"300,000 young people are learning in pre-school or school and 10,000 at tertiary level. Still more are learning in the community," Apanui said.
"There is a momentum growing in wider New Zealand and a tremendous enthusiasm for te reo. I think the numbers learning in pre-school and school will at least double in the next 20 years and a majority of those learners will not be Māori. Growth will continue until Māori speakers of te reo are outnumbered by others.
"In the meantime we will see more te reo Māori being used in music, performance and broadcasting, and more literature being written and read in te reo Māori."
Apanui said revitalisation strategies being developed under the Māori Language Act 2016 by the Crown and by Māori led by the new organisation Te Mātāwai will accelerate what is already happening.
He said the language will "mark us out as New Zealanders" regardless of where we were in the world.
Initiatives to increase the spread of the language included supporting its continued use in the home from generation to generation, Apanui said.
It is also imperative that "high-quality" teaching systems are in place.
"To some Māori te reo has been regarded as something for ourselves alone. It has been something that united us in hard times and maintained our links to our ancestors and culture," he said.
"But living as we do among other peoples we need to share our taonga so we can use it in our everyday lives in our mixed community. The community can make te reo Māori come alive by pronouncing Māori words properly, using more Māori words in everyday conversation and learning te reo Māori."
Apanui said community-based initiatives such as streets in Wynyard quarter, in Auckland's CBD, being given Māori names would also greatly increase the use, exposure and popularity of the language.
The move was announced last month.
"Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard for whom the area is named was my ancestor. He was a soldier who became an administrator and was eventually Acting Govenor of New Zealand in the 1850s," Apanui said.
"A great many Māori are descended from early Pākehā colonists and they are the subject of whakapapa discussions along with our Māori ancestors. It doesn't matter through which line Māori are related: they are still whanaunga (relatives).
"I think Colonel Wynyard would be pleased also at the knowledge that Māori language is again being used more and more by Pākehā and in the public sphere, just as it was in his day".
Meanwhile, statistics compiled via the 2016 Australian census has revealed 11,747 residents of Australia spoke te reo Māori.
Queensland was the state with the highest use of Māori, with 4264 people saying they spoke the language. Western Australia followed with 2859 speakers. Tasmania had the lowest number of Māori speakers, with just 52 people saying they spoke the language.
Key Māori Language Week events:
Parades: Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori - the Māori Language Commission has organised a parade through central Wellington today. Schools, kōhanga, Māori and other organisations and members of the public are all welcome, and thousands have registered to take part. The Parade starts by Wellington's cenotaph at 11am and goes to Civic Square.
Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand is organising other parades and celebrations. Contact 0800 Childcare 0800 2445322 for details in your area.
Te Pūtakenga o Ngā Taonga Kōrero: Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision will launch the first of four new online exhibitions - Te Pūtaketanga o Ngā Taonga Kōrero, showcasing the many outstanding examples of oratory and Māori performing arts in the Ngā Taonga Kōrero collection - the archive of RNZ's Māori radio programmes. For the first exhibition Ngā Taonga has chosen the oldest recorded Māori broadcast - of the opening of Tūrongo House, Tūrangawaewae marae, Ngāruawāhia, in March 1938.
Stamps: New Zealand Post has launched a new stamp issue and adopted a te reo Māori name, Tukurau Aotearoa, to mark Māori Language Week. The stamps, in PostShops now, feature Māori words of the modern world like rorohiko (computer) and ahokore (wifi).
Māori at home: Stacey Morrison and Scotty Morrison have released a book called Māori at Home as a "survival guide" for those introducing te reo Māori into the household. It covers key topics like mahi ā-kāinga [chores], hei mua i te kura [before school] and kīwaha [idiomatic speech].
Ambassadors: Four prominent New Zealanders have taken up roles as Te Wiki o te Reo Māori ambassadors and will feature at events and online promoting te reo Māori as a language for everyone, everywhere. They are Stacey Morrison, who will be MC at the Māori Language Parade, television presenter Jack Tame, theatre, film and television actor and director Jennifer Ward Lealand, and Portia Woodman, just returned victoriously from the Women's Rugby World Cup.
Moana: Disney will release the Māori language version of the movie Moana in theatres around the country. The movie is not subtitled, recognising the growing number of young people able to use the Māori language. One of those young people is the voice of Māori Moana, Jaedyn Randell of Ngāti Paoa and Ngāti Whawhākia of Tainui. She joins the Māori voice of Māui: Māori television news anchor, Piripi Taylor.
For more information visit: http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/
Te Reo Māori: Te Reo o Aotearoa
Kua takatū nei te motu ki te whakanui i te reo Māori, ā, ko te matapae a te tumuaki o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, kotahi whakatipuranga ake nei, ka noho ko ngāi Māori te tokoiti o roto i ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa e mōhio ana ki te kōrero Māori.
