Change is confronting

No-one likes change and in fact it seems to be counter-intuitive to human behaviour where we crave order and certainty. A small example is when I attend various meetings I note that most people are more comfortable sitting at the same table all day and should you return after morning tea or lunch break and find someone in “your” seat there is a mild anxiety attack.

The reason I mention this is that Council will shortly be considering whether or not to introduce Ma¯ ori Wards to our local government elections in 2022. This is a far bigger change than whether or not you can sit in the same seat all day and is likely to be the biggest change to our electoral system for many years.

This scale of change is likely to be confronting for some and this is evidenced by the large amount of feedback Council has received both for and against the proposal.

Council welcomes the debate and hopes that both sides of the debate can be limited to the principles and not be a personal attack on any individual or group.

From a personal point of view, this issue brings to mind the principles of democracy and in particular the responsibility that the majority has to make sure any individuals and minority groups within the community are represented and share in decision making and the resources of this country.

This principle is enshrined in the Treaty of Waitangi and is becoming more and more a requirement of the many pieces of legislation that direct council activities on a daily basis.

Apart from those principles and legislative requirements, it seems to me to be just plain common sense to ensure Ma¯ ori are well represented in the decision making processes, as this can help bring more of an holistic world view that may not always be optimised in the present decision making of local government.

By not having a Ma¯ ori voice on Council there is certainly a perspective that is in general currently missing from local government.

Sharing of power and influence is not generally easily given and quite often only comes after political or social unrest.

I am hopeful that in New Zealand we will lead the way in sharing decision making with our Treaty Partners, as we did in 1893, being the first self governing country in the world to give women the vote even if it did take us another 26 years to allow women to stand for parliament.

Other social norms change overtime and being the second born son I am delighted that all the family inheritance does not now pass to the eldest male heir and even many royal families have now accepted that it is not necessary that the first male heir inherits the responsibility to rule.

Maybe in the future this may also be based on merit rather than gender or whether you happen to be first born.

These changes in cultural norms may well be challenges faced by Ma¯ ori in the future.

I say in my welcoming speech to new residents at Citizenship Ceremonies that “I firmly believe that there is no other country where there is more tolerance, more freedom from discrimination, where people, regardless of race, creed or colour, can enjoy a good lifestyle, where the principles of democracy and the basic rights of the individual are more firmly established”.

I certainly stand by this statement but have to acknowledge that we are not perfect and need to work continuously to improve the wellbeing of each and every New Zealander, and change may be necessary to achieve it.