The Speaker of New Zealand’s Parliament has declared he will not entertain further objections to the use of “Aotearoa”, the Māori name for the country, within parliamentary proceedings.
Speaker Gerry Brownlee made the ruling after a lawmaker attempted to ban the term.
Mr Brownlee said: “Aotearoa is regularly used as a name of New Zealand. It appears on our passports and it appears on our currency.”
The dispute arose in February when Winston Peters, the deputy prime minister, foreign minister, and leader of the populist New Zealand First party, objected to Ricardo Menéndez March of the Green Party using “Aotearoa” during a question to a government minister.
“Aotearoa”, meaning “land of the long white cloud” in te reo Māori (the Māori language), has become increasingly prominent in New Zealand. The conflict highlights the tensions that have arisen amid the growing enthusiasm for the indigenous language, and reflects the ongoing “culture war”-style friction between the country’s political parties.
“Why is someone who applied to come to this country in 2006 allowed to ask a question of this parliament that changes this country’s name without the referendum and sanction of the New Zealand people?” Mr Peters asked Mr Brownlee.
Mr Menéndez March, who was born in Mexico, is a New Zealand citizen, which is a requirement for all lawmakers.
Mr Peters asked Mr Brownlee to ban the use of the term “Aotearoa” in Parliament. On Tuesday, Mr Brownlee said lawmakers were already permitted to address Parliament in any of New Zealand’s three official languages — English, te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.
“That really is the end of the matter,” he said.
Mr Brownlee had earlier asked Mr Menéndez March to consider using the phrase “Aotearoa New Zealand” to refer to the country, “to assist anyone who might not understand the term”, but said he would not require it.
“If other members do not like certain words, they don’t have to use them,” Mr Brownlee said.
“But it’s not a matter of order and I don’t expect to have further points of order raised about it.”
Mr Peters told reporters that Mr Brownlee was “wrong” and that he would not answer questions in which New Zealand was referred to as Aotearoa. Mr Menéndez March did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other lawmakers refer to New Zealand by its Māori name. But this is not the first time that Mr Peters and his party have focussed on Mr Menéndez March.
In January, the Green Party complained to the Prime Minister and Mr Brownlee after Mr Peters’ deputy, Shane Jones, heckled him during a Parliamentary debate with a remark about Mexicans.
Meanwhile, Mr Peters told two other Green lawmakers who immigrated to New Zealand that they should “show some gratitude” to the country.
Mr Menéndez March denounced the comments as “outwardly racist and xenophobic”.
Mr Peters, New Zealand’s longest-serving current lawmaker, has sparked controversy with his populist policies and remarks regarding Asian immigration.
He is Māori himself, but has voiced opposition to initiatives designed to promote Māori language and culture.
Former lawmaker Peter Dunne suggested in February that Mr Peters’s stance was more about reinforcing his populist image than genuine concern for the language itself.
After decades of advocacy by Māori leaders, the Māori language is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Once discouraged after British colonisation, it had been predicted to disappear entirely by the 21st century.
Today, words like “Aotearoa” are integrated into daily conversation, even among non-Māori speakers. Some advocate for officially changing the country’s name, which was originally given by a Dutch cartographer.
Critics argue that Māori did not have a collective name for all of New Zealand before colonisation, with “Aotearoa” initially referring only to the North Island.
The official name of the country can only be changed by law.
