Kupu Whakataki
E whakaae ana te Kāwanatanga ko ia te mana whakahaere, ki te āwhina i te whakahoutanga i te reo Māori, i raro i te Tiriti o Waitangi. E whakaae ana anō ia ko te reo Māori ka whakatūāpapa i te whanaketanga tikanga Māori, e tautoko ana i te whanaketanga hapori, ōhanga Māori me te takoha atu ki te tuakiri ā-motu o Aotearoa. Kei te whakawhiwhi te Kāwanatanga i ngā ratonga āhuatanga reo Māori mā roto i ngā pokapū Karauna whānui. He rautaki 25-tau te Rautaki Reo Māori hei whakarite, hei whakatakoto tika i ngā mahinga a te kāwanatanga ki roto i ngā whakahaere whakahou reo Māori. Ka whakarārangi anō te Rautaki i ētahi wāhi whakahirahira, mā te Māori hei ārahi i ngā mahinga ki te whakahou i te reo Māori.
I runga i ngā kupu kua tuhia ki ngā kupu whakataki a te Rautaki, ko te whāinga a te Rautaki he whakapūmau ka whai te Māori me te Kāwanatanga ki te whakamahi “i ngā mahi tika, i raro i ngā āhua tika, me ngā wā tika”. I runga i tēnei, ka hangaia e te Rautaki tētahi rōpū o ngā pokapū ārahi tokoono, me te mana whakahaere o ia pokapū ki ngā wāhanga, pērā i te akoranga reo Māori, te pāoho reo Māori rānei.
I runga i te tuhinga a te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi i roto i tāna Pūrongo Kerēme mō Te Reo Māori, o te marama o Paenga-whawhā 1986, “i roto i ngā āhuatanga Māori ko te kāinga o te reo ki roto i te oranga o te whenua koia nā anō te kāinga o ngā tāngata”. Nā reira, ahakoa te arotahi o te Rautaki ki te reo, mēnā ka oti pai tōna whakatinanatanga, tērā tonu pea ka puta he hua mō te whanaketanga whānui o ngāi Māori ki Aotearoa.
Ka mihi ahau ki ngā Tumuaki Whakahaere me ngā kaimahi a Te Puni Kōkiri – te Manatū mō te Whanaketanga Māori, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – Te Kōmihana Reo Māori, Te Māngai Pāho – Te Pokapū Tuku Pūtea mō te Pāoho Māori, Te Manatū Taonga, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga, me te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, mō ngā āwhina i hōmaitia e rātou i waenga i te arotakenga. Tētahi mea nui, aku mihi ki ngā mema o te Komiti Āpiha Kāwanatanga a Te Rautaki Reo Māori mō ā rātou āwhinatanga.
K B Brady
Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake
1 Whiringa ā rangi 2007