'Parliament is as natural a context to promote te reo Maori as the marae'

Te Ururoa Flavell, Member of Parliament for Waiariki; Education spokesperson for the Maori Party

Monday 23 July 2007

“My thoughts are with all our early Maori Language Pioneers today” said Te Ururoa Flavell in marking Te Wiki o te Reo Maori.

“Thirty five years ago, on 14 September 1972, we recall a petition which bore witness to the mandate of some 40,000 signatures to call for Maori language being offered in schools.

“That day was declared Te Ra o te Reo Maori, and the following year our first Te Wiki o te Reo Maori was instigated to ensure te reo rangatira would survive and thrive” said Mr Flavell.

“I think back too, to a proud history of when 90% of Maori school children were native speakers of Maori (1913)” said Flavell.

“What was to follow, of course, was not befitting of such pride. The 1961 Hunn Report described Maori as a ‘relic language’ and research published by Richard Benton in 1979 showed that the ‘death’ of Maori language was imminent with less than 5% of Maori children able to korero i roto i te reo Maori”.

“Against this history, the latest survey results showing that 52% of Maori can now speak te reo Maori are a source of great joy” said Flavell. “This is a huge achievement that every one of our language experts and advocates can celebrate”.

“It is particularly exciting to see the increase in proficiency in te reo Maori coming through from our rangatahi” said Te Ururoa Flavell.

“Today’s results reflect the hard work and perseverance of the movements of the people - Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa, Whare Wananga, Te Ataarangi and others” said Mr Flavell.

“Tangata whenua have been incredibly resourceful and persistent in negotiating with the Crown, to ensure te reo Maori continues as a living language of Aotearoa” said Flavell.

“The talents of Maori broadcasting – iwi radio, Maori television; and the enthusiasm of Maori artists in every industry have created the optimum environment to know ‘it’s cool to korero’”.

“The Maori language revitalisation we are witnessing today is a result of those efforts” said Flavell. “Just over ten years ago, there were not even any language questions in the Census - and so we pay tribute too, to the efforts of officials, academics and scholars who have steadily documented the perilous state of the Maori language”.

“The language use studies, along with the toil of so many Maori language advocates, paved the way for the 1986 claim to the Waitangi Tribunal to have Maori recognized as ataonga and therefore guaranteed Crown protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, from which came the Maori Language Commission, the Maori Language Act, the Government’s Maori Language survey, and of course, Maori Television”.

“We still have a way to go” said Flavell. “The provision of good teachers for Maori medium programmes is a major issue for the Maori Party; as is the urgency of ensuring access to learn and use te reo Maori”.

“Languages are learned most effectively through use in a wide variety of contexts” said Flavell. “If Aotearoa is truly to preserve and promote te reo Māori language as a living language, it must be seen as an ordinary means of communication in every situation of daily life”.

“The Maori Party is utterly committed to the substantial revival of the language” said Flavell. “We have made a commitment as a caucus to endeavour to deliver the majority of our contributions in speeches, oral questions and general parliamentary business this week in te reo Maori”.

“We are so proud that the initiative we fought for from day one, simultaneous interpretation in Parliament, was recognised in Budget 2007”.

“Our challenge has been that Parliament is as natural a context to be promoting te reo Maori as the marae, the supermarket or the family home” said Flavell.

“As we look to the future, we know that the successful regeneration of te reo Maori is in creating opportunities for te reo to be our everyday language in as many domains as are humanly possible” ended Te Ururoa Flavell.

Ends

© Scoop Media