New Zealand is often described, with a kind of nostalgia, as a small country that functions much like a small town. No one is a stranger and everyone knows everyone. A nation that prides itself on pragmatism over ideology, on fairness over factionalism, and on a belief that despite differences, there exists a common civic identity. Yet that story, never perfect but once broadly shared, has begun to fracture. In its place, a more brittle narrative has emerged. One that increasingly divides the country into competing communities, often framed along Māori and non-Māori lines, each with its own account of history, justice, and entitlement.
