National MP Greg Fleming says te reo Māori is like medicine. Although he doesn’t have any whakapapa Māori, he encourages everyone to learn.
“He nui tōku aroha mō tēnei reo. He rongoā.” Fleming says.
It’s a journey that started with a dream almost 20 years ago.
“I te tau 2005 akene pea, tōku hoa tata, Te Waka McLeod nō Ngāti Mutunga, i moemoeā ia. I roto i tērā moemoeā, ka tū au ki mua i te marea, tokomaha ngā tāngata, e kōrero ana au i te reo Māori,” he explains.
“Koirā te wā i whakatō te kākano i roto i tōku ngākau.”
The Maungakiekie MP sits on the Māori Affairs Committee and is also a trustee of Te Wānanga Ihorangi, a tertiary institute focused on te reo Māori immersion.
“He roa te haerenga nō te mea kāore [i] a au te āheitanga [ki] te ako i te reo Māori ōkawa, he ōpaki anake,”
He says most of his learning happens at home - listening to podcasts, reading reo Māori books and watching shows like Waka Huia.
“Koirā te momo o tōku haerenga.”
Ko te reo Māori te reo o te kāinga
It has become a whānau affair, with his son Toby a graduate of Te Wānanga Ihorangi and soon to become a reo Māori teacher at his former kura, Auckland Boys’ Grammar School.
“Tōna aroha mō te reo Māori - te mutunga kē mai o te hōhonu, o te rētōtanga o tōna aroha ki te reo, he rawe tērā,” he says.
“He mea mīharo kei tō māua whare, tō māua kāinga, nā te mea ka kōrero māua i te reo Māori.”
Fleming says his younger son is also a top student in his school’s reo Māori classes.
“Ko tōku wawata, kia haere a ki Te Wānanga Ihorangi.”
Te reo Māori also holds a special place for Fleming and his wife, Kirstin.
“Ka haere māua ko tōku hoa rangatira, ko Kirstin, ki tētahi hāhi Mihingare, nā te mea koirā taku wawata - ko te whakahōnore ki te Atua i te reo Māori.”
He aha te hiranga o te reo Māori ki a Nāhinara?
The connection comes as the National-led Government faces criticism over its approach to te reo Māori, including the English First Bill, which would require English wording to appear first on public signage.
Fleming points instead to the Government’s investment in te reo and te ao Māori.
“Ki ōku whakaaro me ōku wheako, he kaha te tautoko o te reo Māori, te whai atu o te puāwai o te reo Māori mā te whakakaha [i] ngā pūtea mō Te Māngai Pāhō i [tēnei] tau,” Fleming explains.
Over the last three years, the Government has invested in Māori initiatives, including $48.7 million for Te Matatini, $12 million for kōhanga reo property upgrades, $14.7million to build teachers’ te reo capability, $4.5 million for te reo Māori resources, and$48 million over four years for Māori broadcasting.
He whenua reo-rua
Census 2023 numbers show around 214,000 people spoke te reo Māori. While roughly 85 percent identified as Māori, around 15% did not.
Fleming hopes to see a bilingual Aotearoa in the future.
“He whenua reo rua, koirā te kitenga. Koirā te anamata e wawata ana au,” he says.
“He taonga tuku iho nō ngā tīpuna mō ngā tāngata katoa, ahakoa Māori, ahakoa tauiwi.”
