New Zealand Halts Māori Cultural Training for Army Staff Amid Capability Concerns

ACT Party MP Todd Stephenson said requiring officers to memorise Māori songs and prayers suggested the military’s priorities were misplaced.

Soldiers carry 160 kilogram bags during Exercise Torokiki at Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North, New Zealand, on Nov. 25, 2022. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has stopped the implementation of a “cultural skills framework” for army personnel following concerns raised by the libertarian ACT Party’s Todd Stephenson, who called the decision a “win for common sense.”

While the NZDF is made up of staff—both enlisted and civilian—from many cultures, the framework focused mainly on the Māori culture indigenous to that country, and covered such things as staff performing karakia (incantations and prayers), reciting pepeha (a formal manner of introducing oneself) and learning a minimum of two waiata (songs).

These requirements were marked as either “minimal” or “must do” for NZDF personnel.

The framework formed part of the Army’s new “general orders” to soldiers and referenced Māori gods as guiding influences for its strategy “to achieve a bicultural status by enabling the recognition of Māori cultural interests as they are guaranteed within [The Treaty of Waitangi].”

In a letter (pdf) to Defence Minister Judith Collins, Stephenson of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers Party, said the framework risked prioritising cultural ideology at the expense of operational focus and merit.

“This policy appears to embed ideological and cultural requirements that go well beyond the government’s expectations for a professional, politically neutral public service,” the letter read.

“Rather than focusing on operational effectiveness and merit, the framework imposes a set of cultural competencies that would not normally be expected of public servants.”

Government Pauses the Framework

In her reply, Collins confirmed that the army leadership has now paused the framework to allow it to undertake broader consultation.

Stephenson applauded the minister’s intervention.

“New Zealanders expect Army leaders to be war-fighters, not performers,” he said in a statement.

“Requiring officers to memorise [Māori songs and prayers] was a clear case of priorities drifting off course.”

While welcoming the pause, Stephenson stated that the policy should be permanently stopped.

“Our Defence Force exists to defend New Zealand and support our allies in an increasingly dangerous world. It should be laser-focused on capability and readiness,” he said.

When questioned by reporters at Parliament, both Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters expressed surprise that NZDF had created the framework without Collins being aware of it.

Criticism of the Pause

Meanwhile, defence commentator and Massey University professor, Bethan Greener, was critical of Collins’ veto, pointing out that the NZDF valued “its bicultural heritage” as seen in documents such as ‘The Way of the Warrior.”

“Here, the Māori warrior is celebrated, seen as something to be proud of. So why the concern about incorporating basic [Māori language and traditions] into officer requirements?” she questioned.

Greener also noted that while warfighting capability is important to soldiers, so too are morale and unit cohesion, which she said could be strengthened through the infusion of Māori traditions and values.

“The aim of this cultural policy appears to be an effort to bring the most minimal, the most basic, easy and enjoyable of activities in to ensure that those who belong to the [New Zealand Army] ... can belong.”