NZ News Essentials recognises that te reo Māori is an official language of New Zealand.

While we have the utmost respect for te reo Māori and, where necessary and appropriate, will incorporate it into our work, we are first and foremost an English language publication. Our primary duty is to convey messages in a clear and straightforward manner.

We are under no obligation to teach the reader another language or use words and phrases from another language that have an equivalent meaning in English. 

Certain Māori words, however, are so common as to become part of the English vernacular of New Zealand. For example, a phrase such as kia ora is akin to ciao in Italian and can reasonably be understood by the majority of Kiwis as a salutation.

Less well known words that we may from time to time use in te reo Māori will be translated each time they are used in an article. Often we will just use an English word or phrase that is equivalent in meaning.