Saying no to Kororāreka/Russell name change could be a missed opportunity – Editorial

The application to rename the Far North town of Russell has been declined. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Editorial

Two weeks ago, Land Information Minister Chris Penk announced that a proposal to rename the Far North town of Russell to its original Māori name of Kororāreka had been declined.

This decision ended a four-year battle led by the Kororāreka Marae Society and, despite her disappointment, chairwoman Deb Rewiri has vowed to keep fighting.

The name Russell was given to New Zealand’s first capital, the town of Ōkiato, in 1840 after the then leader of the British House of Commons, Lord James Russell.

The name was transferred to Kororāreka, about 8km north of Ōkiato, after 1842 when Old Russell burnt down and the capital was transferred to Auckland.

In September 2021, the society lodged an application to change the name with the New Zealand Geographic Board, which considered three options: an outright change to Kororāreka, the dual name Kororāreka/Russell, or the alternative names option, where both names have equal standing.

The board’s preferred option was an outright change and asked Damien O’Connor, the Minister for Land Information at that time, to make the final determination. This was in 2023 and when Labour lost the election that year, the responsibility was passed to National’s Chris Penk.

The consultation process attracted more than 1800 submissions, with 52% in support of Kororāreka and 48% opposed.

It is curious that, given the support, admittedly by a small margin, that the application was declined.

It’s not only place names in the spotlight bilingual traffic signs have been up for debate for years. Recently in Hawke’s Bay, local roadworkers used stop/go signs that read “taihoa” with a red background and “haere” with a green background. These signs were not official signs and not approved for use.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said the signs were not bilingual and were not included in the package of 94 bilingual signs released for consultation in 2023 as part of He Tohu Huarahi Māori bilingual traffic signs programme.

So the debate goes on, but te reo Māori is commonly used these days, children learn it at school and we hear it frequently on TV and radio. Auckland is often unofficially referred to as Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and New Zealand as Aotearoa/New Zealand.

While not the only reason, name changes are often done to restore te reo Māori names.

In 2023, Mount Egmont became Taranaki Maunga. In 2013, the unofficial names of North Island and South Island were made official alternative names with Te Ika-a-Māui and Te Waipounamu and in 1998, Mt Cook became Aoraki/Mount Cook following a settlement between Ngāi Tahu and the Crown.

While not everyone will agree with these changes or how much te reo is used in our lives now, it is here to stay.

The process of officially changing a place name should be considered carefully and rightly there will be many things taken into consideration before a decision is made.

In the case of the Russell application, it feels like a missed opportunity to embrace the changing nature of our language; a better decision would have been to go with the dual name of Kororāreka/Russell.

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