The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has come under fire over its decision to remove te reo Māori from some briefing papers.
The move was made by MFAT chief executive Chris Seed without prior consultation while the country waits for a new government to be formed.
The Public Service Association's Marcia Puru called the ministry's move "ridiculous".
"It's gotta be stopped and we've gotta challenge this behaviour that we're starting to see already prior to the ministers being sworn in," she said.
"We think that it's a progression of the racist rhetoric that we've seen."
It's unclear at this stage what the incoming government's position on te reo use will be as coalition talks continue.
Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon said "what's important is to get the briefing and understand the issue".
"I'm less worried about the form, frankly."
Luxon previously expressed support for dual department names, but said that English should come first.
"I am of the view that we should rename our government departments in English so that people can navigate the government, but I’m also of the view that actually, we should have te reo on there," he told a crowd of party faithful in July.
"We can have dual language on it but you have to have a choice, right? You have to be able to navigate it."
However, coalition partner Winston Peters was against the notion, with NZ First campaigning on changing "all the woke, virtue-signalling names of every government department back to English".
In a statement, MFAT told 1News the use of te reo within the ministry and across its communication channels "remains unchanged".
However, it admits it has made an adjustment to one briefing template while the government is still being formed.
"We have made an adjustment to one template during the caretaker period," the statement read.
"The Ministry will consult with the incoming Minister for their preferences on receiving advice."
Te Pāti Māori said the explanation was not good enough, and called for Seed to resign.
"Our culture is used to sell these particular offices and these particular agencies overseas," party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said.
"If you can't give the respect to iwi Māori, to tangata whenua, in this particular space then you should step down."
SHARE ME