We were asked when the name of the partially submerged geological continent that New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and New Caledonia sit on changed from Zealandia to Te Riu-ā-Maui. We were asked who proposed the Māori name and whether the other countries on the continent were consulted.
We refused the request under Sections 18(d) and (e) of the Official Information Act 1982.
No name is officially or unofficially recognised for the geological continent under New Zealand’s place naming legislation, so no name has been changed, and the information requested does not exist.
Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board (the Board) recently considered a proposal to officially assign a dual name, Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia, to that part of the continent within the Board’s jurisdiction. At its 18 June 2024 hui the Board declined the proposal.
The continent has been known in scientific literature as Zealandia since the 1990s. However, no existing name is officially or unofficially recognised under New Zealand’s place naming legislation – the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008.
For a dual name, both parts of the name would be required to be used together as one official name string.
The proposal was for just that part of the continent within New Zealand’s Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) boundary. The Board’s naming jurisdiction only extends to New Zealand’s ECS limit, other than for naming in Antarctica. Approximately 1/3 of the physical continent extends beyond New Zealand’s (ECS) limits into Australian and French territories and Exclusive Economic Zones.
Following advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade | Te Manatū Aorere (MFAT), the Board agreed that any proposal to name the continent needed to be handled at a diplomatic level, and agreed to by the governments of New Zealand, Australia and France. The Board agreed that the whole feature would need to be named, not just the New Zealand part of it.
The minutes state ‘that not officially naming the feature will not be an impediment to the proposer using the unofficial dual name in scientific publications, and in time it may come into common use.’
GNS Science Te Pū Ao made the proposal to the Board. The Board’s minutes for 20 April 2016, 11 April 2019, 3 October 2023, 30 April 2024, and 18 June 2024 record the Board’s full discussion of the proposal and who was consulted. These are all available on the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand website.