Hon Parekura Horomia
Minister of Māori Affairs
Hon Dover Samuels
Associate Tourism Minister

14 September 2007 Media Release

Ministers celebrate Māori language hui and awards

Recommendations from the fourth Hui Taumata mō Te Reo will help inform next year’s review of the government’s Māori Language Strategy, Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said.

The three day hui finishes in Wellington tonight with the annual Māori Language Awards ceremony. The events are co-ordinated by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission).

The hui was opened by Mr Horomia and the Government represented at the awards by Associate Tourism Minister Dover Samuels.

Mr Samuels said in the 20 years since the enactment of the Māori Language Act and the establishment of Te Taura Whiri substantial progress had been made in revitalising Māori language.

“Since 1987 Māori and the Government have established the infrastructure for Māori language education, broadcasting and community development There is now a strong focus on language planning, and we have re-established the importance of Māori language within our whānau,” Mr Samuels said.

Mr Horomia said “the results of the recently released Māori Language Survey 2006 reveal our efforts are bearing fruit. It shows an increase in Māori language proficiency, with particular growth amongst our young people.”

“The statistics only tell part of the story however. Our language enjoyed an enhanced profile on the national stage during Māori Language Week, including significant broadcast and print media coverage,” he said.

Tourism was this year’s Māori Language Week theme.

“Te reo is increasingly being recognised as a cornerstone of our unique national identity, responsible for attracting growing numbers of overseas visitors,” Mr Samuels said.

“While we have much to celebrate, there is more work required to achieve the underlying goal of the Māori Language Act – to re-establish Māori as a living language and a normal means of communication,” Mr Horomia said.

”I have directed Te Taura Whiri and Te Puni Kokiri to review and update the now five year-old Māori Language Strategy and I look forward reviewing the findings and recommendations from the experts gathered at this hui, as the work will help shape the future of our language.”

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Parekura Horomia
Minita mō ngā Take Māori
Dover Samuels
Minita Tuarua mō ngā Take Tāpoi

14 Mahuru 2007 Pānui Pāho

E whakanui ana ngā Minita i te hui me ngā tohu reo Māori

Mā ngā tūtohinga ka puta mai i te Hui Taumata tuawhā mō te Reo, e āwhina ā-pārongo i te aromatawai i te Rautaki Reo Māori a te Kāwanatanga, hei te tau e heke mai nei, e kī ana te Minita Take Māori a Parekura Horomia.

Hei te pō nei, te rā tuatoru, ka hiki te hui kei Te Whanganui-ā-Tara, i te whakawhiwhinga i ngā Tohu Reo Māori ā-tau. Ko Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori te kaiwhakahaere o ēnei hui.

Nā Horomia i whakapuaki, ko te Minita Tuarua mō ngā Take Tāpoi, ko Dover Samuela te māngai a te Kāwanatanga i te hui tuku tohu.

Ki tā Samuels, i roto i ngā tau 20, mai i te whakaturetanga i te reo Māori, me te whakatūtanga i Te Taura Whiri, he kaha rawa atu te ahunga whakamua o ngā mahinga whakaora i te reo Māori.

Mai i te tau 1987, kua mahi tahi a ngai Māori me te Kāwanatanga ki te whakatakoto pūtake tōtika mō te reo Māori i roto i te rāngai mātauranga, i ngā mahi pāho, i ngā hapori anō hoki. Kei te aro nui tātou ki ngā mahi whakamaherehere, ā, kua whakahoki anō i te wāhi nui ki te reo ki roto i o tātou whānau.

“Kua puta mai i ngā huanga o te Rangahau o te Reo Māori 2006 inātata nei, kei te whaihua pai a tāou mahingā. E whakaatu ana i te piki o te raukaha reo Māori, me te tipu kaha o te reo i waenga i a tātou taiohi,” e kī ana a Horomia.

Heoi, he wāhanga noaiho tēnei o ngā kōrero kua puta mai i ngā tātari. I te wā o te Wiki o te reo Māori, i whakanui te kotaha o tā tātou reo ki runga i ngā atamira ā-motu, tae atu ki ngā kawenga pāho irirangi me ngā pāho ā-tuhi.

Ko ngā tikanga tāpoi te kaupapa whānui mō te Wiki o te Reo Māori i tēnei tau.

“Ko te reo kei te whakamōhiotia hei whakaaturanga o tā tātou tuākiri ā-motu ahurei, ā, koia nei kei whakahiahia i ngā manuhiri o tāwahi, e maha haere ake nei,” i kī a Samuels.

“Ahakoa te nui o ngā whakaotinga hei whakanui, he nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua ki te whakatutuki i te tūāpapa whāinga o te Ture Reo Māori – te whakaora mai i te reo Māori hei reo ora, hei reo kawenga kōreo ia rā, ia rā.

“Kua whakahau e au Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me Te Puni Kōkiri ki te whakahou i te Rautaki Reo Māori, kua rima tau tōna pakeke ināianei. Me taku titiro whakamua kia kite i ngā kitenga me ngā tūtohinga o te Hui Taumata Reo Māori, mā ngā mahi nei e tohu te huarahi whakamua mō tō tātou reo.

ENDS

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