While awaiting agreement on new government, MFAT bosses jump the gun (and peeve PSA) by muting the use of te reo
There’s no news on the government’s official website again today – not since November 10, when Labour’s Chris Hipkins and National’s Christoper Luxon agreed that caretaker government arrangements be extended.
But RNZ reports Luxon as saying negotiations to form a government are in the final stages.
The party’s core negotiating team is meeting at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel this morning – and plans to meet with ACT and New Zealand First separately this afternoon.
It has now been 13 days since the final election count – a day longer than it took in 2017 for parties to strike a deal. Luxon said talks were progressing well, the three leaders having met together, for the first time since the election, on Wednesday.
He would not speak about timing for a final agreement but said the three parties were “broadly aligned on our goals”.
Meanwhile – by keeping an eye on news media rather than a Beehive website bereft of new press statements – Point of Order can report on what the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, has been saying and what has been going on within her former ministry.
First, she has been called on by ACT to explain why she disagreed with a draft tweet concerning Hamas’ October attack on Israel, which included describing the attack as “terror”.
A request made under the Official Information Act (OIA) has found the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Middle East and Africa Division emailed Mahuta’s office following the attack on October 7.
It contained media talking points, consular messages and a “draft tweet” to be sent from Mahuta’s ministerial X (formerly Twitter) account.
The draft tweet stated New Zealand “unequivocally condemns rocket and terror attacks from Gaza into Israel and calls for their immediate cessation”.
“With a high risk of escalation, the protection of civilians, and upholding of international humanitarian law is essential,” the draft tweet read.
Mahuta “disagreed with the wording of the draft tweet” and the ministry formulated a second draft to Mahuta.
ACT’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Brooke van Velden called on Mahuta to use her last day as a minister to explain why the initial draft tweet was refused.
“Mahuta had a clear option to denounce barbaric aggression but chose not to. Why?” van Velden said.
Speaking to RNZ on October 9, Mahuta accepted her language in the first tweet could have been stronger.
Our readers can hear Mahuta have another crack at this by tuning into the first interview she gave since the election. She spoke about the situation in Gaza, among other things.
It has now been 13 days since the final election count – a day longer than it took in 2017 for parties to strike a deal. Luxon said talks were progressing well, the three leaders having met together, for the first time since the election, on Wednesday.
He would not speak about timing for a final agreement but said the three parties were “broadly aligned on our goals”.
Meanwhile – by keeping an eye on news media rather than a Beehive website bereft of new press statements – Point of Order can report on what the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, has been saying and what has been going on within her former ministry.
First, she has been called on by ACT to explain why she disagreed with a draft tweet concerning Hamas’ October attack on Israel, which included describing the attack as “terror”.
A request made under the Official Information Act (OIA) has found the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Middle East and Africa Division emailed Mahuta’s office following the attack on October 7.
It contained media talking points, consular messages and a “draft tweet” to be sent from Mahuta’s ministerial X (formerly Twitter) account.
The draft tweet stated New Zealand “unequivocally condemns rocket and terror attacks from Gaza into Israel and calls for their immediate cessation”.
“With a high risk of escalation, the protection of civilians, and upholding of international humanitarian law is essential,” the draft tweet read.
Mahuta “disagreed with the wording of the draft tweet” and the ministry formulated a second draft to Mahuta.
ACT’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Brooke van Velden called on Mahuta to use her last day as a minister to explain why the initial draft tweet was refused.
“Mahuta had a clear option to denounce barbaric aggression but chose not to. Why?” van Velden said.
Speaking to RNZ on October 9, Mahuta accepted her language in the first tweet could have been stronger.
Our readers can hear Mahuta have another crack at this by tuning into the first interview she gave since the election. She spoke about the situation in Gaza, among other things.
Mahuta also is mentioned in a Stuff report about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has set about erasing te reo Māori at least from some official use in anticipation of the new National-led government.
The message from Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Chris Seed, which was leaked to Stuff discusses: “my decision to remove Te Reo headings from the submission templates during the caretaker period”.
The new government’s position on the use of te reo Māori by government departments will become clear – all going well – when the coalition agreement is reached.
As Stuff explained:
The three prospective parties – National, ACT and NZ First – have different views on the issue. National’s Chris Luxon has said he wants an “English first” approach for government departments with dual-language names, whereas NZ First’s Winston Peters has promised to erase all Māori names from government departments.
That’s where Mahuta comes into considerations:
Stuff understands that the previous Labour foreign affairs minister, Nanaia Mahuta, had instructed staff at MFAT to use more Te Reo in official correspondence.
In response, a submission template was introduced for all formal messages sent to government ministers which included Māori terminology for terms like summary, report, recommendations and conclusions.
