Government updates official branding to highlight English over te reo Māori

The government has updated its official branding to give greater prominence to English over te reo Māori, following a directive from new Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith.

The Public Service Commission sent the new logo to all ministries and departments this week, telling them to update their websites by the end of June, in line with the coalition's English-first policy.

The redesigned branding - which must be displayed on all agencies' homepages - places "New Zealand Government" in bold above "Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa", reversing the previous order.

In a brief statement to RNZ, Goldsmith said: "This was a coalition commitment that hadn't yet been achieved. Now we're doing it."

Asked why the update had taken more than two-and-half-years to implement, he said the government had been juggling "very many priorities".

"The vast majority of New Zealanders have English as their primary language, and so it makes sense," Goldsmith told RNZ.

"The government continues to be very focused on the development of te reo Māori, and that carries on."

A spokesperson for the commission told RNZ the change-in-order reflected a "ministerial decision" and agencies would continue to use both languages.

The change would be delivered "digital first" with physical materials updated over time to minimise cost, the spokesperson said. The commission had also updated its own logo.

The English-first directive was won by NZ First during its negotiations with National in 2023. Their eventual coalition agreement stated that all public service departments - excluding those specifically related to Māori - would have their primary name in English and communicate primarily in English.

Goldsmith took over responsibility for the public service from Judith Collins in early April in advance of her retirement.

Shortly before the handover, Collins suggested the government's logo design was not a key priority, telling reporters she was focused on the fuel crisis, "not style guides".

But NZ First leader Winston Peters, at the time, said the public service would be "called to account very shortly".

The ACT Party also weighed in on the conversation, with its MP Todd Stephenson writing to Collins in March to draw attention to the government logo and warning of "growing concern" that the English-first policy was not being "visibly implemented" across the public service.

Stephenson told RNZ he was pleased that the commission had taken note of his concerns and updated its guidelines.

"ACT has always been clear that we do not support costly rebrands involving consultants or flash new signage. But as Brooke van Velden proved at the Department of Internal Affairs with a digital-first rebrand for just $741, this can be done efficiently. The commission has now followed that example.

"The English-first policy is not one of ACT's coalition commitments, but I pursued this because it's supported by many of ACT's supporters. More to the point, we expect coalition agreements to be held. It's a matter keeping promises made to New Zealanders."

Green Party public service spokesperson Francisco Hernandez told RNZ the directive was a "pointless distraction" from an "out of touch" government.

"Aotearoa has moved on to embrace Te Tiriti, but this government is intent on clinging on to the past. That they are obsessing over this instead of tackling the fossil fuel cost of living crisis shows what their focus is."

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the logo change proved the coalition was focused on all the wrong things.

"Frankly I don't care what order the words go in. I'm more concerned about the government doing the job that New Zealanders expect it to do, like tackling the cost-of-living, like getting people back to work, like fixing the economy."

Goldsmith denied the move was a distraction and said it would be "very simple" to achieve.

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