Aotea Square and the streets around it were packed last weekend as thousands of people converged to celebrate the early celebration of Diwali in Auckland. As more events follow over the next few weeks, New Zealanders from all cultural heritages and walks of life will be able to enjoy an amazing range of dance, music, theatre and foods in a celebration of Indian culture during the festival of light. Diwali is a wonderful symbol of the ways that Indian culture is contributing to the life of Auckland and other New Zealand cities.
New Zealanders are embracing cultural diversity. Asia New Zealand Foundation surveys show that the vast majority of Kiwis agreed that Asians contribute significantly to New Zealand society. Over 80 percent rate the Asian region as important or very important to New Zealand's future.
The context is that New Zealand is changing rapidly. New Zealand had a record net inflow of 60,300 migrants in the year to August, including a net inflow of 34,500 from Asia. The term ‘superdiversity’ is applied where a society has over 100 ethnicities, or where more than 25% of the population was born overseas. Auckland is one of a few societies in the world that is super diverse already, and the trend is towards increasing cultural diversity across the country.
But there is a downside. Migrants sometimes suffer discrimination in New Zealand. This should be unacceptable and more needs to be done to educate New Zealanders on the contribution of new migrants to New Zealand’s economy and society. In particular, migrants find it difficult to get jobs that utilise their experience. All too often they are forced to undertake onerous re-training or take lower paid jobs. Partly as a result, Asians earn 24 percent less than the NZ average, and women are particularly disadvantaged.
The importance of action to address these problems has been highlighted in research on the links between innovation in business and inclusion of new arrivals in the workforce (“Hiring New Ideas” Motu Economic and Public Policy Research). Firms with a higher share of new migrants are more likely to adopt new marketing methods and new products or services.
New migrants are also less likely to participate in the democratic system and to vote in elections. This is crucial to ensure that politics is responsive to the specific concerns and contributions of all New Zealanders.
The Green Party has strong policy positions on supporting new migrants, as well as our priorities on building a fairer society, a smarter economy and a cleaner environment. We have launched a process to engage more deeply with cultural communities, with a focus initially on Auckland. We are keen to engage with the Indian community and others, to listen to concerns and suggestions, to introduce ourselves as the third largest political party in New Zealand, and to play our part in making New Zealand an inclusive and welcoming society for all.
Contact Barry Coates at barry.coates@greens.org.nz and see information on the Green Party at www.greens.org.nz