September 15, 2020
Name changes centrepiece of language policy
The Māori Party says it’s time to change the name of the country to Aotearoa.
Waiariki candidate Rawiri Waititi says he wants to see it happen by 2026, along with replacing all Pakeha place names of cities and towns to their original Maori ingoa.
In light of Te Wiki o te reo Māori, he says more needs to be done at a systemic level to protect and promote the reo of Aotearoa.
Other aspects of the party’s Māori language policy include requiring all state-funded media broadcasters to have a basic fluency of te reo Māori if they wish to continue working in the industry;
– Establishing a Māori Standards Authority to audit all public service departments against cultural competency standards, including the monitoring and auditing of language plans;
– Remunerating primary and secondary school kaiako for the competency of te reo Māori;
And requiring all primary schools to incorporate te reo Māori into 25 per cent of their curriculum by 2026 and 50 per cent by 2030.
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