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New figures show that one in three New Zealanders support changing the country’s name to Aotearoa.
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The Maori Party is pushing the policy in the belief that the rest of the country will accept the idea. Source: 1 NEWS
The Maori Party is pushing the policy in the belief that the rest of the country will accept the idea.
For Maori Party leader John Tamihere, an official name change to Aotearoa is now just a waiting game.
“Time will tell. I have indicated to you that our nationality is evolving and it is only a matter of time.”
New figures from a 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll show that one in three eligible voters would support the change, but there are still 61 percent of Kiwis who do not, while the rest do not know.
The majority of those against a name change are older voters and supporters of the National Party and ACT.
The measure also has more opposition in the south of the country, with 71 percent of Cantabrians against being known as Aotearoa.
ACT has rated the potential change as the lowest possible priority for New Zealand, given the current economic climate.
“I wouldn’t mind if we called it ‘Timbuktu.’ If we can get over debt, be smarter about public health and rebuild a future that we can all be proud of, “said ACT Party Leader David Seymour.
Yet both Greens supporters and party leaders are largely at the other end of the scale, with 60 percent agreeing with the proposal.
However, the leaders behind our two largest parties remain united in their stance on the issue.
National Party leader Judith Collins says the current situation, where both names can be interchangeable, is “perfectly fine” without needing to change it entirely.
“I have made it very clear, I am very happy with the name of New Zealand. I think people are already using both terms, New Zealand and Aotearoa.
I think both are perfectly fine and I don’t see any reason to rename him anytime soon. People just use whatever names they want. “
While Labor’s Jacinda Ardern says a change to Aotearoa can happen as a “natural evolution,” she’s in no rush to push for it.
“I think with that the time may come to consider it. However, I don’t think it is the most immediate and urgent for us. “
The broad agreement from political figures seems to indicate that it may be some time before the debate begins over whether our name as we know it should be changed.
