Russell or Kororāreka? Changing government adds further delays to name restoration decision

Russell in the Bay of Islands. Photo / Getty Images

A change in government has put a speed bump in the decision about whether Russell will revert to being called its original Māori name, Kororāreka.

The decision was referred to then-Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor after the Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board was unable to make a determination at its hui in June.

But O’Connor failed to make the final call about whether the historic town would again become Kororāreka before the election - further prolonging the process, which has already taken more than two years. The proposal was first lodged by the Kororāreka Marae Society in September 2021.

However, O’Connor was not bound by any time constraints regarding when a decision had to be made.

A Land Information New Zealand spokeswoman said as the decision was not made before the election, it will come down to the new minister, National’s Chris Penk.

The society’s chairwoman, Deb Rewiri, was frustrated by the lack of an outcome after learning the minister had approached Māori members of Parliament to seek their viewpoint on the proposal.

The development came to light after former Northland MP Willow-Jean Prime told Bay of Islands publication Russell Lights during a pre-general election interview that she supported the name change “and the Māori caucus has supported it to the minister”.

She did not have any further details to add when approached by Advocate. O’Connor also declined to comment given the Labour government was in a caretaker role at the time.

Rewiri was perplexed, as she says the decision would not be a hard one to make.

“What is says is that Māori are not important enough to make a decision about this ... To me, it seems a really disrespectful process.”

Fuelling frustrations for Rewiri was that the geographic board passed the proposal to restore the name of Whangārei suburb of Kamo to Te Kamo despite the majority of submissions opposing the idea, but had not for Kororāreka, despite her claim it had “got across the line” in terms of support.

Of the 651 submissions received regarding Te Kamo, 535 opposed the change and 116 supported it. Those against the proposal were concerned about the long-term use of the name Kamo and their strong personal associations, as well as the costs associated with the change.

But the board ruled those concerns did not outweigh its reasons to support the change, which was to right a wrong, as board chairman Anselm Haanen said the name had been unofficially shortened to Kamo and a record of the Crown’s purchase in 1858 reflected its original name. The board also supported the restoration to raise awareness of the area’s history.

Rewiri feared the new Government would not make the Russell name restoration process a priority.

Despite the hurdles, she was grateful for the nationwide support to see the name Kororāreka, which translates literally as “sweet penguin”, restored.