Crown launches commitment to te reo Māori

Labour Party's Nanaia Mahuta has annouced a new rangatahi focused initiative to encourage te reo Māori to be spoken by a million people in 2040. Photo / Supplied

The government has launched a rangatahi focused Māori language strategy to ensure basic te reo is spoken by a million people in 2040.

Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced the strategy, Maihi Karauna, at Te Matatini at the weekend in recognition of the festival's passion and commitment to te reo Māori.

She said the strategy was intended to complement the Maihi Māori which supports iwi, hapū and whānau aspirations towards te reo Māori revitalisation.

"The Crown has long held the responsibility to protect te reo Māori as a taonga and the Maihi Karauna sets out a context for that responsibility to inform how Government can achieve this for all of us to use, share and protect te reo Māori.

"I know that for te reo to thrive by 2040 we all need to do our part, working together to make te reo a working, living language."

Kingi Biddle advocates for te reo Māori. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua's Kingi Biddle, who has travelled the globe competing on the world toastmaster's stage, hosted a Māori language chat show, been an announcer on Radio Te Arawa and advocate for te reo Māori, sees benefit in speaking the language.

He reflected on a recent comment from Sir Toby Curtis, who said that everyone deserves the opportunity to learn their mother language.

"Te reo feeds the soul and strengthens the identity. Rangatahi will not just benefit by learning te reo, our rangatahi will blossom."

Hosting rangatahi regional workshops and a national summit, a social marketing campaign to promote the value of te reo Māori and snap-reo, a series of micro-lessons in te reo Māori are all areas of focus for the strategy.

The Maihi Karauna outlines what the Crown will do to support a "strong" Māori language in New Zealand.

The Maihi Karauna sets three challenging goals to achieve in 2040:

- 85 per cent of New Zealanders (or more) will value te reo Māori as a key part of national identity
- One million New Zealanders can speak at least basic te reo Māori
- 150,000 Māori aged 15 and over will use te reo Māori as much as English