Rt. Hon Winston Peters

Leader NZ First

Address to: Public Meeting

Rotorua Citizens Club, cnr Arawa and Rangiuru Street

Date: 22nd August at 1pm

The Changing Face Of New Zealand

Rotorua is the right city to address the changing face of New Zealand.

We chose that topic because of the rapid changes taking place in our ethnic mix.

On the subject of race relations let us be clear from the start that the vast majority of New Zealanders, Maori and non-Maori, get along with each other just fine.

Most people try to be tolerant and polite with each other.

Maori and non-Maori share the same goals – a job, food, shelter, healthcare, and education for their children.

We do not have race riots in New Zealand and we do not settle our religious differences with machine guns or bombs.

And we don’t want to get into a dispute with Hone Harawira about being uneasy if one of our children brought a white teenager home.

In fact 95 percent of Maori would be uneasy if their son or daughter brought a Harawira home.

They'd need a truck to carry all the racial baggage!

Race relations are profoundly important for the future of New Zealand.

If, as a nation, we mishandle race relations everything we value is at risk.

So let us have a quick reality check of where we stand.

Statistics NZ prepares projections of ethnic populations here and regularly updates them.

What these projections show is the very different growth rates among European, Māori, Asian, and Pacific populations.

The estimated growth rates over the period 2006 up to 2026 can be summarised as follows:

- The 'European’ population is projected to increase by an average of 0.4 percent a year

- The Māori population is projected to increase by 1.3 percent a year

- The Pacific population is projected to increase by 2.4 percent a year.

- The Asian population is projected to increase by 3.4 percent a year

These growth rates reflect different age structures, different fertility levels, and different migration patterns.

If these official projections are fulfilled the Asian population will grow at twice the rate of the Maori population.

By 2026 these projections forecast that those of Asian ethnicity will be at approximately the same numbers as Maori.

But if someone 1 part Maori in 512 is able to call himself Maori in the census then already, in just the last 25 years, the Asian population in New Zealand outnumbers the Maori population.

In contrast, reflecting lower fertility rates and an older age structure, the European population will grow at the slowest rate.

That is the future. The demographic face of New Zealand is changing rapidly and dramatically.

At no time in the last 25 years has any government ever asked you what you thought about this.

That has important implications that need to be faced.

In the past, we have been regarded as a model for successful race relations and NZ First is committed to a united, harmonious and tolerant society.

But harmonious race relations are not a given – they are not guaranteed – and it is only realistic to expect that we will face challenges in the area of race relations.

In our view there are three requirements for maintaining New Zealand’s excellent record on race relations.

First, we must all behave like grown ups.

Because if we allow ourselves to be led down the road of ethnic identity New Zealand will become factionalised and fragmented.

Successful race relations implies maturity by all citizens – and all “communities”.

Indigenous and older New Zealanders have had major changes in the demographic character of their country forced upon then without consultation.

Their goodwill, openness and toleration towards new migrants should be acknowledged.

That this country has undergone dramatic demographic transformation in the space of a few decades is a credit to New Zealanders.

But migrants must show maturity too.

That is the least a host country in entitled to expect.

There are signs that some of our more recent migrants behave as if they are still living in their former homelands - and show little willingness to adapt.

And let us get one thing straight.

An immigrant “is someone legally living in a country not of their birth”.

We have not, and have never been, a nation of immigrants as some apologists of wholesale immigration keep lamely saying.

Migrants have entitlements but there are obligations on them too - an obligation to make the transition from migrant to citizen.

And citizenship is more than just the formality of getting a passport.

Full and active citizenship means learning about New Zealand – respecting its values, its laws, its traditions and contributing fully to this society.

Because the the country we cherish will not survive if people remain locked in separate ethnic communities.

The four major ethnic groups; European, Māori, Asian, and Pacific populations. are now all large and distinct.

Inevitably each group exerts a gravitational pull – but our future as a nation depends on our forging a sense of shared destiny that goes beyond ethnicity.

In NZ First's view, we must avoid ethnic groupings becoming the basis of how people participate in our society.

The second factor in ensuring good relations will be a new level of maturity – and intelligence - by the media.

Political correctness and coyness on reporting race relations will not serve New Zealand.

The days of pretending that somehow our demographic structure is not a topic of legitimate public interest and concern have long gone.

A strong and cohesive society cannot be built on illusion or denial.

When things need to be said - revealed - exposed - whether or not they offend the susceptibilities of certain ethnic communities then they should be said.

For example, crime is not confined to a particular ethnic group.

Crime originates in all communities – and is a threat to all.

The third requirement for successful race relations is avoiding the path of identity politics.

And that is what is so disturbing about the National Party’s collaboration with the Maori Party

Everyone knows that National is pandering to the Maori Party on such issues as the Foreshore and Seabed irrespective of the damage that will be done to race relations over the longer term.

Everyone knows that an undercurrent of racism pervades the Maori party – as revealed in the periodic utterances of Hone Harawira.

It is to the National Party’s enduring shame that they have capitulated to the Maori Party – a party of professional, elitist, malcontents.

Because the Maori party is based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

That premise is that Maori are a bloc – an undifferentiated and monolithic group.

The conceit of the Maori Party is that there is a single Maori point of view – and that that point of view can only be voiced through the Maori Party.

In effect, the Maori Party is claiming that “It owns” Maori.

This is arrogant, it is offensive, it does not reflect the Maori Vote, and it is also an absurd premise for any political party to hold.

Maori are no more of one view, one mind or one outlook than any other group of New Zealanders.

There is no single European view - no Asian view and no Pacific Island view.

Whatever their ethnic background, New Zealanders are free individuals.

They are capable of deciding for themselves what is in the best interest of their families and New Zealand as a whole.

We assert that all New Zealanders are capable of making their own judgements without an ethnic straightjacket.

In contrast to the Maori Party our policies speak to all New Zealanders.

The reason is obvious.

For New Zealand to prosper the things that unite us must be greater than the things that divide us. In contrast:

Identity politics will only foster grievances;

Identity politics will only encourage one group to consider that it has entitlements above and beyond all other citizens – identity becomes a pretext for special treatment;

Identity politics is the path to division and distrust.

NZ First believes that a united, stable and cohesive New Zealand is the fundamental condition for all New Zealanders, to reach their full potential, irrespective of ethnicity.

There is another subject that needs discussion today.

It was with deep concern that we learned last Friday that Chinese interests behind a bid for the Crafar farms have donated $200,000 to the National Party.

If these farms are sold to the Chinese – and you'll notice the prime minister has gone very quiet – it means that National is prepared to sell New Zealand in return for a backhander for the party coffers!

That is the one we know about! The one they have to declare!

We were not aware when the free trade agreement with China was signed that the National party would be up for sale.

There is a concerted campaign underway for access to New Zealand's dairy industry – the farms, the processing plants, and everything in between and onward to the end consumer.

China has bucketfuls of money to buy farmland throughout the world.

We are easy targets because successive Labour and National governments have hung out the ‘for sale’ signs.

Whatever our politics we need to fight to keep our country in New Zealand hands.

Past generations of all races worked, bled and died to keep New Zealand as God's own country, with New Zealand citizens the rightful guardians of its assets.

We cannot become landless serfs in our own country.

We must keep it for future generations – just like those who lived here before us.

ENDS

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