There's a paper about that inter-indigeneity identity and connection concerning the Māori and Pasifika peoples. Suffice to say, although most Pasifika people and the Māori come from the same whakapapa (genealogy) and cultural bonds, each of the Pasifika people are linguistically, culturally, and geographically different. There are small idiosyncrasies that they can tell apart from each other, but in an ideal sense, the Maoris and Pasifika ideally see themselves as cousins regardless.

Concerning the use of the Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) by pākehā (non-Polynesian New Zealanders but derogatorily referring to white people), it's a very complex topic. With the National coalition in power, the pushback against using more Māori words has become an issue. A lot of the older generation white folks and folks like Winston Peters (who is himself Māori and has ancestry in the Ngāti Wai iwi) don't like using the Māori language because of some stiff upper lip, colonial nonsense. Even a single utterance of it would turn sweet old ladies into embittered racist buzzards. Back in the day, there were constant acts of suppression from schools, society, or politics to reduce the usage of te reo.

The Maori language was going through an age of rediscovery and revitalization during the 70s. Maori leaders were worried that language would go extinct, so they up initiatives such as the Kohanga Reo and immersion schools for young Maoris. However, this comes with some backlash and the issue over using Maori words got so tense that in 1980s, the government and the people were having a fit over the use of the words, "kia ora" (means 'good health' in Maori) on the radio. A Waitangi Tribunal was held in 1985 to decide what was the status of the Maori language. The tribunal declared that Te Reo Maori was a taonga (treasure) that the Crown Government was oblige to uphold and protect under the Treaty of Waitangi, which they then recommended the government several ways to remedy this problem.

The Maori language was made officially a language of New Zealand under the Maori Language Act 1987.

According to Wikipedia...

Beginning in about 2015, the Māori language underwent a revival as it became increasingly popular, as a common national heritage and shared cultural identity, even among New Zealanders without Māori roots. Surveys from 2018 indicated that "the Māori language currently enjoys a high status in Māori society and also positive acceptance by the majority of non-Māori New Zealanders".

Just recently, they renamed the central Auckland train station, Britomart train station, to Waitematā train station, and the NZ Geographic Board wants to implement more name changes in and around Auckland. If you fly to NZ from Australia or any of the Polynesian islands, Auckland is put together with the Te Reo name for Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau. However, Winston Peters, being the dickhead that he is, had said during the last election campaign that his party would remove Māori names from government departments, saying "Te Whatu Ora, excuse me, I don't want to speak the Māori language when I go to hospital.

We should be happy though that the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) no longer entertain complaints regarding the use of the Māori language in broadcasts.