Listen Now: 
A pat on the back this weekend for our Maori language champions.
The annual Maori language awards are being held tomorrow at the Pettigrew-Green Arena in Taradale, Napier.
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui says the language is in a perilous state, with the number of Maori who speak their own language dropping from 25 to 21 percent since 2003.
"Overall only 4 percent of New Zealanders speak te reo Maori and we urgently need to do something about it but we also need to recognise those people and those organisations doing something about it now because you can’t have all this endeavour without a pat on the back now and then," he says.
Radio Waatea will be broadcasting the Maori Language Awards via Radio Ngati Kahungunu from 3 pm tomorrow afternoon.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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