New Zealand Conservative

I have to wonder if this is some sort of joke - the Labour Party think that banning all cosmetics that have been tested on animals is some sort of election winner. Have they forgotten being turfed out of power after trying to ban light bulbs and high volume shower heads? Many years ago I tried using more natural cosmetics, and the damn things went mouldy and gave me a skin infection. Now I stay away from them, but do prefer foundation without sunscreen, which is very difficult to find as just about all foundations have sunscreen added. And now Labour wants to take away what choice I have in the cosmetics I buy? Stuff that. Then there's their quiet policy of compulsory Maori language for all school children . I have no problem with the Maori language being available as an elective, as it is in the college my boys go to. However, not everyone wants to learn a language, no matter the advantage, and a second language has limited advantage, unless is it one of the top three l...

Yet again there are calls for Maori to be made compulsory for all school children in New Zealand because it is an official language (according to National Radio this morning). Strangely, enough however, the other official language in NZ, sign language, is not regularly promoted in the same way. Learning a second language at school is just as important as maths and English, according to the chairman of the Maori Statutory Board. David Taipari's comments follow a recommendation that the Maori language should be compulsory in all Auckland schools. The suggestion is part of a raft of changes the Maori Statutory Board want to see in New Zealand's biggest city that could cost more than $30 million a year. Taipari told TV ONE's Breakfast he disagreed with Auckland Mayor Len Brown's claim that mathematics and English are probably more important to learn than another language. Long time readers will know my opinion on compulsory Maori - I'm against it. I have no...

I'm really don't understand the kerfuffle around the potential death of the Maori language. At least it has been documented and thus saved from being lost forever. Anyone interested in learning Maori in the future will still have access to the stored written and audio data. If they are really worried that the audio could become unreadable and the paper be destroyed over time, then engraving the language on stone tablets would be the way to go. No language lasts forever. Trying to make people learn a language they are not interested in learning and don't think is relevant, is a sure way to kill it off faster. And if Maori is left to die, then it can be preserved as is.  Because living languages mutate over time, and I doubt the purists would be happy with that, even if we were all speaking Maori as they might want. Morte sola lingua immortalis fit* Update: Found an opinion from a Maori academic that I agree with. But David Rankin, a Maori academic and a leader of...

Willie Jackson has written an opinion piece arguing for Maori to be made a compulsory subject in all New Zealand schools. Why compulsory? Well, the language is still in danger of dying despite all the millions spent on it, so the education system has to step in. Maori language must be a core subject in the curriculum just like English and mathematics, rather than an add-on. I’ve heard all the nutty arguments about why it’s wrong for Maori to be compulsory, but the reality is English is compulsory, as is maths, so why shouldn’t Maori be too? Maori is our indigenous language and an official language alongside English. Not a particularly strong argument. Sign language is also an official NZ language, and no one is calling for it to be taught to every school child. No person is seriously disadvantaged by not learning Maori - the same cannot be said of the other two compulsory subjects. Literacy and numeracy is vital for doing well in a modern country, if you can't count or rea...