This is interesting. I trust Winston's political nose at least to some degree, and I have heard from other sources that the alleged "Māorification" of New Zealand is becoming an issue with a segment of the voting population.
I have yet to see any real evidence of this.
The label Oranga Tamariki was attached to the former CYPs department by a National Government in 2017 and the land transport agency adopted the alternative name Waka Kotahi recently and on Winston's watch.
I believe that over time we will adopt the name Aotearoa over Winston's objection and I strongly support that development.
He is not right in claiming that Aotearoa was "never the name for New Zealand". Governor Sir George Grey recorded the term as early as 1845 in his writings on Polynesian mythology, though it seems possible that in pre-colonial times there were individual Māori names for the main islands, but no accepted collective name for the three.
Aotearoa seems to have caught on quickly with Māoridom and as a "euphonious and beautiful" word it beats "New Zealand" hands down in my view.
As my friend Sir Tipene O'Regan pointed out to me, the choice of this Dutch province's name for our islands is singularly inappropriate.
Part of Zeeland is below sea level and the rest of it is flat and featureless.
This could not be further from the land that Abel Tasman saw on his visit in 1642; however, it was not Tasman who gave us the name that stuck.
He named his "discovery" Staten Landt, and it was Dutch map makers who changed the name to Nieuw Zeeland 20 odd years after Tasman's visit.
Judging from what little research exists, there seems to be something of a generational split on the growing use of Māori in everyday speech and writing.
Younger people welcome this trend while the older Kiwis are much less supportive. If this analysis is correct, then Winston's opposition to the spread of te reo Māori is wise as it is this ageing cohort from which he gathers support, though this group may quite soon be too small to restore him to Parliament.
In my view we should recognise that the Māori language, values and culture are priceless assets which set this country apart whatever name you use.
I recall Helen Clark saying that without Māori, this country would be just another ex-colony that spoke English. It is what largely defines us as a nation.
I am also a strong supporter of teaching te reo Māori in our schools. At the excellent Karamu High School, I had the advantage of learning the French language with a gifted language teacher, Mike Vogel, and I also fitted in a year of German with the same teacher.
The benefits were great. I learned more about English grammar by studying French than I ever did in English classes. I was easily able to make myself understood in France and could at least order a meal, a hotel room or ask for directions in Germany.
When I attended Karamu, there was no te reo on offer, but as of 2021 there are more than 120 pupils studying the language and principal Dionne Thomas tells me that "te reo is also seamlessly incorporated in all of our other courses and everyday school life now".
There is strong evidence that exposure to another culture and learning a second language at a young age has broad benefits which flow into other areas of ability.
In her early days at Ponsonby Primary School, my still charmingly absent-minded younger daughter got herself in the wrong queue and accidentally joined the school Māori club.
As an assured and relaxed 5-year-old, she made the most of the mistake which was to greatly enrich her young life.
- Mike Williams grew up in Hawke's Bay. He is CEO of the NZ Howard League and a former Labour Party president. All opinions are his and not those of Hawke's Bay Today
