10. Question No. 10—Māori DevelopmentTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour) to the Minister for Māori DevelopmentQuestion No. 10—Māori Development10. TĀMATI COFFEY (Labour) to the Minister for Māori Development: What recent events has he attended to celebrate te reo Māori?Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister for Māori Development): Kia ora. Mr Speaker tuatahi ka mihi atu ki ngā tāngata katoa mō ō rātou kaha ki te whakanui i tō tātou reo. He roa tonu te huarahi e haere ana engari e tika ana kia mihia tātou katoa mō te kaha o tērā wiki. [Mr Speaker firstly I'd like to acknowledge everyone for their efforts to celebrate our language. The path we're travelling is long but it's appropriate that we all acknowledge each other for the strength last week.] Just congratulating everyone who made an effort with te reo Maōri last week. I was privileged to host the 50th commemoration of the 1972 te reo Māori petition on the steps of Parliament last week with our Deputy Prime Minister. Alongside colleagues and members around the House I was proud to see the thousands of New Zealanders who came together to celebrate this important milestone in the revitalisation of te reo Māori. The petition which was signed 50 years ago by 33000 New Zealanders was the start of the movement that has seen te reo Māori become an official language of Aotearoa and a valued part of our national identity. Can I congratulate Te Taura Whiri for putting together the day—it was a wonderful day.Tāmati Coffey: What other events did the Minister attend?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: On 15 September I attended an event in New Plymouth which celebrated the efforts of Hana Te Hemara Jackson a Ngā Tamatoa leader and wahine toa who presented the Māori language petition to Parliament. We should never forget the efforts of some of our Māori language champions who fought for the revitalisation of our language and the difficulties that they face. It was a fabulous evening a fabulous night.Kaua rawa e wareware ki ngā mahi taku Aunty Hana i a mātou ki a Ngā Tamatoa me tā rātou whawhai mō tō tātou reo. [Don't ever forget the efforts of my Aunty Hana with us in Ngā Tamatoa and their fight for our language.] Tāmati Coffey: What reports has he seen on the support of New Zealanders for te reo Māori?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I've seen recent data that indicates 83 percent of Kiwis believe te reo Māori is an important component of our national identity. This is consistent with the Government's ambition that by 2040 85 percent of New Zealanders will value te reo Māori as a key part of our national identity.Tāmati Coffey: What is the Minister's current focus in supporting efforts to increase the use of te reo Māori amongst New Zealanders?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: We believe—the Government believes—learning Māori should be about being inclusive not exclusive. In order to increase the use of te reo Māori we need to see people shift from being passive supporters to becoming active users. A good starting point for all New Zealanders who want to embrace te reo is Te Taura Whiri's website which provides free language learning tools. Kaua rawa e wareware ko te reo mō te katoa o tēnei motu. [Don't ever forget that the language is for this entire country.] Tāmati Coffey: What progress has been made on the Maihi Karauna?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I think we're well on our way to achieving our 2040 goal of having 1 million speakers of basic te reo Māori. I just want to be clear with the House: what does that mean? That means people being able to say a few words. In 2018 907000 Kiwis aged 15 or over could speak about basic things in te reo Māori up from 770000 on the 2016 baseline. People get a little bit confused because we're not talking about conversational Māori which is about 185000. So there is a long way to go in terms of getting the conversational reo up but everyone's finding their way with the language and I congratulate everyone in the House who's making an effort. Kia ora tātou.