Maori place names added to road signs in Havelock North.
photo: Lauren Krim / RNZ
The co-leader of the Māori Party says the National Party needs to go back to school if it thinks including te reo Māori on road signs is confusing.
During a transport meeting yesterday in the Bay of Plenty, a spokesman for National Simeon Brown said putting the language on road signs would make them “more confusing” and they “should all be in English”..
On Monday, Waka Kotahi said its He Tohu Huarahi Māori program for bilingual road signs was going out to public consultation.
If successful, the program will include te reo Māori in motorway and expressway signs, destination signs, public and active transport signs, pedestrian and cycle signs, and general advisory and warning signs.
Te Pāti Māori co-host Debbie Ngareva-Packer said using the language on road signs would help those in the process of learning te reo.
“It’s an environment where non-Maori are learning reo more than we’ve ever had in Aotearoa’s history. It is important that we embrace our nation, including the indigenous people and our language.”
“We’ve spent a long time making sure we don’t lose our language, so having our culture on our roads is not just to help those who are fluent in Maori, but to help those in our education system who are learning reo , could see it reflected around our environment.”
Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngareva-Packer.
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She said Brown should go back to school if he thinks the reo Maori on road signs is confusing.
“It is never difficult to understand the official languages of Aotearoa. For example, if you have to make an effort to understand that language or sign language.
“They are all an important part of our nation and if he [Simeon Brown] need to go back to school or take some time in parliament to understand our language, so be it.”
Maori road signs, Maori names have existed in this country for a very long time, Ngareva-Packer said.
“I’m not really sure why he is [Simeon Brown] so confused right now.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader said Brown’s comments were separatist.
“I think that’s a really ignorant way to do politics.”
“Twenty percent of our population is Maori. If we see a large amount [political] party is effectively trying to ignore 20 per cent of that population, so can we expect them to do that to the rest of our multiculturalism, diversity and languages that we see emerging in Aotearoa?”
She said most New Zealanders would welcome multilingual road signs.
“I think we are a mature and developed country and in general most of us really enjoy not only our native language but other languages as well.
“[Not having bilingual signs] It’s an attempt to turn us back that I don’t think many will tolerate.”
“They need to lay pits” – National
National Transport Service spokesman Simeon Brown said Waka Kotahi should be filling potholes instead of considering including te reo Māori on road signs across the country.
“NZTA needs to focus first and foremost on fixing the potholes on our roads and they shouldn’t be distracted by changing signs across our country.”
“Most New Zealanders want our roads repaired, that’s their number one priority.”
Brown said the National Party was open to bilingual information, but only for place name signs.
“When it comes to critical safety information, signs need to be clear and understandable to the people on our road, most of whom speak English.”
“It’s important to get the right balance between place names, which we’re very open to bilingual signage, and safety-critical signs, where it’s really important that people understand what the sign is saying,” he said.