Road rage: Political row erupts over Māori traffic signs

Plans to introduce bilingual road signs have become a political battleground, as arguments over racial politics become prominent in the country's election race

- Tess McClure

New Zealand opened public consultation this month on plans to create bilingual road signs in English and te reo Māori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa. Transport agency Waka Kotahi said the signs were "an opportunity for te reo Māori to be seen in our communities and support language learning and revitalisation" and that "making te reo Māori a part of our everyday lives promotes cultural understanding and social cohesion".

Bilingual road signs are the norm in many countries, including Scotland, Wales and parts of Europe. The plans immediately came under fire, however, from the centre-right National party, with spokesperson Simeon Brown saying the signs would be confusing: "We all speak English, and they should be in English." David Seymour, leader of the rightwing libertarian Act party and prospective National coalition partner, said "the point of road signs is to communicate information in a language drivers understand, not to virtue signal, not to socially engineer".

The minister for justice, Kiritapu Allan, said the comments were an insult to New Zealanders' intelligence.

"Seems like they think New Zealand isn't smart enough," she told New Zealand news outlet Stuff. "The rest of the world has embraced bilingualism and multilingualism. This is a real insult to New Zealanders and our IQ."