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Shane Jones says his party believes
the grass-roots of te reo are at risk
and joins me now from Wellington to discuss the Tribunal's report.
Tena koe, Shane. Your reaction to the report?
Just so we know,
many early-childhood centres
are run and owned by people
in Sydney, Australia.
It's a waste.
They're receiving lots of financial assistance from the government.
We need to ask Pita Sharples
why our Kohanga aren't getting the same treatment.
It's easy to apologise. It shouldn't just be with words.
The Kohanga Reo elders need to discuss it,
but with the growth in children attending kohanga,
we can rightfully say that it has blossomed.
How would you describe the state of Kohanga reo?
It's like a seed - if you water the seed, it'll grow.
So many of our children are becoming parents
and are not putting them through early-childhood learning.
I say that we need to work with our iwi to give funding
to bring the costs down.
I have no problem with it.
This needs to be achieved by the Crown working with Kohanga elders,
because if the funding isn't there,
I can't see how our kids can learn the language if their parents
have yet to learn it.
What about the National Trust board?
Does it need to lift its game?
It needs to be done quickly.
We mustn't focus on the Crown's position.
Government laws have seen our Kohanga reos deteriorate.
The laws oppress traditional practices in Kohanga.
Those in high places like Iritana need to give the Kohanga a hand.
We mustn't be narrow-minded and work together to find a way
to save our language.
The biggest problem for me are the outdated laws
that Kohanga reo have to live by.
Shane Jones, thank you for joining us.