A Māori version of the song was produced in 1878 by Thomas Henry Smith of Auckland, a judge in the Native Land Court, on request of Premier George Edward Grey.[1] A copy of the Māori lyrics, using Aotearoa for its title, was printed in Otago newspapers in October 1878.[6] In Smith's original text the word "whakarangona" was used to translate 'hear', rather than the modern "whakarongona".[3]