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Tonight the Government's Te Reo Maori strategy road show
hits Te Arawa country.
Those who attend will hear first-hand
why iwi need to take the lead of language revitalisation efforts.
But Labour has already warned the new strategy may get dumped
should they return to power.
Labour MP Shane Jones joins us now from our Wellington studio,
tena koe Shane.
What's Labour's main concern
with Pita Sharples' language strategy?
Firstly, Pita hasn't yet come to talk with Maori MPs
who are fluent in te reo, such as myself, Hone Harawira,
Te Ururoa and Tau Henare,
we who have fought for our own kids to learn the language.
We haven't heard one thing from him about what this is about.
Secondly, tell me one adult or child
who will learn the language from his efforts in pursuing this?
Their recent actions are just for show.
What would your strategy be?
Strengthening our kohanga reo, if not them,
then another kind of early-childhood centre
similar to kohanga that our kids can all go to.
It's a waste of time talking about iwi and hapu.
Those who are planting the seed are the experts, are whanau,
and maybe some hapu.
But people don't want their work to be lost amongst iwi issues.
You've lambasted iwi leaders for not
tackling Maori male violence,
the same could be said for te reo -
are you holding them accountable for it?
I've already made efforts to talk to our relations on those boards.
That's what they should be doing,
identifying and working towards the advancement
and development of our people.
They aren't interested in the revival of our language
or the well-being of our women and children.
Better to leave them with the task of finding funding.
But it's a waste of time
to give them the job of reviving our language
because those who know the language are very few,
but those who live in ignorance
have been living in ignorant bliss for the last 10 years or more.
Moving on to Tariana Turia's plain packaging bill -
will you be supporting it at its first reading tonight?
I've had a lot of family members who have been taken by smoking.
Phil Goff released a statement today
expressing his anger towards foreign companies
who are trying to get around our laws
so that Tariana's bill can be pushed out.
I support Phil Goff's statement today,
but we'll be discussing that tonight.
The Syrian conflict -
do you agree with the PM that New Zealanders
who participate in the civil war
should have their passports revoked?
It seems he knows more than we do.
But I'm saddened to hear what he's been saying about this issue.
With such matters,
it'd be better if he had kept it out of the media
instead of feeding Syrian news
and forgetting about what's going on in his back yard.
If there is an enemy among us,
then the PM should be chasing them.
Shane Jones, thank you for your time.