Te Reo Māori i te Pāremata
Nō mai rā anō pea i te tau 1868, te reo Māori i whakamahia ai i te Pāremata, otirā, i te wā i uru mai ai ngā mema Pāremata Māori tuatahi, ki roto i te Whare Pāremata.
I te tuatahi, noho ai ngā kaiwhakawhiti reo ā-waha, i te taha tonu o ngā mema me te tukutahi i te whakawhitinga ā-waha, mā te kōhimuhimu atu ki a rātou i te wā tonu e haere ana ngā kauhau Māori. Ko te taha Pākehā anake o te kauhau Māori ka whakaputaina ki roto i Ngā Tautohenga Pāremata o Aotearoa (a Hansard). Ka whakawhitia ā-tuhituhitia ngā petihanga Māori ki roto i te reo Pākehā, ā, ko ngā pire me ngā pepa pāremata Pākehā, ka whakawhitia ā-tuhituhitia ki roto i te reo Māori. Nō te tau atu i te 1881 ki te tau 1906, ka whakaputaina he whakamāoritanga ā-tuhituhi o Hansard, ko Nga Korero Paremete te ingoa, ā, i roto hoki ngā kauhau a ngā mema Pākehā me ngā mema Māori e pā ana ki ngā hanganga ture i whakaaroarohia, otirā, ērā e pā tonu ake ana ki a ngāi Māori.
I te tau 1913, ka whakatau Te Mana Whakawā o te Whare, a Frederic William Lang, mehemea ka kaha ngā mema Māori ki te kōrero Pākehā me kōrero rātou ki roto i taua reo, ā, whai ake i te tau 1919, ka mutu te kitea o tētahi kaiwhakawhiti reo ā-waha ki roto i te Whare i ngā wā katoa. Nā ngā Mana Whakawā o muri mai, ka tukua anōtia Te Reo kia whakamahia mehemea ka hōmai e te mema he whakawhitinga ā-waha i taua wā tonu. Nā Te Mana Whakawā, nā Mathew Oram, ka katia anōtia Te Reo i te tau 1951 engari, ka hoki mai anō te tikanga whakamahi a ngā mema i te reo Māori me te hōmai i tā rātou ake whakapākehātanga ā-waha.
Nā te Whakataunga Tū Roa o te Pāremata i te tau 1985, ka ōrite te tūranga o Te Reo Māori ki tērā o te reo Pākehā. E hia kē nei ngā tau ki muri, ka whakawhiwhia anōtia he kaiwhakawhiti reo ā-waha ki roto i te Whare, i ngā wā e puta ana he whakaatu, ka kōrero Māori he MP ki roto i te Whare.
I ēnei rā, he kaiwhakawhiti reo ā-waha kei roto i ngā whakahaerenga katoa o te Whare, ki te whakapākehā ā-waha i tētahi kauhau Māori i ngā wā ka hiahiatia. Kāore ngā kupu (Pākehā) a te kaiwhakawhiti reo ā-waha e whakaputaina engari, ka whakaurua he kupu tohutohu ki te whakaatu i hoatu he whakapākehātanga ā-waha ki te Whare. Whai ake i tērā, ka kape tuhia ngā kauhau, ka whakaritea hoki he whakapākehātanga ā-tuhituhi mō te tānga, kia takoto anō ai hoki i te taha o te kape tuatahi a Hansard.
Ka kaha hoki ngā mema ki te hōmai i tā rātou ake whakapākehātanga ā-waha, pērā anō i ngā rā ō mua engari, ki te pēnei rātou, ka whakaputaina i te taha o te kauhau Māori me te kore hoatu whakawhitinga ā-tuhituhi matua, whakawhitinga ā-waha matua hoki rānei.
Ki te kape tuhia ngā kauhau i nāianei ki roto i te reo Pākehā, ka whakamahia e Hansard he pūngakupu Māori o ngā kupu, ngā ingoa wāhi me ngā ingoa tangata hoki. Ka whakamahia hoki te tohutō mō ngā pūare roa pērā i tērā i roto i te kupu, “Ōpua”. Ka ngana hoki a Hansard ki te whakanui i ngā momo reo-ā-iwi, ka rongohia i roto i ngā kauhau Māori, mā te tuhi i tā te kaikōrero ka whakahua; nā reira, tērā pea ka kitea he kupu pēnei i a “whānau”, “w’ānau” rānei, “wahine”, “wa’ine” rānei i roto i te kape tuhinga Māori.
Kei te piki haere te whakamahinga o te reo Māori i te Whare, kei te nuku hoki te Pāremata ki te tukutahi i te whakapākehātanga ā-waha o Te Reo Māori, i te Whare anō.
The Māori Language in Parliament
The Māori language has been used in Parliament since at least 1868, when the first Māori members of Parliament entered the House.
At first, interpreters provided simultaneous interpretation of speeches by whispering to members sitting next to them. Only the English version of Māori speech was published in the New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Māori petitions were translated into English, and bills and parliamentary papers into Māori. From 1881 to 1906 a Māori language translation of Hansard was produced, called Nga Korero Paremete. It contained Māori and Pākehā members’ speeches on legislation considered particularly relevant to Māori.
In 1913 Speaker of the House Frederic William Lang ruled that Māori members should speak in English if they were able to, and after 1919 there was no longer a permanent interpreter in the House. Later Speakers allowed Māori to be used if the member provided an immediate interpretation. Speaker Matthew Oram reimposed the restriction against the use of Māori in 1951, but the practice of members using te reo Māori and providing their own interpretation later returned.
Māori gained equal status with English in Parliament’s Standing Orders in 1985. Some years later, an interpreter was once again provided whenever notice was given that an MP was to speak in te reo Māori in the House.
Currently, an interpreter is present during all proceedings in the House to provide interpretation of any Māori speeches whenever required. The interpreter’s words (in English) are not published, but a note is inserted to show that an interpretation was given in the House. The speeches are then transcribed and an English translation is prepared for publication alongside the original in Hansard.
Members may immediately provide their own interpretation in English, as they did in earlier years, in which case it is published alongside the Māori speech, and no official translation or interpretation is provided.
When transcribing speeches in English, Hansard now uses Māori spelling of words, place names, and proper names, including using macrons for long vowels, such as the one in “Ōpua”. Hansard also tries to respect any dialectical variations in Māori speech in its spelling; thus one finds “whānau” or “w’ānau”, “wahine” or “wa’ine”.
Use of te reo Māori in the House is increasing, and Parliament is moving towards providing simultaneous interpretation of Māori language into English.
