A petition to officially change our country’s name to Aotearoa, racking up over 70,000 signatures, has been presented to Parliament today.

Launched by Te Pāti Māori during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori last year, the petition to change New Zealand’s official name to Aotearoa, and officially restore the te reo Māori names for all towns, cities and place names received 25,000 signatures within 24 hours. The final number of signatures totalled 70,047.

“People are hungry for change. There is a new generation of Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti who want to see themselves reflected in our country’s identity. Who recognise that the status quo is no longer consistent with who we are as a nation” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“We are calling on Parliament to change our official name to Aotearoa, and begin a process, alongside whānau, hapū and iwi, to identify and officially restore the original te reo Māori names for all towns, cities and places right across the country by 2026.

“We launched this petition 49 years to the day after the Māori language petition was delivered to Parliament, which led to Te Reo Māori becoming an official language. We are building on that legacy to create a better Aotearoa for our mokopuna

“This is not about getting rid of anything, or changing who we are. It’s about reinstating the original names of this land and strengthening who we are as a nation” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“New Zealand is a Dutch name and has no connection to this whenua. How many people in Aotearoa can even point to ‘old’ Zealand on a map? Even the Dutch changed their name, from Holland to the Netherlands.

“Tangata whenua are fed up with our language and our tupuna names being bastardised and ignored in the 21st century.

“As the old saying goes, “the namer of names is the father of all things”… well my father isn’t Dutch. We have changed our name before, what is stopping us from doing it again?” said Waititi

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