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# Opposition to ‘Aotearoa’ Name Change
- URL: https://goodoil.news/opposition-to-aotearoa-name-change/
- Published: 2021-09-15T22:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-09-15T05:06:08.000Z
- Author: Reproduced with permission
- Tags: NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:31

**Don Brash**  
[bassettbrashandhide.com](https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/opposition-to-aotearoa-name-change?ref=goodoil.news)

*Don Brash was Reserve Bank Governor from 1988 to 2002, and National Party Leader from 2003 to 2006*

The Maori Party has launched a petition [calling](https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/nz%5Fto%5Faotearoa?ref=goodoil.news) on Parliament to change the country’s official name to Aotearoa and “officially restore the Te Reo Maori names for all towns, cities and place names”. According to the petition:

> *“It’s well past time that Te Reo Maori was restored to its rightful place as the first and official language of this country. We are a Polynesian country – we are Aotearoa.”*

A Curia Research [poll ](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/hobsonspledge/pages/2623/attachments/original/1631666705/Country%5FName%5FPoll%5FResults%5FSeptember%5F2021.pdf?1631666705&ref=goodoil.news)released today however finds 49 percent of New Zealanders oppose changing the name of the country to Aotearoa and only 28 percent support a change. Of those who have an opinion, 64 percent oppose changing the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/media/7b14b8_9fa0029a343243709d4c99b9e637eafa~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_683,h_341,al_c,lg_1,q_95/7b14b8_9fa0029a343243709d4c99b9e637eafa~mv2.webp)

Something as fundamentally important as the very name of the country *must* eventually be the subject of a referendum.

No matter how many signatures the Maori Party get on their petition, it would disenfranchise New Zealanders if such a petition led to a change of the country’s name.

**Please share this article so that others can discover *The BFD***.