"Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s suggestion that te reo Māori should be made compulsory in schools is divisive, exploitative, and doomed to fail", says ACT Leader David Seymour.

"Mahuta is saying that New Zealand children, instead of being thinking and valuing individuals with unique dreams and aspirations, must become fodder for an ideological experiment.

"There is nothing wrong with schools offering te reo Māori. There is nothing wrong with students satisfying their literacy requirements using te reo Māori. These are already possible in a system that gives choice.

"Introducing compulsion will lead to second rate teachers and courses being put in place to meet Government requirements instead of communities’ aspirations. This will, if anything, damage the language and generate resentment of it.

"The Minister must categorically rule out making te reo Māori compulsory in our education system."

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