Former broadcasting minister Willie Jackson is accusing the Government of superficial support for the Māori language.
He says the positive statements are coming out for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, but the pūtea isn’t following.
Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith says it’s great to celebrate the language, but the same minister ordered officials to remove Māori greetings and phrases from an invitation sent to his Australian counterparts for the Matariki event.
It’s left to Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka to advocate for te reo being spoken in homes.
“But we need a minister to be advocating for more pūtea for Taura Whiri, for more pūtea for Māori broadcasting. And sadly, we’ve got this government that is just constantly making cuts and restricting the development of the reo and in fact, broadcasting with their policies, that’s a sad part of Māori Language Week,” Mr Jackson says.
He says the good part of te wiki is everyone else gets on with the work of increasing the number of speakers and the use of te reo.
