A Wellington law lecturer has drafted a bill he hopes will see New Zealand revert to the use of titles such as Dame and Sir to refer to people awarded honours.
Victoria University lecturer Dean Knight hopes a politician might pick up the bill and introduce it to Parliament.
He supports New Zealand having an indigenous honours system, but thinks it has led to a lack of recognition of those receiving the country's highest accolades.
His bill would restore the titles and provide for te reo equivalents.
During last year's election campaign Prime Minister John Key suggested he would like the honours system reviewed.
A spokesman for Mr Key said on Wednesday that the matter is not being dealt with at the moment.
Opera singer Dame Malvina Major would like to see titles return because people who do good work deserve that recogition.
She said it is a shame if people honoured for their work are forgotten.
Republic Movement of New Zealand chairperson Lewis Holden agrees the system could be looked at.
"It is interesting that we still tend to say 'this is the equivalent of a knighthood' and I think that probably in itself shows our attitude to the new system.
"It really hasn't caught on in the way that we might have wanted it to."
Lewis Holden would also like an independent committee to award the honours.
