Māori Party is howling for the head of MFAT’s chief executive (and it is telling us about its grievances in plain English)
Without being able to tap into fresh news on the government’s official website today, Point of Order turned to Scoop’s parliamentary news site and found some politicians have been riled by the idea that government department should communicate with ministers in plain English.
Yep. The Māori Party is kicking up a fuss in reaction to a Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade decision to remove te reo Māori from some briefing papers.
It seems MFAT – at least for now – is talking about the removal of just a teeny amount of te reo.
But that’s more than enough to have the Māori Party hollering for the head of the ministry’s chief executive.
News media seemed aghast at the effrontery, too.
1News reported the news as a move
“… made by MFAT chief executive Chris Seed without prior consultation while the country waits for a new government to be formed”.
The disapproving tone of the report was reinforced in the next few sentences:
The Public Service Association’s Marcia Puru called the ministry’s move “ridiculous”.
“It’s gotta be stopped and we’ve gotta challenge this behaviour that we’re starting to see already prior to the ministers being sworn in,” she said.
“We think that it’s a progression of the racist rhetoric that we’ve seen.”
Puru’s use of “gotta” suggests English is not her strong suit, but presumably she appreciates that communicating her concerns in te reo would severely limit the size of her audience.
1News then says:
It’s unclear at this stage what the incoming government’s position on te reo use will be as coalition talks continue.
The enterprising reporter decided the thoughts of the Prime Minister-elect might be helpful.
And guess what?
Christopher Luxon said
“what’s important is to get the briefing and understand the issue.
“I’m less worried about the form, frankly.”
The 1News’ reporter then checked back on what the coalition partners have had to say on this issue:
Luxon previously expressed support for dual department names, but said that English should come first.
“I am of the view that we should rename our government departments in English so that people can navigate the government, but I’m also of the view that actually, we should have te reo on there,” he told a crowd of party faithful in July.
“We can have dual language on it but you have to have a choice, right? You have to be able to navigate it.”
But let’s not forget that NZ First campaigned on changing
“all the woke, virtue-signalling names of every government department back to English”.
After wading through several paragraphs of the 1News report, Point of Order found a statement from MFAT, which said the use of te reo within the ministry and across its communication channels “remains unchanged”.
However, it admits it has made an adjustment to one briefing template while the government is still being formed.
“We have made an adjustment to one template during the caretaker period,” the statement read.
“The Ministry will consult with the incoming Minister for their preferences on receiving advice.”
This does not seem to be too outrageous, but MFAT’s explanation did not mollify the Māori Party, which said it was not good enough and called for Seed to resign.
Several days later, perhaps because Seed hadn’t obliged them by resigning, the Māori Party had another go with the aforementioned November 20 press statement:
But that’s more than enough to have the Māori Party hollering for the head of the ministry’s chief executive.
News media seemed aghast at the effrontery, too.
1News reported the news as a move
“… made by MFAT chief executive Chris Seed without prior consultation while the country waits for a new government to be formed”.
The disapproving tone of the report was reinforced in the next few sentences:
The Public Service Association’s Marcia Puru called the ministry’s move “ridiculous”.
“It’s gotta be stopped and we’ve gotta challenge this behaviour that we’re starting to see already prior to the ministers being sworn in,” she said.
“We think that it’s a progression of the racist rhetoric that we’ve seen.”
Puru’s use of “gotta” suggests English is not her strong suit, but presumably she appreciates that communicating her concerns in te reo would severely limit the size of her audience.
1News then says:
It’s unclear at this stage what the incoming government’s position on te reo use will be as coalition talks continue.
The enterprising reporter decided the thoughts of the Prime Minister-elect might be helpful.
And guess what?
Christopher Luxon said
“what’s important is to get the briefing and understand the issue.
“I’m less worried about the form, frankly.”
The 1News’ reporter then checked back on what the coalition partners have had to say on this issue:
Luxon previously expressed support for dual department names, but said that English should come first.
“I am of the view that we should rename our government departments in English so that people can navigate the government, but I’m also of the view that actually, we should have te reo on there,” he told a crowd of party faithful in July.
“We can have dual language on it but you have to have a choice, right? You have to be able to navigate it.”
But let’s not forget that NZ First campaigned on changing
“all the woke, virtue-signalling names of every government department back to English”.
After wading through several paragraphs of the 1News report, Point of Order found a statement from MFAT, which said the use of te reo within the ministry and across its communication channels “remains unchanged”.
However, it admits it has made an adjustment to one briefing template while the government is still being formed.
“We have made an adjustment to one template during the caretaker period,” the statement read.
“The Ministry will consult with the incoming Minister for their preferences on receiving advice.”
This does not seem to be too outrageous, but MFAT’s explanation did not mollify the Māori Party, which said it was not good enough and called for Seed to resign.
Several days later, perhaps because Seed hadn’t obliged them by resigning, the Māori Party had another go with the aforementioned November 20 press statement:
Te Pāti Māori Call For Resignation Of MFAT CEO Over Te Reo Māori Erasure
Te Pāti Māori have called for the resignation of the Ministry of Foreign and Trade chief executive Chris Seed following his decision to erase te reo Māori from government communications.
This implies Seed might be cutting a bigger swathe through the use of te reo than is suggested by an adjustment to one briefing template.
The party statement goes on:
While the country still waits for a new government to be formed, Mr Seed took it upon himself to undermine his office’s obligations to Māori without any prior consultation.
Mr Seed is either bowing to the anti-Māori rhetoric that was prevalent throughout the election campaign, or he has only been paying lip service to te reo Māori until we had a change of government.
The co-leaders have taken turns at expressing their disgruntlement.
“The Ministry is happy to sell our culture and language overseas while showing no respect for it at home” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
“If this is how you are going to treat te iwi Māori behind closed doors then you are unfit for office and need to step down” said Waititi.
“We have just landed on the other side of an election campaign that was very hostile toward te reo Māori” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
“Our incoming prime minister is currently in negotiations with a Party that wants to completely erase te reo from our government departments.
“I am deeply concerned that this moves signals things to come under a new government” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
The Māori Party declares head-hunting at MFAT is just a start.
Te Pāti Māori’s call doesn’t only apply to MFAT’s CEO however:
“We are putting every government department on notice” said Waititi.
“We will not allow this type of behaviour and attitude to go unchallenged” Waititi said.
“We will not tolerate any move that threatens to undermine our reo and undo the years of progress. We will not accept your excuses” Ngarewa-Packer said.
What do they mean when they say they will not tolerate policies of which they disapprove?
They will call for a snap election, perhaps, to reflect their regard for democratic decision-making.
That would enable them to reiterate their policy commitments to:
- Change New Zealand’s name to Aotearoa by 2026.
- Replace all Pākeha place names, cities and towns to their original Māori ingoa by 2026.
“… Te Reo Māori is the language of Aotearoa. As such, The Māori Party expects for the crown to actively protect and promote Te Reo Māori and encourage its use by Iwi, Māori and all citizens of Aotearoa regardless of ethnicity”.
But the Māori Party co-leaders obviously appreciate that a fundamental objective when communicating what they think is to be understood by the public.
Only a few people understand te reo. The vast bulk of people understand English.
And so the only te reo words in the 275-words statement posted on the Scoop website reflect the party’s preference to be known as Te Pāti Māori. All other words amount to plain English – the language that Luxon, and most of the public, want to hear when they need to find out what’s going on and where to go.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
Remind me who MFAT deals with in its foreign and trade affairs that speaks Maori?
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