Race Relations Day A Success

Human Rights Commission
Te Kahui Tika Tangata
On the Bright Side: Paenga Hihiko
Pout-te-rangi / March 2007

Kia ora. Anei te mihi te Kaihautu Whakawhanaunga Iwi, mo ng mahi nui, mahi whakamana i te tangata i roto i ng kaupapa Whakawhanaunga Iwi i Aotearoa. Here are this month's acknowledgments from the Race Relations Commissioner for positive contributions to race relations in New Zealand.

All those who took part in Race Relations Day
For making Race Relations Day 2007 such a success. Not just on March 21, but over the entire month, there were activities, launches, programmes and events around the country: in schools, workplaces, libraries, churches, communities and the media. Particular features this year were:
• multicultural festivals ranging from hundreds to many thousands of people organised in many centres by the NZ Federation of Ethnic Councils and local government,
• celebrations and initiatives in smaller towns and cities from the Far North to the Deep South,
• a Government reception organised by the Office of Ethnic Affairs and attended by the Governor General, Ministers, government and community representatives and the diplomatic corps, and
• the launch of a whole range of new programmes and products, including the annual Race Relations Report, which was launched in combination with a third birthday celebration at Maori Television involving Maori, Pacific, ethnic and mainstream media representatives.
Some, but nowhere near all, of the activities are listed on the Human Rights Commission's website. We have selected just a few to acknowledge this year, but everyone deserves congratulations for their effort and enthusiasm.

Ministry of Education
For the Maori in the Mainstream Curriculum. Launched on Race Relations Day by the Minister of MaoriAffairs and the Race Relations Commissioner, this is the first ever curriculum for Maorilanguage in mainstream schools. It will provide a foundation for all students over time to have the opportunity to learn te reo Maoriin mainstream primary and secondary schools. The launch took place at Newlands College, with a powhiri and singing by a combined group from Newlands Primary, Intermediate and Secondary Schools and St Bridget's School.
Representatives of each school were presented with a large kete of Maorilanguage resources by Education Secretary Karen Sewell. It was noted that the challenge for the future will be to progressively provide resources for all schools and to train teachers to deliver this curriculum as well as training enough teachers and producing enough resources for Maoriimmersion schooling. Further information can be found on the Online Learning Centre's website.

Roasted Addiqtion
For Koha coffee. Auckland coffee roasters Roasted Addiqtion launched a new organic fair trade coffee for Race Relations Day. Apart from its Maori name (reflecting a rapidly increasing trend to use Maori language in product branding) the new coffee's packaging also features the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme diversity fern and motto 'Te Ranga Tahi: Together We Grow'. Someone immediately nicknamed it PC Coffee, but hey, who cares. Roasted Addiqtion is a participant in the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme.
OMC, Pauly Fuemana and Lucy Lawless

For New Zealand Aotearoa: 4 All of Us. OMC released this single, their first in several years, in the lead up to Race Relations Day. OMC's Pauly Fuemana and backing vocalist Lucy Lawless gifted the title of the song to the Human Rights Commission as the theme for this year's Race Relations Day. The slogan has already been used in a wide variety of ways to promote inclusion for all communities and equality of access and opportunity. It will continue on as the theme for the New Zealand Diversity Forum in August, with the sub-themes of Diversity, Community, Prosperity.

M & C Saatchi Ltd and Marcellin College
For Race Relations Day posters. M & C Saatchi provided the design for this year's Race Relations Day poster as their company's contribution to the day. The poster features young children's faces together making up a map of New Zealand along with this year's slogan, New Zealand Aotearoa: 4 All of Us. Click here to see the poster. If you would like to order any posters, please email nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz . Arts students at Marcellin College in Auckland did their own poster for Race Relations Day, which was also printed by the Human Rights Commission and distributed widely. To see their poster visit their website (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Waikato Migrant Resource Centre
For the launch of the Welcome Pack for Migrants. The Waikato Migrant Resource Centre launched a comprehensive pack of information for new migrants, which was produced in cooperation with the Hamilton City Council, Settlement Support, and Citizens Advice Bureaux. Following the launch, the City Council held one of its regular ethnic forums at the Centre on the eve of Race Relations Day.

