Waikato-Hauraki MP, Nanaia Mahuta,wants to make it easier for iwi and hapu to correct Maori place-names.
In March, Ms Mahuta commended a Bay of Plenty iwi, Ngati Whare, for pushing the Crown to acknowledge the mana of the tribe's place-names in its Treaty settlement bill.
Under the deal, the Whirinaki Conservation Park will be re-named by the Director-General of Conservation, and correction of misspellings will see Te Taupiri altered to Te Tapiri, and Arahaki Lagoon will become Arohaki Lagoon.
But Ms Mahuta says tribes shouldn't have to go through Treaty settlements to sort out Maori place-names, and then have the National Geographic Board determine what is correct.
Ms Mahuta says she is going to spend time finding out exactly how the name-change process currently works - before attempting to make it a simple task for tangata whenua.
She would like to make make some improvements to the process within 12 months.
