Two new mobile apps that will enable New Zealanders to better access Te Ao Māori News and Māori Television programmes have been described as a gamechanger by the Māori Language Commission.

E rua ngā taupānga e māmā ake ai te tomokanga ki ngā pitopito kōrero a Te Ao Māori me ngā hōtaka a Whakaata Māori e kīia ana e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, he tuatahitanga ake.

“Now more than ever, New Zealanders need to know what is happening around them and Māori Television is a trusted and unique source of information and inspiration,” said Māori Language Commission chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui.

“I tēnei wā tonu, me mātua mōhio te iwi whānui o Aotearoa ki ngā nekenekehanga o te wa, ā, ko Whakaata Māori te toitoi manawa me te puna o te mōhiohio tika, ahurei anō hoki,” hei tā te Tumu Whakahaere o Te taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Ngahiwi Apanui.

“This is a game changer for all New Zealanders as we are learning to live in a COVID world.”

“He tuatahitanga ake tēnei mō Aotearoa katoa i a tatou e tūhura haere ana i te noho ki te ao KOWHEORI.”

A Colmar Brunton poll in late 2020 found 8 in 10 New Zealanders see te reo as part of their national identity.

I kitea i te rangahau a Colmar Brunton, tokowaru o te tekau o ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa e whakaae ana ko te reo Māori he wāhanga nui o te Tuakiritanga ā-motu.

“More than one million people joined us during Māori Language Week to take part in what is now the biggest Māori language event in history,” said Mr Apanui.

“Nui ake i te kotahi miriona tāngata i hono mai i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori ki te whakanui ngātahi i te kaupapa nui rawa o te reo Māori.,” te kī a Ngahiwi Apanui, Tumu Whakahaere o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

“There are no losers when it comes to learning and speaking te reo Māori.”

“Kāore he hunga kei raro e putu ana, i te ako me te kōrero i te reo Māori”

The commission was created in 1987 after a landmark Waitangi Tribunal claim called for the Māori language to be protected and made an official language. Throughout much of the 20th century te reo was not allowed in public places including schools.

I hua mai Te Taura Whiri i te tau 1987, whai muri i tētahi kerēme ahurei i whakatakotoria ki mua i te aroaro o te Taraipiunara o Waitangi kia whakamarumarutia, kia whakaturehia anō hoki te reo Māori hei reo whai mana puta noa i Aotearoa. I te nuinga o te rautau rua tekau, kāore i whakaaetia te whakamahinga o te reo ki ngā wāhi tūmatanui, tae atu rā ki ngā kura.

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