PM calls Maori language month ‘boring’
A teenage girl was ‘‘upset and embarrassed’’ when the Prime Minister said her suggestion of a Maori language month would be boring.
The 16-year-old asked John Key whether he would extend Maori language week, when he visited a school assembly at Waiuku College, on Friday.
Key said he preferred keeping it to a week of Maori language celebrations and that people would get ‘‘bored’’ by a month.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said Key’s meaning was that the celebrations may be diluted over a longer period.
She said she thought students may have misinterpreted his answer.
Classmate Trent Brown Marsh, 16, said the girl was in tears after assembly and was considering taking time off school because she felt embarrassed.
He said his friend was ‘‘basically laughed at’’.
‘‘She’s still upset. She doesn’t want to go back to school,’’ Brown Marsh said. ‘‘John Key made the whole school laugh in a rude way.’’
Brown Marsh said he was angry that the year 12 girl was invited to talk to Key about Maori language week but then her question was ‘‘dismissed’’.
‘‘His reply was haha no. He kind of explained (his answer) but it was insensitive.’’
‘‘I feel that my culture’s future depends on having Maori language. One week is such a short amount of time to embrace our culture.’’
Maori Party Co-Leader Te Ururoa Flavell criticised Key’s reaction: ‘‘It’s boring having to speak English most of the time,’’ he retorted.
‘‘That’s why we are looking at useful ways of using the language, such as calling on the Reserve Bank to have both Ma¯ori and English stamped on the next batch of New Zealand coins’’, he said.
Key’s spokeswoman said: "The point the Prime Minister was making was that he thinks Maori language week is good because everyone really gets in behind it. He was concerned extending it to two or three weeks might not have the same impact.’’