New Zealand Halts Mori Cultural Training for Army Staff Amid Capability Concerns

Soldiers carry 160 kilogram bags during Exercise Torokiki at Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North, New Zealand, on Nov. 25, 2022. Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesThe New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has stopped the implementation of a “cultural skills framework” for army personnel following concerns raised by the libertarian ACT Party’s Todd Stephenson, who called the decision a “win for common sense.”While the NZDF is made up of staff—both enlisted and civilian—from many cultures, the framework focused mainly on the Māori culture indigenous to that country, and covered such things as staff performing karakia (incantations and prayers), reciting pepeha (a formal manner of introducing oneself) and learning a minimum of two waiata (songs).