7. Question No. 7—Arts Culture and HeritageHon WILLIE JACKSON (Labour) to the Minister for Arts Culture and HeritageQuestion No. 7—Arts Culture and Heritage7. Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Labour) to the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage: Does he think it is appropriate that te reo Māori be used in an invitation for Matariki a distinct holiday to celebrate the Māori New Year; if not why not?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage): Yes which is why the official invitation to Matariki contained te reo Māori as I have here entitled Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te Tau" ["Arise the New Year"] and he'd know this if he checked with his leader the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins who received one of the invitations and declined to come.Hon Willie Jackson: Mr Speaker—SPEAKER: Just wait for the quiet. OK.Hon Willie Jackson: The Minister knows what I'm referring to is his letter to his counterpart yesterday. I want to ask the question: what is the big problem with saying "tēnā koe" which means "hello" in his official invitation?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Well I was writing to a Minister from Australia and I was encouraged to sign it off "nāku noa nā" ["humbly yours from"] and I thought "yours sincerely" would be more easily understood by the Australian.Hon Willie Jackson: Is the Minister aware of a recent statement from the Hon Tony Burke his Australian counterpart and the person the invitation was for stating that support for First Nations culture stories and languages is crucial; and if so why did he jump to the conclusion yesterday saying "… I didn't think he needed a lot of … reo in his invitation because he's an Australian."?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: No I wasn't aware of that quote and I must say I'm amazed that that member thinks that this is a matter that deserves an urgent debate in the House and my writing to an Australian Minister is a matter of such interest.Hon Willie Jackson: Point of order Mr Speaker. He hasn't even come anywhere near—SPEAKER: No no—hang on. Wait. Just let me call you so the whole House can hear you.Hon Willie Jackson: The Minister hasn't come anywhere near to addressing the question. I'm asking the Minister: is he aware of the Hon Tony Burke's support for indigenous languages and the statements he's made around supporting First Nations culture and languages—he's made it very clear that that's crucial. He hasn't addressed the question at all.SPEAKER: Well he did start his answer with "No I wasn't aware of that statement." which kind of covers it but before you took the point of order I was going to suggest to the Minister that he didn't use decisions made by the Chair in answer to his question.Hon Willie Jackson: Mr Speaker point of order. Can I table a press release from the Minister. It's a release that talks about putting words into action to safeguard indigenous languages. Can I seek leave to table it.SPEAKER: Whose press release is it?Hon Willie Jackson: Tony Burke the Australian Minister.SPEAKER: It's pretty freely available though isn't it?Hon Willie Jackson: It's available but it hasn't been very available in New Zealand but I'll seek leave to submit it.SPEAKER: Is the member now a distributor for an Australian newspaper or is it genuinely something that most members of the House would not have access to?Hon Willie Jackson: Yeah it hasn't really been available freely—SPEAKER: Leave is sought. Is there any objection? No. The member can table it.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Willie Jackson: Mr Speaker—Hon Paul Goldsmith: Point of order—SPEAKER: Hang on. He's still on a point of order.Hon Paul Goldsmith: No I think he finished didn't he?SPEAKER: No I decide whether he is or not. He is.Hon Willie Jackson: I've got another question Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Oh OK. In that case point of order.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Point of order Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table the official invitation to Matariki which was sent to the Leader of the Opposition and declined.SPEAKER: I presume that's not widely available either.Hon Paul Goldsmith: It was only sent to the people who were invited and so I'm tabling it for the general public so they can see it's in both languages.SPEAKER: Leave is sought. Any objection? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Willie Jackson: Will the Minister now do the consistent thing and advise the King of England King of New Zealand His Majesty King Charles to remove to te reo Māori greetings from his Matariki message; if not why not?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: No I wouldn't be making any such instructions to the King of New Zealand.Hon Tama Potaka: Talofa lava. Does the Minister consider that the recent Budget announcements regarding nearly $50 million—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Just a minute. Just a moment. We'll hear the question in silence.Hon Tama Potaka: Does the Minister consider that the recent Budget announcements regarding nearly $50 million of ongoing support for Te Matatini and $142 million of support for Māori language entities represent and demonstrate a strong level of support by this Government for te reo Māori?SPEAKER: The Hon Paul Goldsmith and without commentary.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Yes I would.Hon Willie Jackson: Will the Minister be advising the Minister for Sport and Recreation to write to the New Zealand Olympic team and to our Olympic medallist Eliza McCartney to stop referring to New Zealand as Aotearoa and if not why not?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: I'm sure that Minister can handle his arrangements perfectly well."