Media Release: Cultural Suppression of te reo Māori by the Coalition Govt
Rights Aotearoa: Minister’s ban on te reo Māori in Year-1 readers breaches New Zealand’s human rights obligations
Wellington — 14 August 2025 — Rights Aotearoa condemns the Education Minister Erica Stanford’s decision to exclude Māori words from new Ready to Read Phonics Plus books for five-year-olds (except for character names). This directive, confirmed in Ministry documents and ministerial comments, represents a retrogressive step that undermines children’s cultural rights and New Zealand’s international and domestic legal commitments.
On a prima facie view, the policy conflicts with at least five UN instruments New Zealand has ratified. First, ICCPR Article 27 protects linguistic minorities’ right to use their own language and, per the Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 23, requires positive measures by the State to safeguard that right. A blanket removal of te reo Māori from foundational readers sits squarely at odds with that obligation.
Second, ICESCR Articles 13 and 15, read with the Committee’s General Comment No. 21, require States to make cultural life accessible and to refrain from measures that restrict participation—especially for minorities and indigenous peoples. Stripping Māori vocabulary from early-years materials narrows access to culture in the very context where language attitudes are formed.
Third, the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges that education foster respect for a child’s own cultural identity, language, and values (Article 29(1)(c)) and protects indigenous and minority children’s right to use their language (Article 30). The directive is difficult to reconcile with those aims.
Fourth, CERD (and General Recommendation No. 23) calls for active measures to preserve and promote indigenous languages. A rule that singles out Māori words for exclusion from standard resources risks indirect discrimination and runs counter to that guidance.
Fifth, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education prohibits distinctions based on language that impair equality of treatment in education and recognises minorities’ right to use and teach their own language.
Domestically, the directive cuts against NZBORA s 20 (rights of linguistic minorities) and the Māori Language Act 2016, which affirms te reo Māori as a taonga and an official language and requires a Crown strategy (Maihi Karauna) to revitalise and normalise its use across public life. Schools are also required to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi under the Education and Training Act 2020.
Paul Thistoll, Chief Executive of Rights Aotearoa, said:
“Language visibility in a child’s first readers is not a matter of taste; it is a matter of rights. Removing te reo Māori from Year-1 books is a legally retrogressive measure that marginalises indigenous language in mainstream schooling and undermines New Zealand’s binding commitments at home and abroad. The minister is engaging in cultural suppression.”
Rights Aotearoa calls for the following immediate actions:
- Rescind the directive and confirm that Māori words will continue to appear in all new early-literacy readers as appropriate to context and pedagogy;
- Release the relevant Ministry papers in full and consult with Māori education stakeholders, literacy experts, and the Māori Language Commission;
- Align early-literacy resources with obligations under ICCPR, ICESCR, CRC, CERD, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, NZBORA, the Māori Language Act, and the Education and Training Act.
