pn907. Prof. Richard Shaw on treating people equally: Equal treatment, unequal outcomes

 

Richard Shaw

Opinion: We don’t all start out in life from the same place, writes Richard Shaw, and that is why treating people equally can mean unequal outcomes.

Following the formation of the National-ACT-New Zealand First government, there has been a good deal of noise about the importance of treating everyone the same.

Taranaki, confiscated land

This sort of thing happens periodically in a country which is generally pretty poor at recognising just how often people are not treated equally.

In fact, depending on whether or not they meet certain eligibility criteria, we treat people differently all the time. It’s a banal fact of life.

People over the age of 65 receive publicly funded superannuation; those yet to reach that age do not. Tertiary students are able to access interest free loans (to fund their study) that aren’t available to other people. People holding mortgages on investment properties will shortly be able to get tax relief that other types of mortgage holders aren’t eligible for.

A less banal example: Professor Lisa Marriott’s research shows than someone convicted of tax evasion is much less likely to receive a custodial sentence than a person who commits welfare fraud, even though the monetary value of their misdemeanours is often vastly greater.

For some reason, however, it is different treatment on the basis of ethnicity that fires some people up - especially when it comes to Māori.

So it’s important to remind ourselves that, historically, Māori have often been treated differently – and almost always to their detriment.

pn984. Who is a Māori and Who says so?

Isobel Prasad

Fifty-three years ago I wrote in More and More Maoris, in maps and diagrams, a simple statistical survey of the Maori today. (Whitcombe and Tombs. 1971):

"There are many definitions of Māori. Pakeha commentators often seem obsessed with the proportion of Māori ancestry in a person's biological make-up; others talk of people being 'biologically Māori' and  'culturally Māori'; others would have us forget Māori altogether and be content with the all-embracing title of Nāew Zealanders. Similarly, there is no common agreement — and much discussion —on the meaning of Māoritanga, the Māori way of life, Māori identity, Māoriness, Māori group similarly.  It may be important for legal or scholarly purposes to attempt a defintion of these terms, but for everyday purposesit is sufficient to say that a Māori us a person who considers himself Māori and is so recognized and accepted by others, while Māoritanga is what Māori do and feel to be Maori which is not commonly shared by non-Māori."   

Today, I would change this a little to read "A Māori is a person who considers him- or herself Māori and is so regarded by other Maōri.  Who is and who is not a Maōri is Māori business. For non-Māori to attempt definitions of Māori is insulting. How would other New Zealanders feel is someone defined them?"

Read about how Isobel Prasad felt when someone tried to define her identity.

The other type of 'special treatment for Māori' everyone forgets

When a hospital worker told Isobel Prasad she was only a teeny bit Māori, she was reminded of the other kind of ‘special treatment’ dished out to her people in the health system. Click here to read on.

Note: The question may arise: can a person have more than one identity? Of course. We all have more than one identity in the different spaces that fill our lives. Isobel can be Maōri or Indian or Indo-Fijian, a hospital worker or a daughter as she sees fit.

-- ACW

 

pn886. Prominent Māori leader Moana Jackson passed away today

UPDATE. Full video as he is returned to his marae. Watch and listen here.

Dr Moana Jackson (Ngatī Kahungunu, Ngatī Porou), a leading lawyer and one of New Zealand’s most prominent academics on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori rights, has died after a long illness with cancer. Māoridom, academics, politicians and many followers of Jackson’s work mourn his death. 

Jackson has worked across education, law and academia. He was involved in his generation’s most significant movements and events, including working on the seabed and foreshore cases, the 1995 Moutoa Gardens occupation, and as a teacher as part of efforts to revitalise te reo Māori. 

He was a vocal critic of the government's foreshore and seabed legislation in 2004 and the October 2007 police 'terror' raids. He resigned as patron of the Police Recruit Wing 244 due to his opposition to how the raids were conducted saying, "I do not buy that this was a racially-neutral act". In 2009 at Omahu Marae in Hastings he said: "Those who take power unjustly defend it with injustice."

pn876 Tā Harawira (Wira) Gardiner dies aged 78

 He was once the most senior Māori officer in the NZ army. He learned Te Reo at the age of 40.  Among his many roles in the public service he was the founding director of the Waitangi Tribunal and the founding chief executive of the Māori Development Ministry. 

Tā Wira was diagnozed with a brain tumour last year and died in his home in Tairāwhiti yesterday after battling a lengthy illness.  

He will be sorely missed across the political sprectum  and by Māori and non-Māori alike. His many contributions and leadership supported the development of Māori social, cultural and economic outcomes.  This is tonight's 1News item on his passing. 

Kua hinga he totara nui.

 

pn857. Sir Russell Coutts to join anti-vax protesters. Updates on Dame Tariana and Horizon Poll

Sir Russell (Coots). One foot in the pot and the other up the chimney.

Getting it the right way up

Dame Tariana joins in 

What twaddle, Tariana. Now is not the time to make political points. I expected better frm you! I'm pleased to see you have no support from mana whenua Ngāti Toa and Te Atiawa, mixed support from the Māori Party, and none from veteran protester Tame Iti.

A small poll of 520 people by Horizon Poll on Wednesday and Thursday asked two questions, one on  mandates, the other on support for the protesters at Parliament. 

64.5% favoured the mandates, 28% were opposed and 7.6 % did not know. Most opposition to the mandates came from people aged 34-44, and most support from those aged 75 plus.    Some 30.4% supported the protesters, 60.5% opposed them, and 9.2% did not know.

Given that over 90% of eligible people have now received at least a second vaccination, I was surprised so many of those polled opposed the mandates and supported the protesters-- but then I thought of the mass of misinformation in circulation  and the publicity  and live screening of the  protesters, and it was easier to understand why.  

