{"id":18741,"date":"2026-08-02T23:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T23:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/new-zealand-mp-praises-wales-says-english-is-a-bastardisation-of-greek-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T23:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T23:02:16","slug":"new-zealand-mp-praises-wales-says-english-is-a-bastardisation-of-greek-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/new-zealand-mp-praises-wales-says-english-is-a-bastardisation-of-greek-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand MP praises Wales, says English is a \u201cbastardisation of Greek\u201d \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"A\">\n<h2 id=\"h-a-maori-member-of-parliament-has-praised-wales-as-a-model-for-protecting-indigenous-languages-during-a-passionate-speech-opposing-legislation-that-makes-english-an-official-language-of-new-zealand\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A M\u0101ori Member of Parliament has praised Wales as a model for protecting indigenous languages during a passionate speech opposing legislation that makes English an official language of New Zealand.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tamatha Paul, a Green Party MP for Wellington Central, delivered the remarks during a parliamentary debate on a bill that formally recognises English alongside te reo M\u0101ori and New Zealand Sign Language. The speech has since gone viral.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NZ Green MP calls English a &amp;apos;bastard&amp;apos; language during parliamentary debate | ABC NEWS\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7di3P2Q9tZQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul argued that the legislation was unnecessary because English already functions as New Zealand\u2019s de facto official language. She also criticised Parliament for debating the issue while many New Zealanders are facing cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During her address, Paul described English as \u201ca bastard language,\u201d noting that it has evolved from influences including Greek, Old Norse and Latin. She said Parliament should instead focus on more pressing issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MP also criticised opponents of te reo M\u0101ori, accusing them of overreacting to the use of New Zealand\u2019s M\u0101ori name, Aotearoa, and opposing greater visibility for the indigenous language.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-wales-highlighted-as-an-example\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wales highlighted as an example<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drawing on a recent parliamentary visit to Wales, Paul praised the country\u2019s commitment to bilingualism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She noted that Welsh (Cymraeg) appears prominently on public signage, often before English, and said the widespread use of the language demonstrates a strong national commitment to preserving indigenous identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe world didn\u2019t fall over,\u201d she said, arguing that bilingual signage has strengthened Wales\u2019 cultural identity rather than creating confusion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul contrasted this with actions by New Zealand\u2019s current government, including changing the prominence of te reo M\u0101ori on passports and reducing the use of M\u0101ori names for government departments.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-protecting-te-reo-maori\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protecting te reo M\u0101ori<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul said te reo M\u0101ori deserves special protection because the language was historically suppressed, with generations of M\u0101ori discouraged or punished for speaking it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She argued that recognising and promoting the language is part of preserving New Zealand\u2019s indigenous heritage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MP also pointed out that, despite the new legislation, English does not have official legal status in England itself.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-maori-language-today\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">M\u0101ori language today<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Zealand has two long-established official languages by law: <strong>te reo M\u0101ori<\/strong> and <strong>New Zealand Sign Language<\/strong>. English has long served as the country\u2019s primary working language and is now formally recognised under the new legislation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Te reo M\u0101ori became an official language through the <strong>M\u0101ori Language Act 1987<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to census data, around 190,000 New Zealanders can hold an everyday conversation in M\u0101ori, while thousands of schoolchildren receive bilingual or M\u0101ori-medium education. Language revitalisation remains a major national goal, with M\u0101ori regarded as one of the country\u2019s greatest cultural treasures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Welsh, te reo M\u0101ori has a rich oral tradition encompassing ceremonial speeches, genealogy, songs, chants and the haka.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, Paul shared photos from her visit to Wales, praising the country\u2019s language revitalisation efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She highlighted that Welsh is one of Europe\u2019s oldest living languages and noted that both Wales and New Zealand have set ambitious goals of reaching one million speakers of their indigenous languages through education and public use.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<div>\n\t\t<strong>Tags:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\tAotearoa, bilingualism, culture, Cymraeg, Greek, Green Party, Indigenous languages, language preservation, M\u0101ori, New Zealand, parliament, politics, Tamatha Paul, te reo M\u0101ori, Wales, Wellington, Welsh language\t<\/div>\n<\/footer><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/08\/03\/maori-mp-praises-wales-bilingualism\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A M\u0101ori Member of Parliament has praised Wales as a model for protecting indigenous languages during a passionate speech opposing legislation that makes English an official language of New Zealand. Tamatha Paul, a Green Party MP for Wellington Central, delivered the remarks during a parliamentary debate on a bill that formally recognises English alongside te &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"New Zealand MP praises Wales, says English is a \u201cbastardisation of Greek\u201d \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/new-zealand-mp-praises-wales-says-english-is-a-bastardisation-of-greek-greek-city-times\/#more-18741\" aria-label=\"Read more about New Zealand MP praises Wales, says English is a \u201cbastardisation of Greek\u201d \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tamatha_Paul_NB_4-3_ver_2_1-e1785482695760-1024x710-1_upscale.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}