Paul Hickey: Let's be parochial about Aotearoa

The response to The Ellen DeGeneres Show giveaway has been massive.

I like to think we New Zealanders are a pretty parochial bunch.

We are proud of where we live, what we do, and how we do things in Aotearoa.

We proudly shout about our achievements and performances on the world stage, pretty much punching above our weight so to speak. But we can also be a pretty fickle bunch too, and I can raise my hand and admit that I can certainly be like that at times. Take the America's Cup for instance.

A year-and-a-half ago we were united as one, willing on Team NZ on the waves of San Francisco, the country on a knife edge crowded around TVs and radios waiting for the cup to come home. We all know how that ended don't we?

Now the team is looking for public money again, and it looks like skipper Dean is on the outer, and we all found out before he did.

The America's Cup is so much more than sport, it is a real life soap opera ... politics, lawyers, beautiful people, exotic locations, heroes and villains, flash toys, high stakes - but with OUR money, and Shortland Street is regarded as our country's longest running soap.

I beg to differ; the America's Cup has been on our screens and in our hearts and minds about five years longer.

Cast your eyes back to my opening two sentences in today's piece. Notice anything wrong with it? No? Neither do I, but according to some people I shouldn't really be using the word Aotearoa.

The news last week that one of our TV weather forecasters has been getting abuse because she uses te reo in her forecasts is almost laughable.

Like Kano, I use te reo occasionally on air and would be horrified if I was criticised for it.

I mentioned to someone that perhaps the fact I am born and bred in Rotorua gives me a bit more acceptance of its use, but why should that matter? We are and always have been a multi-cultural society.

Let's be parochial and proud of what is uniquely New Zealand. Yes there are bigger issues that certainly require debate (like the other soap opera going on locally right now) but certainly not the use of the Maori language in everyday conversation.

Last week I wrote about how right now at The Hits we're giving you the chance to be in the studio audience at a live taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Los Angeles. As expected we have had a pretty massive response to this competition pretty much straight away. We've got two trips for two to give away, and it is really easy to enter. Ellen likes to dance, so we want your dance moves on video. If you are like me and have two left feet, who cares? I'm doing a video this week, so watch if you dare, and then give it a go yourself. If you end up winning, any embarrassment around your style (or lack of!) won't be an issue will it!

-Paul Hickey is the host of the locally based 9am-3pm show on The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM. Follow on Facebook The Hits Rotorua and on Twitter @paulhickeynz