Christopher Luxon explains why Māori language removed from letter, prompting Australian minister to hit back with reference to the band Split Enz
Last modified on Thu 8 Aug 2024 14.35 CESTNew Zealand’s prime minister has defended the removal of the Māori language from an official invitation sent to an Australian government minister by saying “in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple”.
This week the broadcasters TVNZ revealed that the culture minister, Paul Goldsmith, had instructed officials to remove several te reo expressions from an invitation to Matariki, the annual celebrations of theThe Māori words included the greeting “tena koe” , the sign-off “nāku noa, nā” , and the removal of the widely accepted Māori name for New Zealand: Aotearoa.“It’s hardly the scandal of the century,” he said. “I just didn’t think it needed a lot of te reo in it ...
The hit peaked at No 2 in the Australian charts that year and was the 18th biggest song overall, sandwiched between Bananarama’s Shy Boy and Our Lips Are Sealed by the Go-Go’s. Luxon’s right-leaning coalition – of the conservative National party, the free-market libertarians ACT and the populist NZ First parties – has reduced its use in government since taking office last November.The government has issued edicts to public servants to stop communicating in te reo, and asked government departments to rebadge with English names, scrapping or de-prioritising the Māori names given more prominence during Jacinda Ardern’s government.
In parliament on Wednesday, Hipkins included Goldsmith’s letter in a line of questioning to Luxon on ministerial standards.“The correspondence was being directed to an Australian minister overseas and what I’d say to you in my dealings with Australians, it always pays to be incredibly simple and clear and use English.”
Asked about Luxon’s sledge, the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the conservative leader “is a friend of mine” but there were issues with communication from time to time.“It’s the Kiwi accent. From time to time, things can be missed between us, that was the case with Chris Hipkins and Jacinda Ardern before him.Luxon lived in Sydney for five years during his pre-politics corporate career with Unilever.
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