Green Party Wellington MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul have launched a petition calling for Māori place names to be restored to Wellington electorates. This comes after the Rongotai electorate was changed to an English name with minimal community consultation and zero engagement with mana whenua.
“Rongotai means ‘sound of the sea,’ it has been the Te Reo name of our electorate for almost three decades and has been taken away with next to no consultation,” says Green Party MP for Rongotai Julie Anne Genter.
“Our communities deserve to have a say on the name of their electorate. This was a decision based on the feedback of three people. This is not good enough, and this must change.
“‘Rongotai’ accurately and beautifully captured the geography and spirit of our electorate,” says Julie Anne Genter.
“This is yet another attack on Te Reo, we have seen it with road signs, passports and now the name of an electorate,” says Green Party MP for Wellington Central Tamatha Paul.
“We are calling for the Representation Committee to reverse its decision to strip an electorate of a Te Reo name it has had for 30 years.
“It is absolutely ridiculous three people were able to erase and whitewash such an iconic part of Pōneke. Seeing Wellington Central go from one English name to another adds insult to injury,” says Tamatha Paul.