Political dimensions The official status of Māori, and especially its use in official names and titles, is a political issue in New Zealand. In 2022 a 70,000 strong petition from Te Pāti Māori went to Parliament calling for New Zealand to be officially renamed Aotearoa, and was accepted for debate by the Māori Affairs select committee. During New Zealand First's successful campaign to return to Parliament in 2023, party leader Winston Peters ridiculed the proposal as "ideological mumbo jumbo" and criticised the use of the name in government reports. Peters promised his party would remove Māori names from government departments, saying "Te Whatu Ora, excuse me, I don't want to speak the Māori language when I go to hospital." As part of its coalition agreement with New Zealand First, the National-led government agreed to ensure all public service departments had their primary name in English except for those specifically related to Māori.
political dimensions the official status of māori and especially its use in official names and titles is a political issue in new zealand in 2022 a 70000 strong petition from te pāti māori went to parliament calling for new zealand to be officially renamed aotearoa and was accepted for debate by the māori affairs select committee during new zealand first's successful campaign to return to parliament in 2023 party leader winston peters ridiculed the proposal as "ideological mumbo jumbo" and criticised the use of the name in government reports peters promised his party would remove māori names from government departments saying "te whatu ora excuse me i don't want to speak the māori language when i go to hospital" as part of its coalition agreement with new zealand first the national-led government agreed to ensure all public service departments had their primary name in english except for those specifically related to māori