State of the World's Minorities 2007 - New Zealand

Although similar in many respects to Australia, New Zealand handles indigenous and minority rights issues in a different way. The Maori account for close to 15 per cent of the total population of the state, a further 6.5 per cent consists of Pacific Islanders, while Asian immigrants account for another 8 per cent. The issues attendant on reconciliation between the white settlers and the Maori population are being examined by the Waitangi Tribunal, which was created by the New Zealand government in 1975. Like other Truth and Reconciliation processes, the findings of the Tribunal are not legally binding; however, they are respected by society and inform a basis for rapprochement. Progress before the Tribunal, although slow, has remained positive in 2006. While the fundamental issue of land return or compensation is at the forefront (with a Governmental Fiscal Envelope of NZ $1,000 million or US $687 million), most land claims remain outstanding, with Maori owning only 5 per cent of the country's land. Away from the land rights issues, Maori continue to face lower life expectancy and higher rates of unemployment, though the direction of the statistics would indicate the situation is improving.

Pacific Islanders have not benefited from government schemes aimed at the Maori and are disproportionately represented in unemployment statistics. They also form a higher proportion of the urban poor. The popularity of the racist New Zealand First party, at its zenith in 1996, appears to have waned (it won 5.72 per cent of support, garnering seven seats in Parliament in the 2005 elections). However, hostility has been reported towards Asian, and particularly Muslim immigrants, with vandalism of mosques in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 bombings in London. In 2006, there were police calls for Muslim women wearing the burqa to be banned from driving – a move that sparked a public debate on issues of national identity and tolerance.