New Zealand coalition votes to make English an official language as critics slam ‘cynical’ bill | New Zealand politics

A bill recognizing English as New Zealand’s official language has cleared its first hurdle in parliament as it faces ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who say it is “unnecessary” and “cynical”.

The bill aims to give English, spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori and New Zealand sign language. The bill states that the status and use of existing official languages ​​will not be affected.

Its introduction forms part of a coalition agreement between the tiny populist New Zealand First Party and the centre-right National Party.

On 3 March, the coalition, which included the small Act party, voted in favor of the bill at first reading, allowing it to advance to the select committee stage for public consultation and further reading in parliament. The timing is unclear, but the bill has broad support within the government and is likely to become law.

During the debate, New Zealand First’s leader and foreign minister, Winston Peters, said English had never been officially recognized and the bill would “correct this anomaly”.

He argued that the use of the Maori language in public services was causing confusion.

“This bill will not completely solve the oppression of this virtue-signaling narrative,” Peters said. “But in a country where the vast majority of New Zealanders must communicate in English and use English as the primary and official language, understanding English is the first step in ensuring that logic and common sense prevail.”

Peters, who is Maori, has long been opposed positive initiatives Intended to advance Māori and criticized its use Maori names for government offices. A row broke out in parliament in 2025 after Peters questioned why MPs were referring to New Zealand by its Māori name, Aotearoa, despite it being widely used including in currency and passports.

The National Party said the legislation was not a priority but would support it as part of a coalition agreement, and MPs from National and Act spoke in favor of the legislation.

Act’s Simon Court said it didn’t have to be a “culture war issue”, while National’s Rima Nakhle said formalizing English was “not the end of the world”.

But the proposal garnered little support outside the coalition.

Ministry of Justice officials advised the government that lawmakers should not pass the bill because “there is no evidence to support concerns about the use or status of English as an official language.”

Maori and New Zealand sign language become official to protect status of linguistic minorities, justice officials say, The same recognition of English “will not change its status as the default language”.

Officials have noted that few English-speaking countries make English an official language, and when they do, this often coincides with the protection of another language; in Canada, for example, there were laws allowing both French and English to be used in official contexts.

The bill sparked reaction from opposition parties and language experts.

“It’s fear-mongering, it’s cynical and frankly we could do without it in this country,” Labor MP Kieran McAnulty said during the first reading.

Green Party co-chair Chlöe Swarbrick stated that English was “not under threat”. Swarbrick said English had been “literally hammered” into people, citing the 1867 Native Schools Act which resulted in children being punished for speaking Māori.

“This is a bill that is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist,” he said. “To put it plainly, to every member of this government this bill is nonsense and you know it.”

Sharon Harvey, an associate professor specializing in educational linguistics at Auckland University of Technology, told the Guardian the bill was “vexatious” and “unnecessary”.

Harvey said proponents of the bill were playing to a segment of society that was uncomfortable with the visibility of the Maori language and believed the “bogus” argument that it diminished the importance of English.

Pointing to the government’s policies that reduce the visibility of M, Harvey said, “This government has already proven to be quite strong in advocating English first or English only in some areas.”A.removal of ori and M in public servicesA.Original words from some books for schoolchildren.

“I wonder if we have that kind of legislation, which would give some governments more incentives to reduce the importance of other languages ​​in this country.”