I'd like to see a poll with more details on the mandates. "Mandates" is too big and diffuse a bundle to be lumped together. Which ones are more or less supported and opposed, and why.

--  ACW

 

pn849. Of Revelance to Waitangi Day. Dame Helen Winkelmann, Chief Justice on the Treaty and "Renovating the House of the Law"

Dame Helen Winkelmann

It says much for our country that  the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice are all women. 

Keynote Speech to Te Hūnga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (Māori Law Society), Wellington,  29 August 2019. The full speech  may be read here.   My extracts (and sub-headings)  refer mainly to the implications of the Treaty for a New Zealand concept of justice.

I want to map out for you what really is the beginning of the development of an indigenous law of New Zealand and an indigenous way of doing justice to meet the very particular needs of our society. There are three forces at work in this regard. First, there is the ever-increasing recognition in statute that there is a place in our law for the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and for tikanga. Secondly, there is the work the common law does interpreting those statutes, breathing life into what would otherwise just be words on the page. And, thirdly, there is the work judges are doing, to come up with new ways of administering justice. 

The judiciary is resource constrained and legislation bound. But, even so, the judiciary can innovate and find new ways of operating if it has the support of the profession and the community.  Each of these areas interact.

pn837. Calls grow for rāhui to have greater legal recognition, Based on 1News

 Chris Whaiapu, Rangitāne, at the reserve
near where six people drowned

A group representing 80 iwi is calling for greater legal recognition of rāhui, similar to Covid-19 restrictions, to prevent people from ignoring them. The temporary prohibitions are often put in place over bodies of water when someone drowns as a sign of respect. The mauri or life-force of an area is thought to be affected when there has been a loss of life.

A rāhui can also be put in place to protect areas from damage, or preserve and replenish marine life.

The Iwi Chairs Forum has made a direct approach to the Prime Minister, calling for rāhui to be given greater legal recognition.

pn813. Why Kawerau has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country written by Morgan Geodfrey who grew up there

 In Kawerau one thing impedes the effort to vaccinate Māori: New Zealand’s history

Low Covid vaccination rates among Māori reflect practical barriers – but they also have good reason to distrust the government

by Morgan Godfery

Click here to read his article or bookmark it for the weekend.   It is well worth your time. -- ACW

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/20/in-kawerau-one-thing-impedes-the-effort-to-vaccinate-maori-new-zealands-history

pn794. Update on Māori Party petition for name changes

Bryce Edward's NZ Political Daily has a section on media reactions to the Māori Party petition on changing our country's name to Aotearoa and other place name changes.

Former politician Peter Dunne says the Māori Party "continues to provide a breathy of fresh air in the political space, otherwise choked by Covid19."  He says the call for a referendum "should be welcomed because it "will hopefully set off a full public debate about the nature of our country and its ongoing national identity."

pn783. The Good News from Ōtaki, a town on the Kāpiti Coast

Tainui

I was fascinated by Tainui Stephens' description of Ōtaki published in e Tangata.  How different things are now from the Ōtaki I remember in the late 1960s when I taught at  Ōtaki College. 

Tainui writes,   

 "The most recent statistics show that 50 percent of the town’s Māori population and 13 percent of the total Ōtaki population of around 6,000 people are able to use the language. Nationally, 20 percent of the Māori population, and 3 percent of the general population speak Māori."  

pn772. Māori Crown Relations Office: Accusations of Racism and failed purpose

There are disturbing reports about the work environment of Te Arawhiti, the Office for Māori Crown Relations established by the new Labour Government in 2018 to support the Crown in being a better Treaty partner. Māori staff are leaving the agency at high rates, with many former Māori staff accusing it of racism.

The agency has over 170 staff, Pākehā outnumbering Māori three to one (74.4 to 25.6%), and the highest unplanned turnover rate for new staff of any core government agency or ministry, 30% compared with 13.2%  for all core public service agencies.

pn758. If Samoa is not enough, now Māori infighting

I'm too far from the action to know what this is really about, personalities, procedures or policies, but this Newsroom article leans towards a person disputing procedures after a long run in office— just like Samoa.  

Contestant Matthew Tukaki

Minister Willie Jackson

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson has refused to get involved and says this is nothing new, a not particularly helpful response. 

New Māori Council board refuses to talk to mediator in leadership rift

Bitter infighting looks set to escalate within the New Zealand Māori Council even after a mediator was called in, writes political editor Jo Moir.

pn754. "Is the Coviid-19 'honeymoon' over for PM Jacinda Ardern?" -- Exaggeration and Racist Misinformation

Part of the misinformation

The latest Roy Morgan poll published on 5 July seems to have mainly missed media attention. 

 Headed "Is the Covid-19 'honeymoon' over for PM Jacinda Ardern?"  Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s long COVID-19 ‘honeymoon’ appears to be ending as Government Confidence is down and support for the Labour-led Government is at its lowest since October 2017." Note this is long before Jacinda, when Andrew Little led the party.  Disaster strikes the government ranks!  

Book Review. Alison Jones, "This Pākehā Life, an unsettled memoir" (pn659)

Book Review

This Pākehā Life: an unsettled memoir
by Alison Jones (Bridget Williams Books, 2020) $39.99

Scoop Reviewed by Lindsay Shelton

I have been recommending this book to everyone. And those who have accepted my recommendation are now recommending it to others. Its story may at first seem to be a modestly low-key one, but it quickly proves to have a powerful impact, with resonances that will be personal for every reader.

As Alison Jones writes: “Most Pākehā people seemed to know nothing about Māori history, and they did not know what they did not even know. In my experience, Pākehā people like my father who denigrated Māori things knew nothing about Māori. On the other hand, I too knew next to nothing about Māori though my ignorance was tempered by curiosity and attraction rather than rejection and fear.”