The removal of basic Maori phrases — kia ora, meaning “hello” and Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand — from a lunar new year invitation to an Australian official was not a snub of the indigenous language by New Zealand’s government, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Wednesday, seemingly joking that it instead reflected the “incredibly simple” language required when speaking to Australians.
Luxon defended in parliament a lawmaker who ordered the removal of the Maori words from an invitation sent to Australian Minister for the Arts Tony Burke.
He appeared to indulge in a favorite pastime of New Zealanders, who enjoy a friendly rivalry with their closest neighbor: calling Australians stupid.
Photo: AP
“In my dealings with Australians, it always pays to be incredibly simple and clear, and use English,” Luxon said, referring to the invitation sent to Burke.
Ripostes between lawmakers across the Tasman have precedent. In the most famous example, then-New Zealand prime minister Rob Muldoon quipped in the 1980s that New Zealanders who migrate to Australia “raise the IQ of both countries.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday responded to Luxon with a favorite Australian joke — that no one can understand the New Zealand accent.
Albanese said that at times interpreters were needed, perhaps diplomatically adding that he had sometimes “missed” things said by Luxon’s predecessors, too.
“Look, we’re great friends and we’re great mates,” he said. “Sometimes though we do speak a different language and that’s when we both think we’re speaking English.”
The invitation was to an event for Matariki, the Maori lunar new year, which was established as a nationwide public holiday in 2020.
It falls on June 20 next year.
A spokesperson for Burke told reporters that he had known the meaning of the word Aotearoa since 1982, when it was referenced in the lyrics of a popular song by New Zealand band Split Enz.
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