Launch of Amanah Ethical KiwiSaver – Saturday 31 January 2015 (Auckland)

He hōnore, he korōria ki te Atua
He maungārongo ki te whenua
He whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa

As I acknowledge the creator, the land and the people of the land in the language of our First nation People I say to you all Kia Ora, Welcome and As-salamu alaykum.

I wish to acknowledge our special guests in Rt Hon Winston Peters as Tangata Whenua, former Governor General Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand as our key note speaker, Hon Paseta Sam Lotu-Inga, Minister of Ethnic Affairs, President of FIANZ and my brother Dr Anwar Ghani, Brian Henry, Managing Director of Amanah and others.

Traditionally many New Zealanders have seen an aged pension as their right - and whilst that is true (Winston Peters can articulate this more eloquently) for particularly older New Zealanders who quite legitimately saw pensions as part of the moral contract of paying their taxes, the reality for the next generation is fiscally more challenging.

It is in that context that I wish to commend successive NZ governments but particularly its Kiwisaver architect Dr. Michael Cullen and his chief advisor Peter Harris for this initiative to assist New Zealanders to have dignity in their retirement.

Reinforcing the view that with our cherished Freedoms and Rights come Responsibility; the Kiwisaver Act of 2006 was an important step in asking New Zealanders to share the responsibility for their right to dignity in retirement. For the majority of the country (after a lot of initial criticism) it is now a “main-stream” retirement savings plan.

However one of the problems with modern “main-stream” is the unintentional and sometimes deliberate exclusion of “non-core” or “minorities”. Having lived through one of the evil systems of the 20th century, I know the pain of exclusion.

And so this great KiwiSaver initiative was no exception when it came to the exclusion of one group of New Zealanders who were completely left out because no provider was prepared to understand and meet their cultural needs. I am of course referring to the over 40000 members of New Zealand’s Muslim Community.

The glib rhetoric about integration and good citizenship comes easy but unless you consciously take action and provide the means for inclusion whole sectors of society will continue to miss out –as was the case in this supposedly multicultural society for almost 8 years - Even if it was culturally deliberate or lacking in fortitude, what about the commercial opportunities presented for any provider to recognize and then in partnership with the community take steps to meet this important market.

I wish to acknowledge that into the fore stepped Brian Henry and his team at Amanah.

When I was approached to be Chairman of Amanah I was taken by the genuineness of those involved and was keen to be part of creating something unique.

It has taken two years, but we have done it.

It is with great pride that I have worked with the Amanah team to bring the Amanah KiwiSaver plan to fruition and see FIANZ partner with Amanah so it could become a genuine community effort. Brian was told by overseas “experts” that he could not achieve this but Brian is stubborn (he calls it resilience) and together we have achieved a toolbox for inclusion and integration. This is a great example of constructively building harmonious diversities with mutual respect.

In closing let me say to all those who feel like excluded “non-core minorities”- let us not lose heart but have an even greater determination to integrate as proud citizens whilst never turning our backs on our rich heritage. Let us as the “emerging main stream” do so responsibly, with dignity and in partnership with others.

We will never succeed in restoring our own humanity by stripping someone else’s of his or hers. Or as Dr Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently stated to “my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads to the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggles on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

I thank you.

Gregory Fortuin
(Amanah Chair)

ENDS

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