English Language Bill
Proposed Act of Parliament in New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The English Language Bill is a proposed New Zealand Act of Parliament that seeks to designate the English language as an official language in legislation, alongside the Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language.[1][2] The bill was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament by the Sixth National Government on 19 February 2026,[2] and passed its first reading on 3 March 2026.[3]
| English Language Bill | |
|---|---|
| |
| New Zealand Parliament[1] | |
| Legislative history | |
| Introduced by | Paul Goldsmith[1] |
| Committee responsible | Justice Select Committee[1] |
| First reading | 3 March 2026[1] |
| Status: Pending — before | |
Key provisions
The English Language Bill provides for the official recognition of the English language as an official language of New Zealand in legislation.[4] It will accord English the same status as New Zealand's two official languages, the Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language.[2]
Legislative history
Background
During the 2023 New Zealand general election, the New Zealand First party campaigned on promoting English to the status of an official language of New Zealand.[5] Following coalition talks, NZ First entered into a coalition agreement with the National and ACT parties in late November 2023.[6][7] As part of New Zealand First's coalition agreement with National, the Government agreed to pass legislation designating English as an official language of New Zealand.[8][9]
Introduction
On 19 February 2026, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith introduced the English Language Bill into the New Zealand Parliament. Goldsmith said that the bill was not a priority for the National-led government but was part of National's coalition agreement with New Zealand First. During his speech supporting the bill, NZ First leader Winston Peters claimed that the increasing use of the Māori language in official communications had caused misunderstanding and confusion. Opposition Members of Parliament including Labour MPs Duncan Webb, Ayesha Verrall and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick described the proposed bill as unnecessary due to the de-facto status of English in New Zealand. Due to a filibuster mounted by opposition parties on the previous bill, the first reading was delayed.[2]
On 3 March 2026, the English Language Bill passed its first reading with the support of the National, ACT, New Zealand First and Labour parties.[3][10] Goldsmith, Peters, ACT MP Simon Court and National MP Rima Nakhle issued statements supporting the bill as part of National's coalition agreement with NZ First and sought to allay fears it would marginalise the Māori language. Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, Swarbrick, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi described the bill as unnecessary and divisive.[3][10] While the Labour Party regarded the bill as unnecessary, its acting arts, culture and heritage spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said that her party had decided to support the bill for procedural reasons, stating "we reluctantly support this bill so we can all just move on from this needless culture war."[11] Despite the objections of Swarbrick, Parliament did not call for a party vote on the bill's passage during its first reading. Had the party vote been held, Swarbrick said that the Green party and Te Pāti Māori would have cast 15 votes against the bill.[11]
Responses
The language advocate and academic Vincent Ieni Olsen-Reeder argued that the English Language Bill did not fulfil its stated goals of advancing the English language in New Zealand.[3] Similarly, the Auckland University of Technology linguist Associate Professor Sharon Harvey described the proposed bill as "vexatious and unnecessary."[10]
