Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A New New Zealand
There is a dynamism about NZ today that was rare in the 'golden weather' years before the
reforms. Today NZ farmers take on the world without the massive subsidies of yore, and
Wellington's inner city - once virtually closed after dark by oppressive licensing laws -
now thrives with great bars and restaurants.
As with the economic reforms, the 'Treaty process' of redress and reconciliation with
Maori made some New Zealanders uneasy, more in their uncertainty about its extent than
that it happened at all. The Maori population sat somewhere between 85,000 and 110,000
at the time of first European contact 200 years ago. Disease and warfare subsequently
decimated the population, but a high birth rate sees about 15% of New Zealanders (599,000
people) identify as Maori, and that proportion is likely to grow.
The implication of the Treaty is one of partnership between Maori and the British
Crown, together forging a bicultural nation. After decades of attempted cultural assimila-
tion it's now accepted in most quarters that the indigenous culture has a special and separ-
ate status within the country's ethnic mix. For example, Maori is an official language and
there is a separate electoral roll granting Maori guaranteed parliamentary seats.
Yet room has had to be found for the many New Zealanders of neither British nor Maori
heritage. In each new wave of immigration there has been a tendency to demonise before
gradually accepting and celebrating what the new cultures have to offer. This happened
with the Chinese in the mid-19th century, Pacific Islanders in the 1970s, the Chinese again
in the 1990s and, most recently, Croatians at the beginning of the 20th. That said, NZ soci-
ety is more integrated and accepting than most. People of all races are represented in all
levels of society and race isn't an obstacle to achievement.
For the younger generation, for whom the reformist 1980s are prehistory, political apathy
is the norm today. In the 2011 general election only 75% of the population turned out to
vote; for the under 30s this figure dropped to less than 64%. Perhaps it's because a decade
of progressive government has given them little to kick against - unlike those politicised by
the anti-Iraq War movements elsewhere. Ironically, as NZ has finally achieved its own in-
teresting, independent cultural sensibility, the country's youth seem more obsessed with US
culture than ever. This is particularly true within the hip-hop scene, where a farcical identi-
fication with American gangsta culture has developed into a worrying youth gang problem.
