Race Relations Act, 1971

Te Ao Hou, 1973, Page 32

Race Relations Act, 1971 Thus we have to turn our attention to the attitudes and behaviour of our whole society with reference to the question of race, and in the Race Relations Act 1971, Parliament has set up machinery to prevent actual acts of racial discrimination occurring in certain important fields. From the foregoing discussion you will see that our law has a loose hold, if at all, on the aims and objects of a multi-racial society, such as ours is. A full-living, happy, multiracial society is one in which all the different racial or ethnio groups do these five things:— (a) Possess equal status (b) Seek common goals for the society (c) Are dependent on each other (d) Interact and intermingle with the full support of law, custom and authority (e) Are found spread vertically throughout the power structure of society An observer looking from the outside at New Zealand would see us as falling fairly far short of these various goals. He would see us as a country whose society consists of a number of horizontal levels with, broadly speaking, the Pakeha at the top and the non-Pakeha at the bottom. He would feel that to be truly multi-racial the Pakeha and the non-Pakeha should be evenly spread and mixed throughout these levels from top to bottom. We have a long way to go but I think we are genuinely trying: and I think we'll get there. Anyway, this line of thinking leads directly to a crucial question—how much racial discrimination is there in New Zealand? Some think that there is not very much, and nothing to worry about, and others say that there is a great deal, much of which is under cover, not brought out to light and yet just as socially harmful and causing just as much personal distress, and that more publicity should be given to it. However, we shall soon know more about

this situation. The Race Relations Act 1971 has been deliberately passed by Parliament with the object of uncovering discrimination if it exists, and of making a strong attack on it, if it does exist, so that the law has indeed now been brought into play to help us in the attainment of the ideals of a multi-racial society. I will not discuss or attempt to answer the various criticisms of the Act which were made while it was going through Parliament, and since it has been passed. It is now the law of the land: it must be observed: and it is my duty as Race Relations Conciliator to administer it. It is, of course, experimental, and if in the course of my administration I can see places where it could be usefully amended I will not hesitate to recommend to Government accordingly.