New Conservative says there is no demand from the New Zealand public for a renaming of our country and place names. Recent polling from Hobson’s Pledge shows that 64% of New Zealanders oppose such a change.

New Conservative Chairman, Kevin Stitt, says that separatist and socialist politicians, supported by the mass media, are seemingly determined to rebrand our country despite it having very strong, positive recognition in the world.

“This is an absurd campaign. New Zealand was the first official name ever given to our nation and it was used by our very first government,” he said. “It’s rather amusing that the Maori Party prefers the name Aotearoa, a label believed to be first used in reference to our country by Pakeha colonists in the 1880s.

“The various tribal groups scattered around didn’t actually have a united name for themselves, let alone one for all of the separate islands before 1840. In the writing of the Treaty of Waitangi, Nu Tirani was used as the Maori translation of New Zealand.”

The Maori Party also wants all town and city names to be known only by Te Reo names, despite the mix of Maori and English names working well to date for various communities. Many of these names also recognise the major contribution made by settlers in building our first world nation.

Since 1840, New Zealand has earned an international reputation for being at the forefront of enlightenment and democracy. This was demonstrated firstly by the equal rights emphasis of the Treaty of Waitangi, and then by being the first nation in the world to provide equal voting rights to all adults, no matter their ethnicity or gender.

“Unfortunately, our standing as a democratic nation has become less secure with many of our democratic rights being attacked and undermined in recent times,” stated Mr Stitt. “Consequently the name changing campaign is concerning. Other countries which have gone down this route do not provide great case studies. They tend to be associated with human rights abuses and economic collapse.”

"While we welcome the resurgence of Te Reo, let's listen to the people and keep New Zealand New Zealand," concludes Mr Stitt.

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