A 'bold' plan to save te reo

Ahipara won't have to change its name under Māori Party policy, but a lot of places will. Photo / Peter Jackson

The Māori Party wants New Zealand to become Aotearoa, and all Pākeha place names, including those of towns and cities, to be replaced with their original ingoa Māori by 2026.

Waiariki candidate Rawiri Waititi described the policy as a bold move towards making te reo Māori a language for all of Aotearoa, elevating the language to its rightful place in a system that had long undervalued its significance.

"It is unacceptable that only 20 per cent of our people can speak their own language and that only three per cent of the country can speak its official language. We need to be doing more at a systemic level to protect and promote the reo of Aotearoa" he said.

The party also intended to establish a Māori Standards Authority, which would have legislative power to audit all public service departments against cultural competence standards.

"The Māori Standards Authority will ensure that the mana of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga is upheld across all state sectors," Waititi said.

"It (will) ensure these public departments are accountable and that they engage in te reo Māori me ōna tikanga in a meaningful way that is enduring rather than the tokenistic approach we see all too often."

The policy also guaranteed that te reo Māori and Māori history would become core curriculum subjects up to Year 10 at secondary schools, and required all primary schools to incorporate te reo Māori into 25 per cent of their curricula by 2026, and 50 per cent by 2030.

"Our people, our country, are still feeling the impacts of our language being beaten out of us in our education system, and it was successful," he added.

"We intend to start back there in a much more inclusive and less cruel way. Our education system must learn to respect and embrace te reo Māori as the indigenous language of this country. It all starts there."

The party would also be requiring all state-funded media broadcasters to have a basic fluency in te reo Māori if they wished to continue working in the industry.

"Wakatanay and Wongarey are no longer acceptable over the media air waves," Waititi said.

"We expect better.

"These changes are an incredibly important step in Aotearoa's recognition of Te Ao Māori as the indigenous peoples of this land and of te reo Māori being the (sic) official language of this country."