So, can you handle the truth?

Meredith Akuhata-Brown

Opinion

In a courtroom scene from the movie A Few Good Men, a military lawyer played by Tom Cruise says “I want the truth!” to which Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup replies “You can’t handle the truth!”

With our local body elections heating up and candidates doing the rounds of public speaking engagements, it seems an opportune time to share some “truths”.

With only six years experience at council, I have been researching some of the past councils.

Our local councils have generally been a space that has long been controlled by older men of European descent, and from particular backgrounds within the community — mainly farmers, lawyers and businessmen.

Of course we have the suffrage movement to thank for ensuring women would be given the right to vote and stand for office. But it still took some time to get women at the council table — the first woman elected to Gisborne City Council was in 1962 and the next one wasn’t until 1977!

Thankfully times are changing and just over one third of council this term have been women and slightly more have Maori ancestry.

There is the notion of a democracy where “everyone has a fair chance to run for office”, yet within our community, since local government was established, this has not been evidenced.

Finally, at this election, the number standing for council is roughly even between Maori and non-Maori — it will be interesting to see the final results!

Being a Maori woman at the governance table is a real privilege and yet it comes with some very strong expectations from others, as I have learnt.

When I arrived at the table I was told by more experienced colleagues that for the first term I should just sit quietly and learn. When I asked if those giving this advice had actually voted for me, they all said no.

Then I was asked if I actually knew what something meant from an agenda.

I was really surprised by the arrogance of some councillors; the suggestions that I was not to be taken seriously, and that I shouldn’t really try to influence too much.

I have received emails from councillors telling me that I should not expect certain roles in council and I have to do my time, while others have taken similar roles in their first term. I have been yelled at and even hit with the newspaper when I had a different opinion.

It is not pleasant to hear one of the councillors talk about you like you are not in the room, or declare that they don’t want to hear about the poor or those in certain neighbourhoods — especially when at all the public campaign meetings so far, the discussion has included concerns about the poverty-related issues that exist in our unequal community.

So the truth is council is slowly changing, in its appearance, but as Colonel Jessup says “you don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties” there is still an unspoken hierarchy and a paternalism that within our region is layered with generations of entitlement.

Of course, there are those who prefer not to speak about these truths, to present a more diplomatic and convenient public persona, and who are no doubt much more electable as a result of their choices to smile and suggest everything can be awesome without facing the truths of our past and present so directly. We need both approaches, but without facing the truth head on can we move on?