Fortuin backs Dame Susan
Criticism has rained down on Dame Susan Devoy in the fortnight since her appointment as race relations commissioner but Whitby-based Gregory Fortuin, who once held the position, tells Andrea O’neil the squash star will bring conservative Pakeha to the tab
Google was not something Gregory Fortuin had to deal with during his stint as race relations conciliator in 2001 and 2002.
In the past fortnight, media detractors have dragged up with glee, past statements made by the new woman in the role, Dame Susan Devoy.
Her ambivalence towards Waitangi Day and burqa have led to accusations of racism and unsuitability for the job.
Mr Fortuin defends Dame Susan and said she shouldn’t get too hung up on the criticism.
‘‘What she’s going to find is there’s 4.3 million experts out there.’’
People can and do change their opinions and Dame Susan has merely expressed a common frustration Pakeha feel over the ‘‘hooha’’ surrounding Waitangi Day – but she now needs to understand the Maori perspective, Mr Fortuin said.
Racism is an over-used word, which should be reserved for the kind of behaviour Mr Fortuin grew up with in apartheid South Africa, he said.
Dame Susan’s mainstream perspective is an asset – where the last two commissioners have been immigrants to New Zealand, she belongs to the Pakeha majority, who are largely conservative and need to be engaged in New Zealand’s race issues, Mr Fortuin said.
‘‘ The majority hasn’t been engaged apart from sniping and [ saying] ‘ those damn Maoris, those damn Asians’,’’ he said.
‘‘I see the role of Dame Susan as appealing to the mainstream to embrace the respect for Maori as a first nation people.’’
Pakeha often misunderstand basic Maori grievances, Mr Fortuin said. Seventy tribes signed the Treaty of Waitangi and each are now dealing separately with the Crown for settlements but Pakeha often think the Government is just throwing cash at Maori in general, he said.
‘‘Many of my Pakeha friends say ‘when are we going to stop paying money?’.’’ Building bridges, rather than perpetuating the ‘‘guilt by association’’ felt by some Pakeha, is the way forward, Mr Fortuin said.
‘‘It’s not a debate about who’s better. We have to realise that the majority of [Pakeha] don’t want us to wag our finger at them every day and say ‘you have to respect Maori’ or ‘ you have to treat Asians with respect’.
‘‘We can’t embarrass or shame people into transformation. We have to inspire them to nation-building.’’ Tuesday April 9, 7:00pm Harcourts Paraparaumu Coastlands Parade, Thursday April 11, 7:00pm Khandallah Town Hall Ganges Road, Tuesday May 7, 7:00pm St Mary’s Church Hall 13 Terminus Street, Thursday May 9, 7:00pm St Mary’s Church Discovery Drive,