Around the time special votes were returned, confirming the likely makeup of the new government would be National, ACT and NZ First, MFAT changed the template, reverting to English in parts.
This has riled some MFAT staff members and –
Stuff understands at least 300 of MFAT’s 1800 staff signed a petition objecting to the change…
Today the Public Service Association, brimming with outrage and bluster, has shown how a simple message can be made more cumbersome by lacing it with te reo: .
“We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision – it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail,” said Marcia Puru, Acting Te Kaihautū Māori for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
It is instructive that explanatory notes are provided (adding to the verbiage):
The message from Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Chris Seed, which was leaked to Stuff discusses: “my decision to remove Te Reo headings from the submission templates during the caretaker period”.
The new government’s position on the use of te reo Māori by government departments will become clear – all going well – when the coalition agreement is reached.
As Stuff explained:
The three prospective parties – National, ACT and NZ First – have different views on the issue. National’s Chris Luxon has said he wants an “English first” approach for government departments with dual-language names, whereas NZ First’s Winston Peters has promised to erase all Māori names from government departments.
That’s where Mahuta comes into considerations:
Stuff understands that the previous Labour foreign affairs minister, Nanaia Mahuta, had instructed staff at MFAT to use more Te Reo in official correspondence.
In response, a submission template was introduced for all formal messages sent to government ministers which included Māori terminology for terms like summary, report, recommendations and conclusions.
Around the time special votes were returned, confirming the likely makeup of the new government would be National, ACT and NZ First, MFAT changed the template, reverting to English in parts.
This has riled some MFAT staff members and –
Stuff understands at least 300 of MFAT’s 1800 staff signed a petition objecting to the change…
Today the Public Service Association, brimming with outrage and bluster, has shown how a simple message can be made more cumbersome by lacing it with te reo: .
“We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision – it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail,” said Marcia Puru, Acting Te Kaihautū Māori for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
It is instructive that explanatory notes are provided (adding to the verbiage):
- Te Kaihautū Māori role is to provide industrial, political and cultural leadership and advice across the PSA and support the advocacy for upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Māori across the union on behalf of our Māori.
- The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 90,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
“… risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti.”
And:
“We have made such good progress as a country in honouring te Tiriti and breathing life into te reo Māori which has a special status as an official language.
“Our public sector has shown great leadership in this regard and all that now risks being undone. MFAT’s decision is a damaging step that if replicated across the public service would threaten the progress we have made as a nation in recent years in fostering healthy race relations.
“What kind of commitment to the Crown’s obligations to Te Tiriti does this represent? Has the chief executive of MFAT been paying lip service to the Government’s relationship with Māori until there is a change of government? Or does he just not understand what his comments do to the recognition of te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand and to the respect of Māori as Tangata Whenua.”
The PSA – or should that be Te PSA? – says it agrees with the 300 or so MFAT workers who have protested this change and agree with them that this erodes trust in the Ministry’s commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi.
“It is integral to their workplace culture and enriches our diplomatic presence around the world.”
If this workplace culture was shaped by Nanaia Mahuta, it can’t be too deeply ingrained. She became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in November 2020.
Her predecessor was Winston Peters, whose New Zealand First party went into the election promising to erase all Māori names from government departments.
But hey – the PSA has found a cause for kicking up a fuss about its disquiet, if not dismay, at the shape of the new government.
Its statement says:
“This is the thin end of the wedge and must be resisted. The PSA will be raising this issue with chief executives urging them to resist this backsliding. We are pointing out that they have a legal obligation under the Public Sector Act 2020 to support the Crown’s relationship with Māori, and to develop a workplace culture that supports Māori aspirations.
“MFAT’s decision on te reo clearly flies in the face of this. The PSA urges members to make their views on the importance of te reo to their employers before MFAT’s decision becomes more common place,” said Marcia Puru.
We may suppose Puru wants MFAT communications to resonate with – and be complicated by – te reo in the same way as Mahuta injected it into speeches. For example:
Guided by our bicultural heritage, we focus our diplomatic efforts on a rules-based system that empowers all states, irrespective of their size or influence. Might should not determine what is right in fact and so the rules based system must be supported. Our diplomatic approach draws on our bi-cultural values:
- Manaakitanga, emphasizing reciprocity and care extending to our shared humanity
- Whanaungatanga, signifying interconnectedness and the importance of relationships
- Mahi tahi and Kotahitanga, encouraging common objectives and seeking out ways to work together
- Kaitiakitanga, advocating stewardship and intergenerational well-being.
Ah – populism.
That’s a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups. One way to do this – and be readily understood – is by communicating in a language which is easily digested by most people in an audience.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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