New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon claims it pays to be incredible simple with dealing with Aussies

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made a surprising suggestion after a letter to an Australian minister was simplified.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has suggested it “always pays to be incredibly simple” when dealing with Australians after a draft letter to an Australian minister was simplified.

The comment was sparked when Australia’s Immigration Minister Tony Burke was sent an invitations to Maori New Year celebrations.

In the invitation, te reo Māori greetings and the word “Aotearoa” were removed.

New Zealand’s Labour leader Chris Hipkins asked the Prime Minister during question time in parliament this week whether he backed a minister’s decision to remove the phrases.

Newly appointed Immigration Minister Tony Burke was the recipient of the simplified letter. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In response to being asked whether the change “reflects the standard of behaviour he expects of his ministers”, Mr Luxon said it was worthwhile to speak in “simple” terms when communicating with Australian counterparts.

“What I’d also say to that member is the correspondence was being directed to an Australian Minister overseas … in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple and clear and use English,” he said.

It comes after New Zealand’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith’s decision to remove the te reo Māori greetings were reportedly labelled as “shameful” and “contrary” to celebrating indigenous language.

In an official email sent to staff, Mr Goldsmith provided an updated template officials should use when sending invitations from the minister to foreign politicians.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made the comments during Question Time in parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

“Following the changes made to Hon Burke’s letter from the Minister last week (i.e. removing all te reo Māori salutations and the removal of any references made to Aotearoa, New Zealand) please find below the updated email,” the email said according to 1 News.

Phrases such as “Dear” and “Yours Sincerely” were translated to English.

When explaining why the letter to Mr Burke was changed, Mr Goldsmith said he didn’t believe the invitation needed a lot of te reo Māori as Mr Burke is Australian.

“It’s hardly the scandal of the century. I just didn’t think it needed a lot of te reo in it, that was all, just simple communication … I thought, let’s just keep it simple,” he told 1 News.

“There was quite a lot of te reo language in an invitation to an Australian Minister so I thought, no, look, let’s take it out.”

When asked whether he thought an Australian wouldn’t be able to understand what “Aotearoa” was, Mr Goldsmith replied “yeah”.

But Mr Burke has hit back, saying he was well aware of Maori word thanks to New Zealand pop band Split Enz.

“I learnt the word in 1982 thanks to Split Enz including a reference in the lyrics to Six Months in a Leaky Boat,” he said.

Originally published as New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon claims it pays to be incredible simple with dealing with Aussies