New Zealand Māori party launches petition to change country’s name to Aotearoa

Party wants all original te reo Mori place names to be officially restored across the country in the next five years

The Mori party has launched a petition to change New Zealand's official name to Aotearoa, the te reo Mori, indigenous language name for the country.

It's well past time that Te Reo Mori was restored to its rightful place as the first and official language of this country," Te Pti Mori leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said in a statement launching the petition. We are a Polynesian country - we are Aotearoa."