Tēnā koutou, Waka Kotahi mā

The new government has announced that most government entities with Māori names are to ditch them.

The only exceptions are departments that focus on delivering services to Māori.

Part of the rationale is that the use of te reo distracts the likes of Waka Kotahi, New Zealand Transport Agency, from its core business.

The comment was also made about the relevance of canoes to our roading network. More about this below.

There are a few issues in play here.

The rightful place of te reo in Aotearoa

Te reo Māori has been to hell and back but is slowly assuming its rightful place in Aotearoa. The more we see it, hear it, and speak it, the better we all become. We hesitate to use the word, but te reo is on the way to becoming ‘normalised’.

But how far do the government and others want to go with this? Does Aorangi Mt Cook and Auckland War Memorial War Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira, receive the same treatment?

At what cost?

Now, returning to Waka Kotahi, Transport New Zealand. Will the organisation be instructed to stop site blessings conducted by mana whenua before construction commences on locations of cultural significance?

This a natural extension of the argument that Māori names be expunged. It takes the discussion about tikanga Māori to a whole new level.

Naturally, there will be a cost in removing Māori names. Ben Wooliscroft, Professor of Macromarketing at AUT, was quoted in Stuff as saying that he expected the total cost to be “millions, millions and millions of dollars.” We think less of the macro and more of the micro.

We’ve had some experience branding government departments. These include Work and Income, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Te Taurapa Tūhono and New Zealand Army Ngāti Tumatauenga.

We hear you say, but these were back in the day. This is our reply.

Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua. Look back and reflect so you can move forward. We know the difference between millions and thousands.

This isn’t a rebranding exercise—nothing like it. What is being proposed is a name change. The cost implications would be minimal. It is more likely to be thousands of dollars.

Travelling together as one

So, has the waka sailed? Sorry, couldn’t help that.

But speaking of waka. Most of us associate waka with a canoe. Mr Peters certainly does. But it also means vehicle or conveyance.

Like many words, when used with another word, its meaning changes. So Waka Kotahi means ‘travelling together as one’. Not a bad sentiment when you think about it.

And just out of interest, wakapana is a bulldozer.