Shane Jones has slammed the use of te reo Māori in the public sector, defending the incoming government's plan to change the names of some major agencies.
The New Zealand First deputy leader is set to become a Cabinet minister when the new government is sworn in today.
Among NZ First's wins from coalition negotiations were an agreement the coalition will ensure all public service departments have their primary name in English, except for those specifically related to Māori.
It also said public service departments and Crown Entities must communicate primarily in English, except those related to Māori.
Jones told Breakfast this morning: "Our leader Winston Peters took our manifesto forward."
Asked whether te reo Māori names were a real issue that mattered to people, Jones was critical.
"Those names from te reo that relate to how the government interfaces with Māoridom, or those particular issues where the elevation of the Māori name is both important for communication and other reasons, they're not likely to be discarded," he said.
"But look, some of this other filigree – not the least of which is Waka Kotahi, at a time when cars are being destroyed, potholes riddle the landscape – those types of vanity projects, they're over."
Jones said efforts should be spent on fixing roads rather than on "marginal, cultural-driven distractions".
He said Waka Kotahi will be called the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) under the incoming government.
Asked if the agency shouldn't be left to focus on repairing roads rather than having to change its name, Jones said: "I can tell you what, NZTA is sadly saddled down with all sorts of obligations to deal with hapū and urupā and a host of other marginal issues.
"I speak the language, all of my children speak the language, but we don't turn it into a religion. We don't turn it into an obligation for every Pākehā CEO or member of the bureaucracy to learn a pepeha, learn a karakia when day-to-day, when they're not in their bureaucratic jobs, that's not how they live.
"I want people to go to work and deliver robust outcomes," Jones added.
It comes after National Party leader and soon-to-be prime minister Christopher Luxon said having English first on government agencies will "make sure" people "understand" what agencies are and what they do.
Luxon said he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they "didn't know" the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. If people "can’t understand" their government agency, let alone hold them accountable, that is a "big problem", he added.
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