26 Nov 2012

Language campaigner wants help from Maori to boost Pacific tongues in NZ

7:38 pm on 26 November 2012

A leading campaigner for Pacific languages in New Zealand is calling on Maori to help keep the languages alive among New Zealand's Pacific Island communities.

Afioga Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin has resigned from the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs' Advisory Council in protest over the latest government plans for Pacific language education, which he describes as meaningless.

Galumalemana says he would like to see support for the recognition of Te Reo Maori's sister languages just as campaigners like himself stood by proponents of Te Reo Maori in the 1970s, eighties and nineties.

"I only wish we could get a third or even one quarter of what Maori's now getting. I'm sure we could do just as good a job in making sure our languages are dynamic and being used effectively in the school system."

Afioga Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin