Stuart Smith
MP for Kaikoura
Spokesperson for Climate Change, EQC and Viticulture

Information

Opinion

Last week I wrote about the significance of Te Reo as a language in New Zealand. There is also no doubt that Maori culture should be valued and cherished in New Zealand.

But it should come down to personal choice, we cannot have the Government or the state forcing people to learn a language, regardless of what language that may be.

Dover Samuels should not have been caned at school for speaking Te reo, and quite frankly nobody should have been caned for doing anything. Parents used to smack their children, and I highly doubt that happens much anymore. In fact, physical punishment isn’t used at all anymore.

However, the 1940s and ’50s was a very different time. We evolve and change our behaviour over generations, and we simply cannot continue to have Crown Apologies for every wrong-doing of the previous generation.

Take justice reform in New Zealand as an example. Capital punishment was only abolished in 1961, and we have moved a long way since then, successive Governments across both sides of politics, have moved to focus on rehabilitation as opposed to capital punishment or even incarceration.

Look at the Mosque Terrorist, he is hands-down New Zealand’s worst criminal, yet times have changed and he will obviously not receive the death penalty. This is a result of changing our values with the times and over sequential generations putting a stop to punishments like these.

The reality of the matter is, speaking any language should be welcomed in New Zealand and not discriminated against, we pride ourselves on being a diverse and cultured nation, and so speaking different languages is just part of that.

We have freedom of speech in New Zealand, and part of that freedom is being able to communicate in any manner you wish.

I have the utmost sympathy for Dover Samuels and anybody else who was punished at school for speaking Te Reo. I cannot begin to imagine the trauma that caused them. However, I take solace in the fact that nowadays Te Reo is a language that is used more often and people are not harmed for speaking it.

Please share this BFD article so others can discover The BFD.

MP for Kaikoura. Viticulture, EQC.

Content republished on The BFD unedited with permission. This content does not necessarily reflect the views of the site or its editor. This content is offered for discussion and for alternative points...