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The chief executive of Te Taura Whiri says today’s parade in support of te reo Maori shows how the language can unify the country.
Hundreds of people accompanies by two dozen floats marched through Wellington this morning to mark the start of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori.
Ngahiwi Apanui says public support for te reo Maori, including having it taught to all school pupils, is steadily increasing, with only a small minority now opposing the move.
He says you don’t need to learn or speak te reo to support the bigger kaupapa.
"Some people are going to be enablers. They’re going to say ‘well, the horse has bolted for me in terms of learning te reo Maori but I can provide circumstances in which my children, my mokopuna can learn,’ and that is just as important as people speaking Maori because if you don’t have any enablers, people don’t have the ability to learn," Mr Apanui says.
He believes the new partnership model, under which the Maori Language Commission coordinates crown responses while Te Matawai develops language revitalisation strategies for Maori, will be a great success.
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