I read David Farrar’s article on the above subject with interest. I am one of those people who is probably classed as ‘resistant’ to embracing the use of te reo, and its accelerated prominence in our lives, but the article gave me an opportunity to examine my reasons why.
Farrar says that he thinks it is because people fear it will become a zero sum game – that the adoption of te reo and Maori culture will result in the diminishing of European culture. Yes, that could be part of the reason. When statues of people who helped to shape our country are torn down, then it is true that some of the population may feel under siege. As the majority of New Zealanders are of European descent, that is a large group that might feel as if their own culture is being taken away.
But, having given the subject some thought, I realise that there is much more to it than that. David speaks proudly of his sons hearing Maori legends and stories at preschool, and singing songs in te reo. I have no problem with that. But my own son, who is in his mid-thirties, may well have heard Maori legends at kindergarten and at primary school, but never at any time do I recall him singing songs in te reo. This indicates to me at least that the practice of teaching children songs in te reo is a relatively recent one – let’s say in the last decade or so.
What this indicates is that the vast majority of New Zealanders have little or no knowledge of te reo at all. Some adults are actively trying to learn it, but the numbers are still small. It means that every time Simon Dallow or Scotty Morrison come out with a phrase or sentence in Maori, it will be completely lost on the majority of viewers. I find myself in that position because, like many other New Zealanders, I did not grow up here.
During the TV1 America’s Cup coverage, Scotty Morrison often spoke long sentences in Maori. He is a pleasant, fun type of person, but I couldn’t understand maybe half of what he was saying. That doesn’t make me feel under siege exactly, but it does tend to make you switch off… both literally and figuratively.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to try to learn te reo. The language is being pushed relentlessly at the moment by broadcasters, but the fundamental reason why I don’t want to learn it is because I don’t need to. I have yet to meet a Maori person who doesn’t speak good English, so why do I need to learn te reo?
During my childhood, we used to holiday in North Wales. It is a beautiful place, full of castles and beaches. The Welsh people worked hard to keep their own language and culture, and they have succeeded. But therein lies the difference. The Welsh people themselves have preserved their own language and culture. Here, it is not the Maori themselves pushing this particular barrel up a hill. It is an army of liberal broadcasters who have decided we all have to speak te reo and they have decided that their presenters will pepper their broadcasts with Maori phrases and greetings which most of us don’t understand.
But this is no way to try to learn a language. A child learning songs in te reo is one thing, but Maori phrases thrown around liberally during news bulletins is nothing more than tokenism. It sounds good, it might feel good, but it achieves precisely nothing. There is no more Maori spoken in general conversation nowadays than there was 10 years ago. Well, that is my experience, but maybe others will disagree. I certainly have never yet been greeted with Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s famous – “Kia Ora Kau Tau Kau Toa”, with which he opened every COVID broadcast and then promptly went on to tell us all the important stuff in English. Tokenism indeed.
The main reason I am disdainful of this practice is because it is dangerous. I can regale you with countless stories of public servants struggling because a knowledge of te reo is almost mandatory to be able to do one’s job in some sectors. During Maori Language Week last year, one senior executive assistant found that all internal memos, emails, requests and instructions were automatically translated into te reo by their computer system. Nothing was in English. This caused havoc in the workplace. Someone who organises meetings, catering, books travel and accommodation for executives found it impossible to get any work done. When she almost booked an out-of-town meeting in Invercargill on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday for a senior executive, she asked for the te reo facility to be switched off. Within a couple of hours, virtually all of the staff in this government department (approximately 250 people) had asked for English to be restored.
As a taxpayer, I am disgusted at the sheer waste of public money trying to force people to work in a language that they do not know. This was nothing more than a stupid idea from people who have never worked in the private sector and who think that money simply grows on trees.
The aforementioned danger was even more apparent a couple of weeks ago when the country was on tsunami alert. Living not far from the coast, and living on relatively low ground, we listened out for civil defence advice on whether we should leave home. We were not in a high risk area, but did not want to take any chances. We made the mistake of turning on RNZ to listen for advice. The broadcast discussing the tsunami risk was conducted with sentences partly in Maori, partly in English, but we were not sure whether or not everything was being spoken in both languages. In other words, we could not be sure that we were getting the complete picture. This caused considerable concern on our part, and we had to hunt for a radio station that could warn us of risks in a language that we could understand.
When it comes to risk to life or property, this is completely inappropriate. What about people for whom English is not their first language? How do they find advice that they can rely on to get them to safety when half of the broadcast is in Maori? They can’t, and the consequences could be catastrophic; something that all of these well-meaning broadcasters never seem to have considered.
So I think it is great that children are learning a bit of te reo at school, but at the moment, most New Zealanders speak little or no te reo. I would like to see more Maori-only channels so that those who want to learn the language have the tools to help them do that. All other channels should be in English only, so we all have the best of both worlds.
Ramming Maori phrases down people’s throats is only going to cause resentment. We do watch the Maori channel sometimes, and although we cannot watch any of the programmes where Maori only is spoken, it is the only channel I know which offers subtitles and upcoming programme information in both Maori and English.
If the management of the Maori channel can recognise that many New Zealanders cannot speak much Maori and try to accommodate them, it is a real shame that TVNZ and RNZ cannot offer the public the same courtesy. But there you have it. The TVNZ and RNZ management are much more into forcing the public into a direction where they do not want to go than trying to please their audience.
I suspect their viewing and listening numbers will diminish accordingly until David Farrar’s children have grown up and a larger portion of the public speaks and understands te reo. But TVNZ and RNZ are funded by the government, so it doesn’t matter. Channels that have to make a profit to survive may view the whole matter differently.
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