‘Kia ora’ now acceptable

Press, 22 October 1987, Page 5

‘Kia ora’ now acceptable

New Zealand has changed from , the days when "kia ora" was an unacceptable telephone greeting, says the Race Relations Conciliator, Mr Walter Hirsh.

Mr Hirsh was speaking in Christchurch about the role schools could play in shaping New Zealand for a multi-cultural future. He had been invited to give a half-day seminar to the

Canterbury Education Board. Schools ahd school organisation.) hftd a responsibility to lead by example in race relations to a future which "celebrated diversity," he said. "Some people believe that the route to social harmony Is through sameness, with one set of

values and customs.” Mr Hirsh accepted that conflict could cause some difficulties in communities, especially in the present climate which encouraged community participation in schools. Many Government departments, and other institutions, such as school boards, had moved "significantly” away from regarding New Zealand aS mono-cultural, said Mr

Hirsh. He referred to an incident some years ago when the then Post-master-General had been unhappy with a toll operator who used the greeting, "kia ora.”

The acceptance of taha Maori was one example of positive change in schools, said Mr Hirsh. However, taha Maori was still widely misunderstood and therefore feared by many people.