Demography matters, folks.

Where is Mark Steyn when you need him?

He said it was an “ironic and cruel twist” that the decline was continuing despite the launch of Maori Television in 2004 and the increasing public use of the language in other media.

The number of Maori in this country who spoke te reo actually increased slightly from 2001 to 2006, from 130,482 to 131,613, but that represented a decline in the proportion of all Maori in this country who could speak the language, from 24.8 per cent to 23.3 per cent – the second successive decline.

Mr Hamer said the proportion of Maori in Australia who could speak te reo might also be declining, because the total Maori population in Australia may have risen by more than 20 per cent in the five years to 2006.

But his 2007 report on Maori in Australia documented a growing phenomenon of kapa haka groups, Maori clubs and even marae in Australia.

“The figures appear to confirm that Maori society has, in part, an increasingly Australian future,” he said.

Meanwhile a draft paper by Wellington researcher James Newell, due to be published next week, has found that Maori 18-year-old Australian Idol winner Stan Walker typifies a Maori working population in Australia that is younger, more male and in less skilled jobs than Maori working in New Zealand.

Again using 2006 census data, Mr Newell found that 28 per cent of Maori workers in Australia were aged 25 to 34, compared to only 23 per cent of Maori in New Zealand.

via Tasman migration hits te reo at home – National – NZ Herald News.