Mō ngā rangi e whitu e takoto ake nei, e kawea ana ōna anō kaupapa huhua hei whakatāiri i te reo Māori, koia nei hoki tētahi o ngā reo whai mana o Aotearoa i raro i te ture.
I runga anō i ētahi tatauranga kua tukuna ki te Hērora, e mea ana te tumuaki o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, a Ngahiwi Apanui, 150,000 ngā tāngata he mōhio ki te kōrerorero noa i te reo Māori, ā, ko tōna 20,000 o ēnei, ehara i te Māori.
Engari kei te mea anō a Ngahiwi ka tokomaha noa ake i tēnei ā ngā tau e tū mai nei. Āpiti atu ki tana whakapae ka noho a ngāi Māori kōrero Māori hei wehenga iti o ngā tāngata katoa he kōrero Māori kotahi whakapaparanga ake nei, ki tāna, kia hipa tētahi atu 100 tau, ka noho ko te hunga kāore e mōhio ki te reo, ko ia kē te tokoiti o roto i te tōpūtanga tāngata o Aotearoa.
"E 300,000 ngā rangatahi kei te ako i te reo i ngā whare kōhungahunga me ngā kura. Tekau mano anō kei te paeako tuatoru. Ā, arā anō hoki a huhua mā e ako ana i te hapori," tā Ngahiwi.
"Kei te whanake te ngākau pai, te ngākau nui o Aotearoa nui tonu ki te reo. E 20 tau ake nei, kua huaruatia pea te tokomaha e ako ana i te reo i ngā whare kōhungahunga me ngā kura, waihoki, ko te nuinga o ēnei, he tauiwi. Ka mea ā, ka riro ko ngāi Māori te tokoiti o te hunga whānui e kōrero Māori ana."
"Hei ngā rā, hei ngā tau tata nei, ka kaha ake te rere o te reo i te ao puoro, i ngā atamira o Rēhia, i ngā ara pāpāho me ngā tānga kōrero."
Hei tā Ngahiwi, kei te whakatūria he rautaki whakaora reo i raro i te Ture mō te Reo Māori 2016. Ko te Karauna kei tētahi kīwai, ā, ko te iwi Māori kei tērā atu kīwai, otirā ko te rōpū hou nei, ko Te Mātāwai tōna māngai. Mā konei e tere ake ai te haere o ngā mahi.
E kī ana hoki a ia mā te reo Māori "e mōhiotia ai nō Aotearoa tātou", ahakoa kei hea ake tātou o te ao e haere ana.
E ai anō ki a Ngahiwi, arā ētahi atu kaupapa e kawea ana hei whakawhānui i te horapa o te reo, pēnei i te āta tautoko i te rere o te reo i te kāinga - i ngā ngutu o te kaumātua, o te pakeke, o te tamariki, tētahi ki tētahi.
Tērā anō tētahi mea nui, kia poua he tikanga e "kairangi" ai ngā mahi whakaako.
"Ki ētahi o ngāi Māori, mō mātou anake te reo Māori. He taonga kua whītiki i a mātou i ngā wā o te aupiki, o te auē, e tūhono ana hoki i a mātou ki ō mātou tīpuna, ki ā mātou tikanga tuku iho," te kōrero a Ngahiwi.
"Engari anei mātou e noho tahi nei ki ētahi atu momo; me tuku te taonga nei kia ora, kia kōrerotia i ngā kawenga o ia rā i ō tātou hapori toto rau. Ā, mā te hapori anō te reo Māori e whakahauora ake, mā te whakahua tika i ngā kupu Māori, mā te kuhu i te kupu Māori ki ngā kōrerorero, mā te āta ako anō i te reo."
Ki tā Ngahiwi, mā ngā kaupapa hapori pērā i te whakamāoritanga o ngā ingoa ara i te whaitua 'Winiata' i te puku o te tāone nui o Tāmaki, ka kaha noa ake te iri, te kitea me te manakotia o te reo.
Nō tērā mārama i pānuitia ai tērā kaupapa.
"Ko te Kānara Robert Henry Wynyard nō reira mai te ingoa o te wāhi rā, he tipuna tonu nōku. He hōia i tahuri ki ngā mahi whakahaere, nāwai ā, ka tū hei Kāwana Wāpoto o Aotearoa i ngā 1850," tā Ngahiwi.
"He tini māioio ngā Māori i heke mai i ngā Pākehā tuatahi i tatū mai ki Aotearoa. Ka ara ake hoki ēnei tīpuna Pākehā i ngā kōrero mō ngā whakapapa, i te taha tonu o ngā kōrero mō ngā tīpuna Māori. Ahakoa heke mai i tēwhea kāwai, ki tā te Māori, he whanaunga tonu."
"E whakapae ana au ka āhuareka a Kānara Wynyard i te mōhio kei te kaha haere te poipoia o te reo e te Pākehā, i te ao tūmatanui anō, pērā anō i te wā e ora ana ko ia."
