Geoff Parker: Aotearoa - A Name And A Choice

The New Zealand Herald’s editorial (January 2) presents the use of “Aotearoa” alongside New Zealand as an innocuous act — a simple nod to history that should trouble no confident nation. Those who object, we are told, suffer from fragility, anxiety, or an inability to cope with complexity.

That framing is tidy, but it avoids the real issue.

Peter Williams: The Great Aotearoa Debate

How did that word get to be on our passports?

It was a good try but Winston, you’re at least five years too late, possibly much longer.

The New Zealand First leader made a not so subtle point during Question Time this week when responding to a query from an opposition MP about a UN oceans conference in France.

The question referred to Aotearoa-New Zealand. Peters replied that he had attended the conference but that “no such country turned up, nor is such a country a member of the United Nations.”