Dame Susan Devoy
NEW Zealand needs to put and end to “casual racism”, the New Zealand Race Commissioner says.
However, Dame Susan Devoy believes Gisborne could put itself in a good position to show the rest of the country the way to deal with a changing cultural landscape that could mean that in the very near future more than 25 percent of New Zealanders will have been born overseas.
Speaking at the Eastland Group Innovation and Inspiration Speaker Series at the Quality Hotel Emerald, on Tuesday, Dame Susan, now two-and-a-half years into her five-year term, said her role was not to decide what was racist but to establish “courageous conversations” about underlying issues.
“The minute we decide whether an individual, a company, a political party, or whatever, is being racist we actually stop discussing what the real issue is, and that’s what really concerning for me personally.”
The reality was, that when New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission was established, people were suffering in silence with no means to address their issues.
“In that first year there were I think 71 complaints. Now, on average, there are about 5000 complaints to the Human Rights Commission, and about a third of those are on the basis of some form of discrimination. The good news is that through the enquiries and complaints team, nine out of 10 of those complaints are resolved amicably.”
She pointed out that diversity in New Zealand was increasing at a quickening rate and she expected more issues to be highlighted next month when constitutional law expert Mai Chen released her “super diversity stock report”.
“Super diversity means that more than 25 percent of the country were born overseas,” Dame Susan said.
Extraordinarily fast changeWhile New Zealand was already one of the most diverse countries in the world, and one of the most peaceful, we could not rely on a “she’ll be right” attitude when things were changing “extraordinarily quickly”.
“The reality is, if we don’t plan for our future then she won’t be right. The difficulty for all of us, is that one size doesn’t fit all. Gisborne is different to Tauranga, and what is happening in Oamaru is not the same as what’s happening in Matamata.
“Mai Chen is about to release a massive report, and we have sponsored a very small part of that, because I have a vested interest in what she is saying and what she is doing for the future of our country.
“What she can say as an Asian New Zealander is different from what I can say as a Pakeha woman. We can complement each other because what she says as a very assertive, successful Asian woman sometimes takes people aback because of the Tall Poppy Syndrome.
“But what she is saying is we need to look at diversity as the dividend for the success of the country.”
Dame Susan said she would now look to campaign for New Zealanders to tackle “casual racism”.
“The reality is that human rights start at home. My mantra will be to get everyday New Zealanders standing up for everyday New Zealanders.
“Diversity brings a whole lot of challenges but it also presents a lot of opportunities.
“One of the things Mai Chen will come out very strongly and say around a number of things, is around a national languages policy. She will say we do need a multicultural policy but we need a multicultural policy based on our bicultural values. That’s really important.”
Dame Susan said New Zealand still had a long way to go to be considered a truly bicultural country but she praised Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon’s attitude to learning and speaking te reo Maori as an adult.
“The realisation needs to come to New Zealand that actually, learning te reo as kids is not so bad. Bilingual children are incredibly intelligent children, and I think we should start with what was our very first language.”