What, then, would the proposal change?

“Nothing,” says Andrew Geddis, a professor of law at the University of Otago.

Legislation is intended to solve problems, he says. “What is the social problem here that requires a solution? English is already an official language. It can be used in all public settings.”

Geddis refers to the policy as “virtue signalling”: “There seem to be some people out there who fear English is under threat and is somehow going to be overtaken in New Zealand. This [policy] seems to be a way to try to respond to that fear.”