Waitangi Tribunal has announced its findings in the Taku Reo Kura, Taku Reo Kahurangi case around the Coalition government’s axing of te reo Māori in public services.
It found the government had breached several principles of Te Tiriti by deprioritising or removing te reo Māori from the names of public service departments and Crown entities, prioritising English in public service communications, and limiting access to te reo Māori allowances within the public sector.
The urgent report to the tribunal noted that some matters came from the Coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First, with another being connected to comments made to the media by the Public Service Minister.
“Hei tā Te Rōpū Whakamana, nā te whakangoikore i te whakamahinga o te reo i te ratonga tūmatanui, i whakapuaki te Karauna i te korenga o tōna ū ki te whakarauora i te reo, ā, i whakakaha anō i ngā tautika-kore i waenganui i te mana o te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori i Aotearoa New Zealand,” The Tribunal wrote in a statement.
It also noted that the Crown is not to contribute to the decline of te reo Māori but instead take actions to address the vulnerable state it is in under both Te Tiriti and the Crown’s own legislative commitments in Te Ture mō te Reo Māori 2016.
According to its findings, the Waitangi Tribunal have found that the Crown breaches have caused prejudice to Māori, including to Māori as users of public services.
“I kī Te Rōpū Whakamana nā te noho mōrearea o te reo Māori me whakapakari ake i te reo, ā, me akiaki i tōna whakamahinga. I kite Te Rōpū Whakamana nā ngā mahi a te Karauna i whakaitihia ēnei whāinga, ā, he mea whakahāwea i te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori. I whakamahara anō Te Rōpū Whakamana ki ngā āwangawanga i hua mai i ngā mahi a te Karauna, arā i whakatinanahia i roto i ngā kōrero taunaki a ngā kaikerēme ki mua i Te Rōpū Whakamana.”
The Tribunal has made several recommendations for the Crown to address “the prejudice caused.”
Its first recommendation calls for the immediate reversal of decisions that deprioritised the use of te reo Māori in agency names and government communications.
It also recommends strengthening the wording of Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016 to make the Crown’s obligations to protect and preserve te reo Māori more explicit.
Another recommendation urges the Crown to amend the 2024 Government Workforce Policy Statement to ensure te reo Māori allowances for officials continue, regardless of whether te reo proficiency is a requirement of their role.
