The Maori Party has launched a petition calling 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 Māori 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 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
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.
What a load of codswallop! If a referendum found the majority of people wanted a name change to Aotearoa, all the commentators here would be complaining that it wasn’t fair, wouldn’t accept the results and be seeking another referendum to change it back.
There is already a petition that the House of Representatives hold a referendum on changing the legal name of New Zealand to Aotearoa, New Zealand Aotearoa or Aotearoa New Zealand.
See here for details:
(https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/petitions/document/PET_113547/petition-of-liz-simons-referendum-on-changing-new-zealands)
Interesting.
Historical facts.
The spelling from the following is from plate 23, of Captain Cooks, Artists in the Pacific 1769-1779.
Also being as is the Cartography of the period.
A spelling question.
Q, Where did cook get the following from!
AEHEINOMOUWE (TE IKA A MAUI) and TOVYPOENAMMU, (TE WAI POUNAMU)
Interesting is the spelling of New Zealand, being' "NEWZELAND".
The modern social media trend is that anything of white or British, is not popular history.
Maori can alter the face of history through politically enabled Corrupt distortions of history.
As I look at portraits of the following.
Tamiti Waka Nene, Chief of the Ngati Hoa, Hokianga.
Anehana-Ngati Whatua.
We Te Manewha, Chief of Ngati Raukawa, Otaki.
Te Hira te Kawau,…
As I said Lee Altwater or Muldoon would have destroyed Labour on this issue. A simple speakers roll down chart and map. Rob Muldoon pointing. ' This country Is New Zealand. This town is Whangarei. This city is Wanganui, not Whananui. And as for the dithering supposed leader of the National Party. Judith Collins who looks like a burnt out headmistress heavily on the valium or is it crystals for the coronation street constituency. I means the sort of crystals that hyptonise the tarrot reading crowd. Judith Collins couldn;t decided either way. Apparently she didn't care, but some of the voters did. Collins seems to be just the '''4th waikato girl'' following Clark, Wilson and Arden who seem to …
Just heard on the TVNZ new this evening. that "Aotearoa" was the name given to NEW ZEALAND by a chief on one of the first Polynesian canoes to arrive here.
Where the Hell did that come from? Named by some man called Smith in late 1800's
Certainly not used in any of the "versions" of the Treaty.
IT WAS NEVER A MAORI NAME!
In fact Maori never had a name for the 'whole of the group' of Islands that make up New Zealand. They rarely named places and usually it was a reference to the tribe or sub-tribe that lived in that area.
Can you imagine the damage to our overseas trade: Wine, Meat, Fruit, high value products that w…