Summarised by Centrist
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden confirmed that English will once again appear above te reo Māori on New Zealand passports, reversing a 2021 Labour-era change that had Māori first.
The redesign won’t take effect until unused passport stock runs out, likely in 2027, and comes as part of broader security upgrades.
Van Velden said the change is cost-neutral and reflects coalition commitments to prioritise clear, English-language communication in official documents.
Te Pāti Māori accused the government of trying to erase Māori identity, calling the design tweak “a sad obsession with dragging us back to a monocultural past.” Green MP Benjamin Doyle claimed it was “dog-whistling politics” and dismissed the reform as “not a positive vision.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he opposed the change entirely, calling it “a massive step backwards” during a campaign visit to South Auckland.
New Zealand First, which pushed for English to be restored as the primary public service language, argues the real step backwards was making unilateral changes to national symbols without public consultation.
Read more over at The NZ Herald, and RNZ, here and here
