8. Language The right to learn and use one’s own language is an internationally recognised human right and is set out in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. in 2007, the Human Rights Commission published a statement on language policy that called for, among other things, a national languages policy and specific strategies for Māori, New Zealand sign language, Pacific and community languages. The call was renewed in the commission’s 2010 report Human Rights in New Zealand 2010 – Ngā Tika Tangata o Aotearoa. To support discussion on language strategies, the Commission facilitates a language policy network, publishes a monthly newsletter and hosts an annual language policy forum. Māori Television began broadcasting in 2004. It grew in popularity and added a second, Māori language only channel in 2008. The first monolingual learner dictionary Tirohia Kimihia was produced by Huia Publishers in 2007. This was followed in 2008 by the Māori Language Commission’s landmark monolingual dictionary, He Pātaka Kupu – te kai a te rangatira. The use of Māori in the public domain increased significantly, particularly as a result of the annual Māori language Week promoting wider use of Māori in public and community life. Increased use was evident in business, internet applications, place names, and in the media. The state of Te Reo Māori came under scrutiny in two major reports: the Waitangi Tribunal’s chapter on te reo Māori from its report on the Wai 262 claim in 2010, and the Ministerial task forces review Te Reo Mauriora in 2011. A new Māori language strategy has yet to be developed in response to these and other findings. A significant proportion of Māori live in Australia; estimated at as many as one in six. This has been raised as an issue for language maintenance in research from Paul Hamer of the institute of Policy studies. The initial Mind Your Language Programme launched by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs to support the Tokelau, Niue and Cook Island communities in maintaining their languages was followed by the development of a draft Pacific languages strategy, which is yet to be approved by the Government. Samoan, Cook Island and Tongan Language Weeks were added to the annual calendar of language events, alongside Māori language Week and New Zealand sign language Week. Language Line, a telephone interpreting service operated by the Office of Ethnic Affairs, considerably extended both the range of languages available and the organisations using the service. Community language education received a setback with severe cuts to adult and community education in the 2009 budget. 19