A bill to recognize English as New Zealand’s official language has cleared its first hurdle in parliament amid ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who call it “unnecessary” and “cynical.”
The bill seeks to give English, which is spoken in 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand Sign Language. The bill said that the status and use of existing official languages would not be affected.
Its introduction is part of the coalition agreement between the populist minority New Zealand First party and the centre-right National Party.
On March 3, the coalition, which also includes the minority Act party, voted in favor of the bill at first reading, allowing it to proceed to select committee stage for public consultation and further readings in parliament. The timing is unclear, but the bill has broad support within the government and is likely to become law.
During the debate, New Zealand First leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters said English had never been considered official and the bill would “correct that anomaly”.
He argued that the use of the Māori language in public services was causing confusion.
“This bill will not completely resolve the push for this virtue signaling narrative,” Peters said. “But it is the first step in ensuring that logic and common sense prevail when the vast majority of New Zealanders communicate in English and understand English, in a country that should use English as its primary and official language.”
Peters, who is Māori, has long opposed affirmative initiatives aimed at advancing Māori and has criticized the use of Māori names for government departments. In 2025, a row broke out in parliament after Peters questioned why MPs were referring to New Zealand by its Māori name, Aotearoa, even though it was widely used, including on currency and passports.
The National Party has said the legislation is not a priority but would support it as part of its coalition deal, with National and Act MPs speaking in its favour.
Act’s Simon Court said it did not have to be a “culture war issue”, while National’s Rima Nakhle said making English official was “not the end of the world”.
But the proposal has garnered little support outside the coalition.
Advising the government, Justice Ministry officials recommended that lawmakers not pass the bill as “there was no evidence to support concerns about the use or status of English as an official language.”
Maori and New Zealand sign languages have become official to protect the status of linguistic minorities, justice officials have said., and recognizing English in the same way “would not change its status as the default language.”
Photography: Marion Kaplan/Alamy
Very few English-speaking countries had made English an official language, officials said, and when they had, it usually coincided with the protection of another language, for example in Canada, where the law stated that both French and English must be used in official contexts.
The bill has sparked negative reactions from opposition parties and language experts.
“It’s alarmist, it’s cynical and, frankly, we can do without it in this country,” Labor MP Kieran McAnulty said during the first reading.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick noted that English is “not threatened.” English was “literally beaten” into the people, Swarbrick said, referring to the Native Schools Act of 1867, which resulted in children being punished for speaking Māori.
“This is a bill that is a response to a problem that doesn’t exist,” he said. “Simply put, to everyone in this government, this bill is nonsense, and you know it.”
Sharon Harvey, an associate professor specializing in educational linguistics at Auckland University of Technology, told The Guardian the bill was “annoying” and “unnecessary”.
Proponents of the bill were playing to a section of society that was uncomfortable with the visibility of the Māori language and believed in the “spurious” argument that the importance of English was diminishing, Harvey said.
“This government had already shown itself to be quite strong in proposing English first, or English only, in some spaces,” Harvey said, pointing to government policies that reduce the visibility of Māori in public services and remove Māori words from some schoolbooks.
“I wonder if if we had this kind of legislation, it would further encourage certain governments to reduce the importance of other languages in this country.”
