In a meeting on Friday in Bay of Plenty, National’s transport spokesman Simeon Brown said introducing the language to road signs would make them “more confusing” and they “should all be English”.
On Monday, Waka Kotahi said its He Tohu Huarahi Māori Bilingual Traffic Signs programme was going out for public consultation.
If successful, it would include te reo Māori in motorway and expressway signs, destination signs, public and active transport signs, walking and cycling signs, general advisory and warning signs.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said having the language included on road signs would help those learning te reo.
“This is an environment where there’s more non-Māori learning reo than we ever had in the history of Aotearoa. It’s important that we embrace our nationhood, including our indigenous people and our language.
“We spent a long time trying to make sure we don’t lose our language, so having our culture in our roads is not just about helping those who are fluent Māori speakers, but so those who are in our education system learning reo can see it reflected around our environment.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo / Mark Mitchell
She said Brown should go back to school if he thought te reo Māori on road signs was confusing.
“It’s never too hard to understand the official languages of Aotearoa. Whether it will be making an effort to understand te reo or sign language, for example.
“These are all a critical part of our nation and if he [Brown] needs to go back to school or take some time off Parliament to be able to understand our language, so be it.”
There had been Māori traffic signs and Māori names for a long time, she said.
“I’m not so sure why he is so confused now.”
Brown’s comments were separatist, she said. “I think it’s a real ignorant, alarmist way to be politicking.
“Twenty per cent of our population is Māori. If we see a large [political] party basically trying to ignore 20 per cent of this population, then can we expect them to do that to the rest of our multiculture, diversity and languages that we see coming forward in Aotearoa?”
Most New Zealanders would enjoy seeing multilingual road signs.
“I think we are a mature and sophisticated country and generally most of us actually really enjoy not only seeing our indigenous language but also other languages.”
Refusing to accept the signs was “an attempt to take us backwards that I don’t think many are going to tolerate”.
Simeon Brown said Waka Kotahi should be filling potholes instead of looking into including te reo on road signs.
“NZTA should be focusing primarily on fixing the potholes on our roads and they shouldn’t be distracted by changing signage up and down our country.
“Most New Zealanders want to see our roads fixed, it’s their number one priority.”
Brown said National was open to bilingual information, but only when it came to placenames.
“When it comes to critically important safety information, the signage needs to be clear and understandable for people on our roads, most of whom speak English.
“It’s important to keep the balance right between placenames, which we are very open for bilingual signage, and critical safety signs where it is really important people understand what the sign is saying.”
