Lawmakers in New Zealand have passed a bill to make English one of the country’s official languages.
The move was widely ridiculed in the Pacific Rim nation, where English is already widely used, including in courts and parliament.
The English Language Bill states that the addition of English as an official language, alongside Māori and the country’s sign language, will not mean any new rules are needed for it to continue being used in legal, political and government settings or documents.
More than 95% of New Zealand’s population — or almost 4.8 million people — spoke English as of 2023, according to government data. Just 4.3% spoke Māori and 0.5% used sign language.
The bill — campaigned for by the nationalist New Zealand First party, part of the coalition government — passed its third reading in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
