New Zealand parliament makes English third official language
· UPIAug. 3 (UPI) -- New Zealand's parliament has passed legislation making English its third official language.
English is already spoken by 95% of New Zealanders, while 4.3% speak Māori and .5% use sign language, government data shows.
New Zealand First party's Casey Costello, a supporter of the bill that passed on Thursday, said its purpose was to "recognize in legislation what has long been assumed in New Zealand."
"Namely, that English is an official language of our country," Costello told members of parliament. "Despite what has been claimed across this house, this bill is important and far from the claimed waste of time."
The move has been derided by opponents as unnecessary given the ubiquity of the language in New Zealand.
"I wondered if they might want to legislate for the changing of the seasons?" Labour MP Camilla Belich said, CNN reported.
The Māori language fell into disuse over the years following the British colonization of the islands in 1840.
Green party MP Tamatha Paul said that, unlike English, Māori had protected status "because it was beaten out of Māori systematically."
"We had to march our asses to parliament demanding that the indigenous first language of this country be recognized and not beaten out of the mouths of its native speakers," she said.
Victoria University of Wellington law professor Dean Knight called the legislation a "pointless exercise."
"Folks who got excited by this performative law-making will be disappointed to learn that, despite the dog-whistling and claims from its promoters within parliament, it does not mandate priority to the English language in government communications and elsewhere," he told the Guardian.
"Like before, Aotearoa New Zealand will continue to have three official languages."