New Zealand's Māori Party has launched a petition to change the official name of the country to Aotearoa, its name in the te reo Māori language.
The campaign also calls on the House of Representatives to restore the Māori names for all towns, cities and place names, according to a statement announcing the petition on Tuesday.
"It's well past time that Te Reo Māori was restored to its rightful place as the first and official language of this country. We are a Polynesian country -- we are Aotearoa," reads the statement, which calls for the renaming process to be completed by 2026. "Tangata whenua are sick to death of our ancestral names being mangled, bastardised, and ignored. It's the 21st Century, this must change," it reads. Tangata whenua means"people of the land," but is used to refer to the Māori people in general."In only 40 years, the Crown managed to successfully strip us of our language and we are still feeling the impacts of this today," said the party.
"That means it needs to be accessible in the most obvious of places; on our televisions, on our radio stations, on road signs, maps and official advertising, and in our education system."that the petition had received 12,000 signatures."This is MASSIVE," reads the tweet.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has not commented publicly on the petition, but it has already sparked opposition from David Seymour, leader of the right-wing ACT party.Seymour.
In September 2020, Ardern said it was a"positive thing" that Aotearoa is increasingly used interchangeably with New Zealand.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tory Burch Shuts Down Mercer Street for a Fashion Block PartyThe designer paid homage to female fashion trailblazer Claire McCardell with a lively mix of picnic plaid, technical knit jersey and cotton poplin pieces.
Read more »
Tory Burch Cordially Invites You to Her Spring 2022 Block PartyWelcome to the neighborhood, Tory!
Read more »
Dems bet their political chips on party-line immigration reformDemocrats’ best and likely last chance this Congress to deliver immigration reform now rests on an arcane argument: that giving undocumented immigrants legal residency would affect the federal budget
Read more »