Penny
Smith
Reporter
The Justice Select Committee has
recommended a bill to make English an official language be
passed without any changes, despite strong opposition to the
move.
The
bill would see English recognised as an official
language alongside Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign
Language.
Unlike Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign
Language the English language currently has de facto
official language status, meaning it’s widely used and
accepted as an official language but its status is not set
in legislation.
The proposed
legislation is part of the coalition agreement between
National and New Zealand First.
The committee received
written submissions from 1601 people and groups, and heard
from 22 submitters in oral hearings about the
bill.
Supporters said the bill posed little harm,
would remove confusion and allay concerns that English is
being treated differently from other official
languages.
Almost two-thirds of submitters opposed the
bill, on the grounds it was a waste of time, undermined Te
Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language and risked stoking
division.
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Opposition parties were highly critical of
the move.
The Labour Party said it risked complicating
a straightforward situation because English is already an
official language through custom and usage in New
Zealand.
“Legislation for Te Reo Māori and NZ Sign
Language was and is necessary to recognise both of these
important and significant languages that are, despite
revitalisation and education efforts, still only used by a
minority of the population. English does not need the same
support to ensure its survival,” it said.
“This bill,
in practice, changes nothing. It is a waste of time, and
offensive to those who fought hard to make Te Reo Māori an
official language in 1987 and NZ Sign Language an official
language in 2006.”
The Green Party said that, in
general, an official language status is provided to protect
languages under threat in order to put a spotlight on the
need to protect and resource their survival and
revival.
“Submitters have also raised concerns that by
legislating English as a de jure language it would have
unintended consequences, such as the risk to social cohesion
and increased likelihood of racism in Aotearoa New Zealand,
as has been seen in the United States,” it
said.
“Instead of using Parliament time to address the
more urgent needs of our communities in the midst of a cost
of living crisis and fuel crisis, this bill is a frivolous
and petty issue for this Government to take
forward.”
‘Committee didn’t agree with
that’
The chair of the Justice Select Committee
Andrew Bayly has rejected suggestions the bill would
undermine Te Reo Māori or New Zealand Sign
Language.
“The committee didn’t agree with
that.
“Those other official languages already have
bespoke legislation and there was no way that this was an
attempt to undermine them. It was just recognising that
English is commonly used in New Zealand, it’s a common
language of the government and that’s why the commitee
agreed to leave the bill as it was
introduced.”
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