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A widely accepted council rule requiring members to give two days' notice before addressing meetings in te reo Māori has been deemed an oppression of the official language.
The rule is included in standing orders across the country, including in Southland and allows councils extra time to arrange interpreters or translators if necessary.
But University of Otago Emeritus Prof Lachlan Paterson said council requirements were an unfortunate reflection of the status of te reo Māori in local government.
“We have an official language that it is people’s right to use for all purposes, including official ones, but this has to be done in a constructed manner rather than organically,” he said.
“If councillors or council staff were fluent in te reo this would not need to happen.”
Prof Paterson said English had been considered the default language through 186 years of colonisation, while te reo had historically been “discouraged, forbidden, or at best just tolerated”.
“The reason why notice is generally required for te reo Māori is because of a history of sustained linguistic oppression,” he said.
Local Democracy Reporting viewed standing orders at 20 authorities across New Zealand — including at Southland’s four councils — and found all required at least two working days' notice from members wishing to speak in te reo when the meeting was normally conducted in English.
Taranaki Regional Council required five days’ notice; Palmerston North City Council required three days; and Hamilton City Council extended the rule to presenters, while saying notice should "ideally" be no less than two days.
Two Southland councils responded to criticism of the requirement, with Invercargill City Council saying it recognised te reo and New Zealand Sign Language as official languages.
The provision had been included to ensure members could engage, understand and communicate during the decision-making process, council manager governance and legal Michael Morris said.
Mr Morris hoped the official languages would be “valued and visible” at the organisation and noted the rules did not apply to members of the public.
“Te reo Māori is spoken freely throughout council, including in chambers, by staff, elected members and our mana whenua partners,” Mr Morris said.
Southland District Council said it did its best to accommodate Māori language speakers and those using New Zealand Sign Language.
The clause was in place so the council could seek support for translation and interpretation if necessary, it said.
Te reo viewed as a 'secondary language'
A reverse provision is also common in standing orders, where English speakers are required to give notice at meetings held in te reo.
But barrister and University of Otago Assoc Prof Paerau Warbrick called that a “red herring” to make things appear equal.
“There’s no room for these provisions in standing orders in this day and age,” he said.
“The only thing that is standing in the way is the attitudes of the mayors and councillors themselves.”
Assoc Prof Warbrick referenced policy from Denbighshire County Council in Wales which showed all members and staff were expected to conform with Welsh language standards.
The policy noted many staff and residents spoke Welsh, and the council was committed to promoting it in the workplace.
“That’s the problem with te reo Māori in most councils in New Zealand. It's viewed as a secondary language,” Assoc Prof Warbrick said.
“It’s all about attitudes.”
People with hearing difficulties are also impacted by the rules, which often list New Zealand Sign Language next to te reo Māori for giving notice.
Deaf Aotearoa chief executive Lachlan Keating felt a two-working-day period was “generally reasonable”, but its effectiveness depended on different factors.
Those included the availability of a regional interpreter, options for online interpreting and how much notice councils gave for meetings.
On the topic of availability, there were two Dunedin-based interpreters who covered Invercargill but none based in the city, he said.
Where do the rules come from?
Local Government New Zealand had templates which were adapted by councils all around the country and that included for standing orders.
The two-day notice provision had been included in templates since 2003 so qualified interpreters could be arranged, LGNZ chief executive Scott Necklen said.
“The current templates were last updated in 2025 and involved input from governance staff from several councils.”
Councils’ standing orders were on track to be replaced by a common set of orders once the Local Government Amendment Bill passed, Mr Necklen said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.