Māori Language Commissioner Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson. Photo / Supplied
Māori Language Commissioner Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson. Photo / Supplied
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Willie Jackson knew the appointment of actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand to the Māori Language Commission would create some ripples in Māoridom, but said it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.
Last week Jackson reappointed Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod to the commission, and appointed Ward-Lealand.
“I was so pleased to appoint Jennifer Ward-Lealand to the Māori Language Commission and want to thank her for accepting, and the courage she has shown in accepting the position,” Jackson said on Facebook.
“I told her there will be critics but there will be far more supporters and that is proving to be the case.”
Jackson said one of the critics was long-time Māori activist and lawyer Annette Sykes - “who I caught up with at the celebration for the new Chief Justice of the Māori Land Court, Justice Caren Fox.”
Sykes told Jackson she is not anti-Ward-Lealand: “In fact, she said she admires her but just thinks she should not be on Taura Whiri.
Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson on the karaoke. Photo / Supplied
“She believes Taura Whiri should be Māori appointments only and Pākehā should not be appointed to the board because it is not their place or their position. She believes that by me appointing her that it goes against some of our own people who would be better suited because they are Māori, particularly younger Māori women who deserve a chance before Jennifer,” Jackson said.
Jackson said Sykes was entitled to her opinion but “Annette is 100 per cent wrong in this case”.
“Before I made my final decision to recommend Jennifer’s appointment I spoke with Ta Timoti Karetu, probably the foremost expert on Māori language teaching.
“He was clear we need Pākehā support if we are going to win the fight to save our reo. He said we must have a number of strategies if we want our language to survive and Pākehā learning and then advocating for our language and culture is a really important one.
“We are aiming to get one million Māori language speakers by 2040. There are only 800,000 of us so how are we going to get the other 200,000? Ta Timoti said to me that if we really want a bilingual country then we must try to normalise the reo and get everyone speaking it. "
Ward-Lealand had been a Māori language student of Tā Timoti and Wharehuia Milroy, who had given her a Māori name, Te Atamira.
“Ta Timoti is confident that she will be a great advocate for the language and we will be able to utilise her against the constant racism that is used against us and our language.”
“As much as I respect Annette, her and I will never agree on this. I know as a Minister, that the Crown has an obligation to support our language, normalise our language and continually find ways and strategies to increase the use of it, which is essentially the job of Taura Whiri.”
“Unlike Annette, I believe Pākehā must have a role at leadership level on the board. They need to see themselves represented and not just be the token advisers that so often we end up being,” Jackson said.
“One thing I’ve learned in life is that when Pākehā start advocating our causes people listen more, sad but annoyingly true, and I have plenty of examples that I won’t go into right now.
“Anyway, Annette and I agreed to disagree in a very whanaunga and aroha-based way and ended up singing karaoke together! That was after me and Nanaia, of course.”
Willie Jackson and Annette Sykes sing karaoke together, despite their disagreement. Photo / Supplied
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to NZME worked for 12 years for Whānau Waipareira.
