A real estate agent on the verge of losing her licence after being denied an exemption from a compulsory Māori tikanga course said if she had her time again, she would still refuse to do it.
“It’s totally irrelevant to the everyday work of real estate,” Janet Dickson told NZME.
“That we should learn to bow down to the Māori gods. That’s a major part. I downloaded the course book to see what it was about … and I’m going, pardon? You’re asking me to do what?
“It’s [my real estate work] to do with property; it’s nothing to do with spiritual gods and tikanga.”
The Real Estate Tribunal this week rejected Dickson’s request for an exemption from the compulsory course.
With 30 years’ experience, she’s been left feeling teary and like her profession had betrayed her.
The decision concludes a nearly three-year battle argued before the Real Estate Authority, the High Court and the tribunal.
The authority has already signalled it is unlikely to reinstate Dickson’s licence after the tribunal’s decision, even though she said it hasn’t suspended or cancelled the licences of other agents found guilty of misconduct for “seriously negligent real estate agency work”.
The only enduring solution is to strip all these regulatory bodies of powers to impose ideological mandatory courses as a condition of registration.
Dickson by the way is a former REINZ Salesperson of the Year. This is who they are cancelling because she won’t kowtow.
Dickson insists her stance isn’t racial. She grew up among Māori families, taught at Bay of Islands College, which was predominantly Māori, and passed School Certificate Māori.
Her father was chaplain to the 26th Battalion and good friends with Canon Wiremu “Wi” Te Tau Huata, a highly respected Māori Anglican chaplain.
“That has been my soul upbringing. When my father was ill, he was like a godfather to us”.
She’s standing on principle.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
8 comments:
It's a human rights issue. Nobody has a right to force someone else to promote or be seen to be promoting a political cause not of their choosing. It's written into international law and into domestic law. No law change is needed, only the backbone to apply what is already written law.
Why can't our National leaders see the problem with this racist. Ideological issue that pervades almost all of our organizations and deal with it ?
Silly question, it's Luxon, again.
It's not only Real Estate Salespeople being targeted:-
The PHARMACY COUNCIL demands the following standards as a FIRST priority.
More important than correct dispensing of prescription medicines !
Here is a list of the ESSENTIAL COMPETENCY STANDARDS FOR ALL PHARMACISTS, according to the Pharmacy Council:-
● being familiar with mana whenua (local hapū/iwi), mātāwaka (kinship group not mana whenua), hapū and iwi in your rohe (district) and their history,
● understanding the importance of kaumātua,
● being familiar with te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nū Tīreni,
● advocating for giving effect to te Tiriti at all levels,
● understanding the intergenerational impact of historical trauma,
● understanding of the role of structural racism and colonisation and ongoing impacts on Māori, socioeconomic deprivation, restricted access to the determinants of health,
● being familiar with Māori health - leaders, history, and contemporary literature,
● being familiar with Māori aspirations in relation to health,
● developing authentic relationships with Māori organisations and health providers,
● having a positive collegial relationship with Māori colleagues in your profession/workplace,
● being proficient in building and maintaining mutually beneficial power-sharing relationships,
● tautoko (support) Māori leadership,
● prioritising Māori voices,
● trusting Māori intelligence,
● be clinically and culturally confident to work with Māori whānau,
● understand one’s own whakapapa (genealogy and connections),
● have a basic/intermediate understanding of te reo Māori,
● have a basic/intermediate understanding of the tikanga and the application of tapu (sacred) and noa (made ordinary),
● be familiar with Māori health models and concepts such as Te Pae Mahutonga9 and Te Ara Tika10,
● have a basic/intermediate understanding of marae (community meeting house) protocol,
● be confident to perform waiata tautoko (support song),
● be proficient in whakawhānaungatanga (active relationship building), ● integrate tika (correct), pono (truth), aroha and manaakitanga into practice,
● be open-hearted,
● be proficient in strengths-based practice,
● be proficient with equity analysis,
● practice cultural humility,
● critically monitor the effectiveness of own practice with Māori
All religions are stupid. You have the right to believe whichever stupidity you like, but not the right to mandate the study of it onto others.
BV@7.59: "No law change is needed...."
I agree: it shouldn't be necessary, and Nicole McKee has made clear to the Real Estate Institute her expectations in that regard. In fact, her amendment bill has passed into law. But it looks as if the Tribunal is sticking to its guns, presumably on the basis that the ruling was made under previous regulations.
See this from The Centrist article (link below):
" The Authority said its purpose was to increase agents’ awareness and understanding of the perspectives Māori consumers might bring to transactions involving land.
The tribunal found that Dickson was not being required to renounce her beliefs or accept the course material as true. She was being required to listen to the culture, language and customs of another ethnic group and decide for herself what to make of it."
https://centrist.nz/janet-dickson-ruling-shows-new-zealands-regulator-reforms-fall-short-1788583676433
My response: if that's so, why on earth was anyone being expected to do this module? It seems pointless: just virtue-signalling.
>"... and decide for herself what to make of it."
That's a straight-out bloody lie. If you don't "make of it" what you are told to make of it, you fail.
Also, note the 4th bullet point in Doug's list - clearly forcing pharmacists to actively promote a political agenda.
Silence is consenting.
My question is - where is the support from the rest of the RE industry?
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