Aotearoa-New Zealand name change debate: New poll shows while majority in favour of status quo there is support for change

Te Paati Māori co-leaders Rawiri Watiti and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A new 1News Colmar Brunton poll has found a majority of respondents want New Zealand's official name to remain the same.

The poll found 58 per cent of people prefer the status quo, while 41 per cent want Aotearoa in the mix, 1 News reports.

Of that 41 per cent, just 9 per cent want Aotearoa to replace New Zealand entirely, while 31 per cent voted for a double-barrelled official moniker - Aotearoa New Zealand.

The poll, which asked "What do you think the country should officially be called?", was conducted from September 22 to 26 and surveyed 1001 eligible voters.

Debate over the country's official name has been growing since Te Paati Māori launched a petition earlier this month calling for a switch from New Zealand to Aotearoa.

"It's well past time that te reo Māori was restored to its rightful place as the first and official language of this country. We are a Polynesian country, we are Aotearoa," Te Paati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said.

"Our petition calls on Parliament to change New Zealand to Aotearoa and begin a process, alongside whānau, hapū and iwi, to identify and officially restore the original te reo Māori names for all towns, cities and places right across the country by 2026."

After the petition was launched, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government wasn't considering an official name change, but she had noticed Aotearoa being used more often and supported the shift.

National Party leader Judith Collins called for a referendum on the use of the word Aotearoa in early August, prompting fierce criticism from other political parties.

"We're just simply saying that we're hearing from New Zealanders that they've seen that the Prime Minister and the Government very seldom says New Zealand now, they normally say Aotearoa New Zealand or Aotearoa," Collins told RNZ at the time.

"It's not an issue that particularly worries me, I'm very happy with either, but I do believe that people feel that there be a de facto change of name of New Zealand by the Government."