A couple of years ago when local iwi suggested that "Whanganui" be spelled correctly, with an "h", there was an enormous racist outburst, with Whanganui mayor Michael Laws whipping up a horde of rednecks to complain about how they were being oppressed by having to spell things correctly. Fast forward a couple of years, and my local region is debating whether to start using a macron in Manawatū. The immediate public reaction (offline, but in yesterday's SubStandard)? "Writing Maori is just as important as pronouncing it".
It seems that Palmerston North isn't Whanganui after all...
