Whakanuia te toru ngahurutanga o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori
Ā te 1 o Hereturikōkā ka eke ki te 30 tau mai i te whakatūnga o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i runga i Te Ture Reo Māori 1987.
Ko te kaupapa o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori he whakamana i te reo Māori hei reo mana ā-ture, he whakatairanga he rangahau hoki i te reo Māori, he ārahi hoki i te whakatinanatanga o te rautaki reo Māori hou a te Kāwanatanga.
Nā te hurihanga o te ture i tērā tau kua huri hoki te aro o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ki ngā mahi a te Karauna hei tautoko i te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori. He rōpū hou kē ināianei ko Te Mātāwai e aronui ai ki te iwi, te hapū, me te whakarauoratanga ā-hapori.
“E toru tekau tau ki muri kāore anō he reo irirangi Māori he whakaata Māori rānei, ko te Kōhanga Reo tonu he pito mata; kāore anō he akoranga ā-reo Māori, kāore anō he wānanga, ka mutu he iti noa iho kē te ako reo Māori i roto i ngā kura,” e ai ki a Ngāhiwi Apanui te Tumuaki o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
“He pūrongo hou i tēnei marama e whakaatu ana kei te tuku iho anō te reo Māori ki ngā whakatupuranga mō te wā tuatahi rawa mai i te ngahuru tau 1970.
“Katoa tēnei i hua mai i ngā mahi a ngā Minita, a ngā tari kāwanatanga, tae rawa ki te iwi Māori, ki ngā whānau, ngā hapū, ngā iwi anō hoki.
“Ko te mahi a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i roto i te 30 tau kua huri, he ū tonu ki te tautoko i te reo Māori hei reo ora anō mō Aotearoa katoa. Kāore e wareware ngā koha mai a te hunga kaiārahi kua riro ki te pō tae noa ki te hunga e poipoi tonu nei i te reo.”
“Tērā anō hoki ngā whakaaetanga maha a ngā Minita me ngā tari kāwanatanga ki ngā whakataunga a te Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi otirā ngā hiahia o te iwi Māori. Hei tuatahitanga hoki te ture hou nei mō te ao katoa, e whakaae ake ana te Karauna i hē, i hara hoki i mua, me tana whakaae iho anō ki te mahi tahi kē ki te iwi Māori ā muri iho nei ki te tautoko kē i te reo Māori.
“Ka nui tonu ngā rā o te reo Māori. Ko tā mātou mahi mō te Karauna he mahi tahi ki te Māori kia eke ai te reo Māori ki ngā taumata tika e taea ai e ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, mō ake tonu. Hei tīmatanga noa iho ēnei tau tuatahi e toru tekau nei.”