First member of Te Mātāwai chosen
Hon Te Ururoa Flavell
Minita Whanaketanga Māori
Minister for Māori Development
29 May 2016
Media Statement
First member of Te Mātāwai chosen
Kua tohua te mema tuatahi mō Te Mātāwai
He mihi maioha nā te Minita Whanaketanga Māori ki te mema kua tohua tuatahitia ki Te Mātāwai, arā, te rōpū hou e whakatūria ana kia kōkiri i ngā mahi whakarauora reo Māori mō ngā iwi me ngā Māori.
Kua whakaingoatia e te Rōpū Māori Noho Tāone (National Urban Māori Authority) ko Willie Jackson tā rātou mema mō Te Mātāwai. Ko ia te mema tuatahi kia tohua mō Te Mātāwai atu i te tūnga o Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori i whakaaetia i te marama o Paenga Whāwhā.
Huri noa i te motu, kei te kōwhirihia ngā mema e ngā Kahui Iwi me Te Reo Tukutuku (rōpū reo Māori e whaipānga ana). E whakapae ana ka whakatutuki i tērā tikanga ā te pito whakamutunga o Hōngongoi, ā, whakatūria rawatia te rōpū hou nei ā te paunga o tēnei tau.
Tā te Minita Flavell kī, “E whakaatu ana a Te Mātāwai i tētahi huarahi hou mō te mahinga tahitanga i waenganui i te Karauna, i ngā iwi, i ngā Māori mō te whakarauoratanga o tō tātou taonga, o te reo Māori.
He mea whakapūmau anō hoki kei ngā iwi, kei ngā Māori te kaitiakitanga mō te reo, ā, e ngākau māhaki ana au i te huringa o te iwi, o te Māori ki tēnei mahinga tahitanga hou.
E tohu ana te ture hou
nei i te utanga a te Karauna kia mahitahi me ngā iwi, me
ngā Māori ki te tiaki, ki te whakatairanga hoki i te reo
Māori. E hīkaka ana au ki te mahitahi me Te Mātāwai.”
First member of Te Mātāwai chosen
Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has welcomed the selection of the first member of Te Mātāwai, the new organisation being set up to lead te reo Māori revitalisation on behalf of iwi and Māori.
The National Urban Māori Authority has announced that they have selected Willie Jackson to be a member of Te Mātāwai. He is the first member selected for Te Mātāwai since Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Act) was passed in April.
Other members are being selected by iwi and te reo tukutuku (reo Māori stakeholder organisations) at a series of hui throughout the country. That process is likely to be completed by the end of July and the new organisation operating by the end of the year.
“Te Mātāwai demonstrates a new way of the Crown, iwi and Māori working together for the revitalisation of our taonga, te reo Māori,” Mr Flavell said.
“It affirms the role of iwi and Māori as kaitiaki of the language, and I am heartened by the way iwi and Māori are embracing this new way of working.
“The new act expresses the Crown’s commitment to work in partnership with iwi and Māori to actively protect and promote te reo Māori, and I am looking forward to working with Te Mātāwai on this,” Mr Flavell said.
ends