Āpiti atu ki tērā, e ai ki ngā tatauranga i kohia i te Uiuinga ā-Motu o Ahitereiria i te 2016, 11,747 ngā tāngata kei Ahitereiria e noho ana, he kōrero Māori.
Kei Kuinirangi te rahinga, e 4264 ngā tāngata o reira koirā te kōrero. Whai i muri ake, ko Ahitereiria ki te Uru, me ōna tāngata kōrero Māori e 2859. Kei Tahimania te tino tokoiti, e 52 noa iho ōna kaikōrero i te reo Māori.
Ētahi o ngā kaupapa nui mō Te Wiki o te Reo Māori:
He Hīkoi: Kua whakaritea e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori tētahi hīkoi i te puku o te tāone o Pōneke i te rangi nei. He manomano tāngata kua rēhita mai. E ngā kura, e ngā kōhanga, ngāi Māori, ngā whakahaere, tae atu ki a Tūmatanui mā, nau mai, haere mai! Ka tīmata te hīkoi i te cenotaph ā te 11 o ngā hāora i te ata, ka mutu i te Tapawhā o te Tāone.
Kei te whakaritea hoki e Te Rito Maioha ētahi atu hīkoi me ētahi atu mahi whakanui. Mō te roanga atu o ngā kōrero ki tōu nā rohe, waeatia atu te 0800 Childcare, te 0800 2445322 rānei.
Te Pūtakenga o Ngā Taonga Kōrero: Kei te whakaterea e Ngā Taonga te tuatahi o ētahi whakaaturanga tuihono e whā, ko Te Pūtaketanga o Ngā Taonga Kōrero te ingoa, e whakatauira ana i te papai o ngā hopuranga whaikōrero, mahi a Rēhia kei te kohinga Ngā Taonga Kōrero e pupuri ana (ko te rokinga tēnei o ngā hōtaka reo irirangi Māori a RNZ). Mō te whakaaturanga tuatahi nei, kua kōwhiria e Ngā Taonga te pāhotanga Māori tawhito katoa kua hopukina - ko te whakatuwheratanga o Tūrongo, i Tūrangawaewae, Ngāruawāhia, i te marama o Poutūterangi 1938.
He Pane-kuīni: Kua whakaputaina e New Zealand Post ētahi pani-kuīni hou hei manaaki i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Kua whakarewaina hoki he ingoa Māori mō rātou, arā, ko Tukurau Aotearoa. Kua tae ngā pane-kuīni nei ki ngā whare Tukurau, ko ētahi kupu Māori o te ao hou kei runga, pērā i te rorohiko me te ahokore.
Te reo Māori i te kāinga: Kua whakaputaina e Stacey rāua ko Scotty Morrison tētahi pukapuka hou, ko Māori at Home te ingoa. Ko ia hei "oranga" mō te hunga e tīmata ana ki te kuhu haere i te reo Māori ki ā rātou mahi i te kāinga. Ko ētahi o ōna kaupapa, ko: ngā mahi ā-kāinga; hei mua i te kura; me ngā kīwaha.
He Pou mō te Reo: Tokowhā ngā tāngata rongonui o Aotearoa kua whakaae kia tū rātou hei pou mō te reo i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Ka whai wāhi rātou ki ētahi o ōna kaupapa, ka takahi hoki i ngā ara tuihono ki te whakatairanga i te reo Māori hei reo mō te katoa, ki ngā wāhi katoa. Koia ēnei, ko Stacey Morrison - māna anō e ārahi ngā mahi i te Hīkoi Reo Māori nui, ko Jack Tame - kaipūrongo i te pouaka whakaata, ko Jennifer Ward Lealand - kiriwhakaari, ringa tohutohu hoki i te pae whakaari, te ao kiriata me te pouaka whakaata, tae atu ki a Portia Woodman kua hoki toa mai i te Kapu Whutupōro o te Ao mō ngā Wāhine.
Moana: E tukuna ana e Disney te tauira reo Māori o te kiriata nei, o Moana ki ngā whare kiriata o te motu. Kāore he tānga o ngā kupu Pākehā i raro - hei aha hoki he whakapākehātanga mā ngā taiohi mōhio ki te reo Māori, he hunga hoki tēnei kei te tokomaha kē atu, kei te ngaringari kē atu. Ā, ko tētahi tonu o ēnei taiohi, ko Jaedyn Randell o Ngāti Paoa, o Ngāti Whawhākia o roto o Tainui, ko ia te reo o Moana. Arā te reo haere kōtui, ko tō Māui: ko Piripi Taylor, te punga o Whakaata Māori ki te kawe kōrero ki te ao, ko ia a Māui.
• He kōrero anō mō te kaupapa nei kei te: tetaurawhiri.govt.nz
