Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 150129	2021-09-16 23:09:00	Referendum call as 64% oppose 'Aotearoa'	Roscoe (6288)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1480558	2021-09-16 23:09:00	Of those who have an opinion, 64 percent oppose changing the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa, according to a Curia Research poll released today, prompting Hobson’s Pledge spokesman Don Brash to call for a binding referendum on the issue. Release of the poll comes on the heels of a petition by the Maori Party calling on Parliament to change the country's official name to Aotearoa and "officially restore the Te Reo Maori names for all towns, cities and place names". The telephone poll of 1000 eligible New Zealand voters randomly selected from 24,000 nationwide landline and cellphone numbers from September 2-9 found that: 49 percent of New Zealanders oppose changing the name of the country to Aotearoa and a large 39 percent are strongly opposed. Only 28 percent support a change. 42 percent oppose changing the name of the country to Aotearoa New Zealand and 34 percent are strongly opposed. Only 35 percent support a change. Opposition to changing to Aotearoa is strongest among ACT supporters, 69%; undecided voters, 64%; National, 61%; and NZ First, 51%. Even among Labour voters, 39 percent oppose a change, while Maori Party voters are evenly divided. Only Greens voters strongly support a change. Dr Brash said: “We are very much in favour of this issue being properly tested”. “While we obviously hope and expect that the Maori Party might get a big surprise, we support any initiative designed to find out what the people think,” he said. “This is clearly an issue whose time has come, with National Party leader Judith Collins last month backing a proposal by one of her MPs to hold a referendum on the subject,” Dr Brash said. “Something as fundamentally important as the very name of the country must eventually be the subject of a referendum,” he said. “No matter how many signatures the Maori Party get on their petition, it would disenfranchise New Zealanders if such a petition led to a change of the country’s name,” Dr Brash said. Furthermore, Aotearoa is not the maori name for New Zealand. It is a made up name. The moaris did not have a name for NZ, rather they had a name for the North Island - Te Ika a Mau, and Te Waipounamu for the South Island. The figure of 64 percent opposition excludes undecideds. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%. Responses by age, location, and deprivation may be found at www.hobsonspledge.nz	Roscoe (6288)
1480559	2021-09-17 01:03:00	Bit like the attempt at Changing the Flag a few years back. No doubt there will be millions spent (wasted) because there's a minority that think they can do what they want, and in the end everything remains status Quo. 1000 eligible New Zealand voters Hardly an overall opinion of the whole country. Don't know if that small a number is good or bad, OR just putting out a "feeler" to see what happens ?	wainuitech (129)
1480560	2021-09-17 03:40:00	I don't mind the NZ name, all the place names though is a bit much, be confusing. I did like the change the flag idea, it's too much like Aussies, meh....	piroska (17583)
1480561	2021-09-17 06:41:00	Some people have lost the ability to be respectful to one another when expressing their opinion and some comments go past the right to "free speech" and into hate speech. This is a public forum. Your debates and differences of opinions are interesting to read, but if you devolve into hate speech then you need to take a close look at yourself.	Jen (38)
1480562	2021-09-17 13:20:00	Some people have lost the ability to be respectful to one another when expressing their opinion and some comments go past the right to "free speech" and into hate speech. This is a public forum. Your debates and differences of opinions are interesting to read, but if you devolve into hate speech then you need to take a close look at yourself. Thanks Jen- I wondered if I was the only one thinking it was over the line of decency at times.	baabits (15242)
1480563	2021-09-17 20:23:00	Seems I missed all the fun of the fair yesterday	gary67 (56)
1480564	2021-09-18 00:05:00	I don't mind the NZ name, all the place names though is a bit much, be confusing. I did like the change the flag idea, it's too much like Aussies, meh.... Maybe the Aussies should change theirs :D	Zippity (58)
1480565	2021-09-18 00:24:00	I voted Labour (party vote only) last election but probably won't next time. Historically Labour has a bad habit of trying to "sneak in" major changes by the back door. e.g. Helen Clarke -republic -school lunches etc -hence "nanny state'. They have stripped NZ of Defence capabilities -forgetting that a Defence Force is not just fighting but also provided skills training, civil defence disaster responses and valuable business for servicing industries. I am not surprised at the new AuUKUS pact excluding NZ- we are "hiding away" Learning TeReo should only be an option . Yes promote it within Maori Community but others cope within themselves -Chinese -Cantonese/Mandarin/Taiwanese , Indians with Hindi and the various regional tongues, Koreans, Spanish -Europe or South American, Samoan, Tongan etc. In my mind a recent "ridiculous " statement heard on RNZ National is that Maori (and I appreciate only 1 sector of them ) wants more Pakeha to learn Te Reo so as to give Maori more confidence to learn it.	Neil F (14248)
1480566	2021-09-18 00:39:00	If there was any practical use for the language people would learn and use it without being bullied into it.	CliveM (6007)
1480567	2021-09-18 01:23:00	If there was any practical use for the language people would learn and use it without being bullied into it. Interesting thread - why is there such a revival in the use of Welsh and Gaelic etc. They are of no more practical use than Maori. I think that we would ALL be better off being fluent in two or more languages with one of them being English.	decibel (11645)
1 2 3