TVNZ and The Gibson Group
For Here to Stay. Coinciding with Race Relations Day activities, TVNZ showed the first of six programmes in a series that looks at different ethnic groups that have contributed to the settlement of New Zealand over the last two centuries. The series features episodes on the Scots, Germans, Irish, English, Dalmatians and Chinese. The stories unfold around personal journeys of discovery by well-known New Zealanders. The one hour programmes, produced by the Gibson Group, are screening on TV One on Mondays at 7.30 pm. The series comes complete with a schools study guide, links and space to tell your own migrant story here.

Paul Callister, Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University
For Special Measures to Reduce Ethnic Disadvantage in New Zealand. Paul Callister's new book examines the issue of race-based versus needs-based policies and programmes, which have been the subject of a great deal of public debate and a government review in the past three years. The book is available for $25 including postage and packing by emailing maureen.revell@vuw.ac.nz . The launch was hosted by Te Puni Kokiri in Wellington. At the same event, the Human Rights Commission launched its Guidelines on Special Measures to Achieve Equality which is available here.

Marlborough Migrant Centre
For the official opening of the Centre, March 2007. Blenheim celebrated Race Relations Day with a multi cultural festival and used the opportunity to officially open the new Marlborough Migrant Centre. Mayor Alistair Sowman officiated. The Centre is co-located with Volunteer Marlborough in Blenheim and is staffed by a part time coordinator and volunteers.

Soka Gakkai International of New Zealand
For the Race Relations Day Celebration. Over 400 members of the Buddhist group Soka Gakkai International (SGI) came together at their cultural centre in Ellerslie for a special Race Relations Day celebration on the theme of Overcoming the Challenges of Difference. The event comprised cultural performances, interspersed with brief comments from Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter, Opposition Leader John Key, MP's Ashraf Choudhary and Pansy Wong, Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres. There was also a presentation on SGI's schools programme, Victory Over Violence. Earlier in the month, SGI cooperated with the New Zealand Peace Foundation and the Wellington City Council to run a youth forum on Creating a Harmonious Society. For more information visit the SGI website.

Race Relations Committee, Timaru
For the international dinner to celebrate cultural diversity. For the third year running, Timaru organised an international pot luck dinner on Race Relations Day in the Caroline Bay Hall, which this year was attended by around 400 people of 40 different nationalities. The organising group used the occasion to announce the formation of a Timaru District Race Relations Committee. Students at Timaru's Roncalli College celebrated the day with a special assembly where ten different countries were represented. The school's co-cultural leader, Jade Dodd, led the assembly in Maori and staff and students from each country spoke. "It was great" said 17 year old Jade. "It's an important thing to recognise. Countries such as Brazil, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Greenland, Germany and Switzerland were represented. Oh, and Kiwis of course." Jade hopes the assembly will become an annual event at the school and challenged other schools around the region to follow suit.

Expressions Arts & Entertainment Centre and Upper Hutt City Library
For Colour My World. On Race Relations Day staff from Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre and Upper Hutt Library assisted a group of children from Plateau School in Upper Hutt to decorate fabric squares. These squares have greetings in languages from around the world and depict the people who inhabit these countries. The squares will be stitched together to produce a large banner which will be displayed at the International Festival taking place at the International Campus in Upper Hutt on 31 March and at Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre.

Baha'i Community of the Far North
For hosting a Race Unity Show in Kaikohe. Around 170 people attended a Race Unity Show at the Kaikohe Memorial Hall, which was opened by Mayor Yvonne Sharp and featured 14 items from various ethnic communities. The event was organised by the Baha'i Community of the Far North. Slightly further south, the Baha'i Community also organised a Race Relations Day event in Whangarei. The annual Race Unity youth forum and the finals of the national schools Race Unity speech contest take place this Saturday 31 March at the Bahai'i centre in Glen Innes, Auckland.

Counties Manukau Ethnic Council
For the Multicultural Race Relations Day, Pukekohe. The Counties Manukau Ethnic Council hosted the first such multicultural extravaganza in the Franklin District this year for Race Relations Day. Held at the Pukekohe Town Hall, the event was attended by approximately 150 people, including the Mayor, Mark Ball, MP's Paul Hutchison and Ashraf Choudhary, and the Race Relations Commissioner.

Rotorua City Council
For the Race Relations Day Special Citizenship Ceremony. At the suggestion of the Rotorua Ethnic Council, Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters moved the council's March citizenship ceremony to Race Relations Day, and invited ethnic groups to come along to the ceremony and wear traditional dress as a way of marking the day and demonstrating the increasing diversity of the Rotorua community. The ceremony was followed by lunch in the Council chambers.

ends

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