English wasn’t official in Aotearoa New Zealand in a de jure sense - that means written into law - but it OBVIOUSLY was an official de facto language. The viral clip this week from MP Tamatha Paul was an important watch for anyone who feels like making English official is a neutral process within today’s political climate - nevermind a good use of parliamentary debate time when there are…a lot of problems in the world right now! Although decades of activism, immersion schooling and official recognition have produced a real revival, the language remains vulnerable: whereas around 1900 the vast majority of Māori spoke te reo as their first language, by the 2023 Census only 18.6% of people of Māori descent reported being able to hold a conversation in te reo Māori.
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