Maori Party Celebrate Te Reo Rangatira

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Tariana Turia, Co-leader, Maori Party

“The Maori Party is delighted to celebrate and promote te reo rangatira as a living language, and the official language of Aotearoa” said Tariana Turia, co-leader of the Maori Party.

“Accelerating the revival of te reo Mäori is a central focus of the Mäori Party” said Mrs Turia today.

“Our commitment to te reo Maori for the nation must be more than singing ‘Pokarekare ana’, impressing overseas visitors with our rendition of ‘Ka mate Ka mate’, - or any other form of cultural tradition we feel compelled to display”.

“Te reo Mäori is the medium through which Mäori explains the world. It preserves and protects our whakapapa, our identity, our culture. The survival of the people as Mäori and the uniqueness of Mäori as a race will be enhanced through the maintenance of te reo Mäori”.

“To do the language justice we must value it 52 weeks a year - not just the one week that Government has decreed is sufficient” said Mrs Turia.

“We look forward to a future where te reo Maori is valued by all people who live in this land”.

Ki te kore tätou e körero Mäori, ka ngaro te reo,

Ka ngaro te reo, ka ngaro ngä tikanga.

Ka ngaro ngä tikanga, ka ngaro tätou ki te Ao.

Ko te reo te kaipupuri i te Mäoritanga.

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