The Justice Select Committee has recommended the English Language Bill be passed without any changes, according to reports published on 28 June 2026.

The bill, if enacted, would recognise English as an official language of New Zealand alongside te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language — completing a trio of official languages that has been in formation since the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The committee's recommendation to pass the bill unamended means it will return to the House in the form it was introduced.

The bill had its first reading and was referred to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee on 3 March 2026, as recorded in the daily progress of the House. The committee then opened the bill for public submissions, as noted on the Parliament website. The committee's report, delivered roughly four months after introduction, is a standard timeframe for a bill of this character.

The bill's place in the official languages framework

New Zealand currently has two official languages: te reo Māori, recognised under the Māori Language Act 1987, and New Zealand Sign Language, given official status in 2006. English has never been formally recognised despite being the dominant language of government, the courts, and everyday commerce. The English Language Bill addresses that anomaly directly.

The Government also tightened minimum English language requirements for migrants through decisions taken in 2024, as noted in a ministerial address to the Annual Immigration Law Conference in March 2026. Taken together, the immigration changes and the official recognition bill reflect a consistent policy direction on language from the current Government, though the two instruments operate on different legal planes — one regulating entry criteria, the other conferring constitutional status.

What comes next

A committee recommendation to pass without amendment carries procedural weight. It removes any prospect of a government-side SOP (Supplementary Order Paper) to address drafting concerns raised in select committee, and it signals the bill has cross-party backing sufficient to clear that stage — though the precise party-by-party breakdown of the committee's majority position has not been confirmed in the available reporting.

The bill will now proceed to its second reading, where the House debates the committee's report, followed by the committee of the whole House stage and third reading. Given the unamended recommendation, the second reading debate is unlikely to be prolonged. Whether the House uses urgency to accelerate the remaining stages is a matter for the Government's legislative programme managers.

The practical effect of official recognition is largely symbolic in the short term — English already underpins New Zealand's statute book and court system without a declaratory provision. What the bill does do is place English on a formally equal legal footing with te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, a change with potential downstream significance for official languages policy, public service language obligations, and any future legislative framework governing language rights.

RNZ confirmed the committee's no-changes recommendation on 28 June 2026.