A third of Kiwis want Aotearoa as country’s name: poll

AUCKLAND: A poll has found a third of New Zealanders want to rename the country Aotearoa.

The 1 NewsColmar Brunton poll showed 32% support for the name change and 61% opposed — mostly older New Zealanders, National and Act supporters.

The remaining 7% did not know.

Ahead of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori (Maori language week) last month, Maori Party candidate for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi, announced the party’s policy for te reo Maori.

The policy set out to ensure New Zealand’s name is changed to Aotearoa and that all Pakeha place names, cities and towns will be replaced with their original Maori ingoa (name) by 2026.

NZ First leader Winston Peters criticised the policy.

‘‘This is plain headline hunting without any regard to the cost to this country,’’ Mr Peters wrote on Twitter.

‘‘It will make our international marketing brand extraordinarily confusing when exports will be critical to our economic survival.’’

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did not say whether she supported an official name change, but said she was seeing ‘‘Aotearoa’’ used more often.

‘‘I hear more and more often the use of Aotearoa interchangeable with New Zealand and that is a positive thing,’’ she said.

Act leader David Seymour said now was not the time to argue about a name change.

‘‘I don’t care if we call it Timbuktu right now.

‘‘When we’re on top of this crisis and the debt it’s created, then we can debate the name.’’

Green Party coleader Marama Davidson said the party supported a ‘‘public korero around the use of Maori place names’’.

On 1 News on Saturday night, National Party leader Judith Collins said she was happy with the name New Zealand. — The New Zealand Herald