Henry Armstrong: The Great New Zealand Dichotomy

Contemporary New Zealand is an extremely unsettling, somewhat sad, place to live in the 21^st century. It is full of absolute  contradictions; has a political system which vigorously pursues  ethnic difference yet claims “we are one” or, “a team of five million”; where one’s individual, personal and social identity is far more important politically, than  any concept of unanimity-except for the sporting All Blacks rugby team. Prime Minister Ardern’s earnest exhortations at her daily COVID19 briefings that “we are all in this together” is absolute nonsense and verges on dishonesty.

In reality, New Zealand is well on the way to becoming a seriously divided nation endorsing overt ethnic separatism and social division. How can the PM claim such gushing unanimity when she and her government overtly act to the contrary?

Such exhortations contrast spectacularly with the reality that New Zealand in fact is far from united; has contradictory provisions for some and not others; and where identity politics reign supreme.

In short, New Zealand is not “a Great Democracy”, more like “a Great Dichotomy”. A dichotomy is defined as “a separation between two things that are opposed or different’ (Oxford).

Or, we could talk about double standards and contradictions.

Let’s look at a few examples:

COVID19 Alert level 2 allowed for gatherings of up to 100 people at a time. Yet Queens Birthday weekend saw thousands of “protesters” cruising down Queen Street, Auckland chanting “black lives matter” in support of far away USA. So much for social distancing. And where were our police? In loudspeaker vans urging protesters to observe social distancing? Not a chance. They, as is now their custom, stood aside and used their “discretion”. Our Prime Minister, having urged and exhorted New Zealanders to observe the level 2 rules, expressed her “disappointment”. Oh dear!  And, nobody amongst the organisers is to be prosecuted? Rules for some but not for others?

Similar outcomes were very evident during Alert level 3 when a number of tangi were held, when group numbers were specified at 10 people, but  hundreds attended and our police again “used their discretion”. The Finance Minister expressed his “disappointment”. Oh dear! And again, nobody was prosecuted for breaching the Alert level 3 rules. Rules for some but not for others?

Some  ethnic communities established illegal roadblocks, apprehending travellers and requiring them to provide information on their travel and intentions. Again, our police “used their discretion”. And yet again, nobody will be prosecuted as a result. Whilst one can empathise with any community advocating for protection, to act totally illegally and be exempt from any legal consequences, makes a mockery of Ardern’s claim of unanimity-the “team of five million”.

 Actually, she should have been honest with the majority New Zealand public and claimed a team of “four and a half million”. Many of the other half million clearly did their own thing with no regard for the government-imposed  “rules”.

Numbers of New Zealand citizens are stranded at overseas locations, unable to return to New Zealand because the Ardern government  closed our borders. Sad, yes, especially when some of our citizens were prevented from returning for funerals of loved ones. Then, out of the blue, the borders have been opened to allow a US film crew to arrive to film “Avatar”. This crew comes from Los Angeles in the USA, one of the real hotspots of COVID19 in the US. Our borders are closed, yet open too!

We were urged to stay at home, by our Prime Minister. Next thing, her Minister of Health decides to ignore the restrictions imposed by his leader and go off mountain biking, beach walking and moving house. So much for restrictions. And what an example of leadership.

But  more serious dichotomies were already in place well before COCID19 arrived.

New Zealand is a multi-cultural nation with some 120 different nationalities, a poignant point made by our exalted leader in the tragic aftermath of the Christchurch mosque atrocities.

But we are officially bi-cultural. That is, officially, there are only two cultures in New Zealand- Maori and everyone else, called “manuhiri” or “visitors”, even though many of our families have been here for six or more generations. So we are both bi-cultural and multi-cultural at the same time!

The official sanction and promotion of separatism and identity politics in New Zealand makes a mockery of our Prime Minister’s claims that we are “a team of five million” and that “we are all in this together”. Bunkum! Balderdash! Humbug!

COVID19 testing was denied various groups of vulnerable citizens, some in rest homes, others in hospitals, yet was freely available on street corners and in supermarket carparks. Why?

New Zealand prides itself on freedom of speech, but at least two of our universities and one Council have denied speakers the opportunity to address audiences because the universities and Council did not agree with what these speakers might say. Freedom of speech, but not of what is spoken?

