Labour's Māori caucus chair and Associate Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson wants Te Reo made compulsory but that's not his party's policy.

The Prime Minister and one of her senior Maori MPs are on different pages over compulsory Te Reo Māori in schools.

Willie Jackson, who is associate Māori Development Minister and chair of the Māori caucus, says the language will be compulsory for all New Zealanders by 2025, but that's not what the Government's policy is.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there's a shortage of Te Reo teachers and the focus for the Government was on making it "universally available", which is what they campaigned on.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government needs to work on increasing the number of Te Reo Māori teachers to reach its goal of making the language universally available.

But Jackson says he "didn't think it was a difference" between compulsory or universally available and he thought Labour "wanted every New Zealand child picking it up by 2025".

READ MORE:

* Māori Party says Labour's te reo plan lacks vision

* Greens lay out plan for compulsory te reo Māori

* I was too lazy for te reo Māori - Changing a habit of a lifetime

* Why Stuff is introducing macrons for te reo Māori words

"It depends how you look at it, we look at it as compulsory," he said.

"What we're saying is it has to be in all the schools by 2025 and that it's got to be picked up by all the schools in 2025. When we did that policy we were very clear about it. Others wanted to say other things but we always saw it when we rolled the policy out that all New Zealanders will be learning the language by 2025."

Jackson's interpretation of the policy is more in line with the Green Party's position, which is to implement Te Reo Māori as a core curriculum subject in all public primary and secondary schools by 2030.

Ardern says Labour's policy is different from the Greens because her focus is making sure "it's realistic".

"Unless we keep investing in Te Reo teachers then that goal is hard. We want to make sure we've got the foundations there."

"I absolutely believe universal availability will make a difference. How can we increase the uptake of Te Reo if we don't have enough teachers?"

The incoming briefing to the Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta revealed 25.1 per cent of the Māori population were able to hold an everyday conversation in Te Reo and by 2013 that had dropped to 21.3 per cent.

That scenario meant by 2038 only 12 per cent of Māori will speak Te Reo, which ministry officials said would leave speakers feeling "isolated and the language more vulnerable".

Jackson said there had been many strategies for increasing the use of the language but it was a "constant struggle".

"But I have faith we're going to come up with the right strategy."

Jackson wasn't concerned about the rhetoric from well-known New Zealanders, including former National Party leader Don Brash, that too much Te Reo Māori was used by broadcasters, such as Radio New Zealand.

"New Zealanders have grown up, they've matured, they're sick of the Don Brash rhetoric and we're confident that we're going to get New Zealanders' support.

"We're talking eight years away and it's a sustained campaign between now and 2025," he said.