and Act is proud of its record for creating the environment for all languages and cultures to flourish.

“Charter schools will empower iwi, hapū, and community groups to set up schools with practices that differ from the mainstream system, including kaupapa Māori schools. There are currently no charter schools in operation because Labour shut the model down. However Tipene St Stephen’s has expressed interest in the model as it restarts in 2025, as has Te Kāpehu Whetū in Whangārei which was previously a charter school innovating in the kaupapa Māori space.”