Then there is the issue of enforced acculturation. This term refers to a dominant culture imposing it’s norms and values on minority cultures. But not in New Zealand! The reverse is the case.

New Zealanders are now required to include minority cultural values into everyday activities, including mainstream education and even science, including the prestigious Royal Society of New Zealand.

The names of government departments  mysteriously changed overnight from predominantly English with a Maori sub-title, to  predominantly  Maori  with a small English subtitle, if you can actually read it. We now have to try and guess what agency we are dealing with, unless one is fluent in te Reo Maori. But obviously this move is to accord te Reo Maori a prominence over the bulk of New Zealanders whose cultural identity is not Maori, and whose language is English. But this, of course acknowledges and deals with the evils of colonisation, doesn’t it?

Then there is a raft of dichotomous bills before our parliament or which will be the subject of referenda in September. Some are already law.

Capital Punishment for murderers and terrorists in New Zealand is not acceptable to this government, yet it happily now condones the termination of life up until birth and totally supports the End of Life Choice Bill which will allow medically- assisted  euthanasia . The additional dichotomy here is that medical practitioners, who  take a pledge to do all they can to save lives, will now be required to terminate them. Surely, “All Lives Matter”, not just some?

New Zealanders have spent tens of millions of dollars condemning tobacco smokers (you know, that filthy habit), yet will soon vote to decriminalise marijuana. So we must not  smoke tobacco but we will be able to smoke “pot”, which according to my grandchildren, is a gateway drug. Next stop “P” or methamphetamine?

On that subject it is unlawful to manufacture “P” or other drugs in a state house, yet the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor stated that smoking drugs in state houses does not present a risk to other occupants, such as children. In other words, smoke it but don’t make it?

New Zealand recently banned the mention of Jesus Christ in parliamentary prayers, yet officially promotes and condones  karakia (prayers in  te Reo Maori) and blessings by various Maori elders on all state occasions, in courthouses and university graduation ceremonies, even overseas embassies. Which deity is being invoked here?

To challenge these invocations would apparently “cause offence” yet it appears to be quite acceptable for our government to cause offence to other cultures, particularly Western European culture. One council even condemned crosses on Easter hot cross buns for fear of offending members of the Muslim community.

Youth suicide is an appalling tragedy, yet elder suicide, if the End of Life Choice Bill is passed, will be welcomed by many. But hold on, do not ALL lives matter? Or, only some lives matter?

Child adoption by potentially loving foster parents is no longer acceptable, but forcing children into state care or violent family environments is quite OK.

Our Human Rights Act and Bill of Rights Act make it unlawful to discriminate on ethnic, religious, etc grounds. However, there is a qualifier, if  the activity qualifies as “affirmative action”, aka positive discrimination. Whatever title is accorded an action, discrimination is discrimination.  Ethnic preference, now a  priority  for entry into medical school and priority access to elective surgery, is quite acceptable. However, only some ethnicities qualify. Our Asian and South Asian (Indian) ethnic groups and definable others, do not qualify. The same Acts condemn any form of coercion, but our universities require staff to incorporate minority cultural values (including spiritual aspects) into all aspects of university life, using a range of coercive techniques ranging from peer pressure to significant employment penalties if one is non-compliant. Imagine a university lecturer challenging or opposing such impositions? Goodbye career?

To parody a minority culture is abhorrent. To parody Western culture is “satire” or “opinion”.

Finally our politics. What is more important, policies or personal popularity? Obviously we seek policies that enhance our values and way of life? Not if you believe the opinion polls which, in the words of one commentator, puts the popularity of our Prime Minister ahead of Jesus Christ. Seems I recall a certain liner on which someone had written - “even God cannot sink this ship”. Guess what? And on it’s maiden voyage, too. But what are the Ardern government’s policies? If they have any, they have been confined to the backroom in favour of Ardern’s continuous media adulation. For Ardern to claim victory over COVID19 as due to her leadership, is disingenuous, if not outright dishonest.

The reader may conclude that many of these dichotomies are simply modern-day choices or options and to have a contra opinion is simply freedom of speech-perhaps true democracy?

Once upon a time in New Zealand,  true human values were genuinely treasured and not traded for personalised, political, popularity. Sadly, no longer. If I could, I would choose to live somewhere else-but then, the separatists would have won. Bugger them!

Henry Armstrong is retired, follows politics, and writes.