When do we get a prime minister who looks like New Zealand, asks Laura O’Connell Rapira. I want a Māori prime minister. I want a trans Samoan deputy prime minister and I want a former refugee as speaker of the house. I want a Muslim mayor. I want a disabled deputy mayor and a late-life … Read more
With 12,000 employees from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, The Warehouse works hard to make end-of-year celebrations as inclusive and warm as possible. Dina Gharbo may not celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense, but says it’s hard for her not to get swept up by the good vibes of the New Zealand festive season. … Read more
Shane Jones’ inflammatory remarks on arranged marriages have caused outrage, frustration and hurt among the New Zealand-Indian community, writes Gaurav Sharma. Let’s start with a story. The story of my wife and me – a scientist and a journalist, young and professional, contributing members of a society. Also, an Indian couple. We moved to New … Read more
What makes a piece of art ‘Indian’? What makes it ‘English’? Aarti Bajaj, director of new theatre production Meera, unravels our prejudices around art and what makes people put art into boxes. Every time I hear someone mention that our show Meera is an ‘Indian thing’, or just for an Indian audience, I have to ask: when they … Read more
This Race Relations Day, we call on all New Zealanders to take time out of their day to reflect. To stand united in mourning with victims of Christchurch, write Pancha Narayanan president of Multicultural New Zealand, and Paul Hunt, the chief human rights commissioner We are all in sorrow and mourning with the loss of our … Read more
To celebrate the launch of New Balance’s 997H – the sneaker built for independents – The Spinoff spoke to Auckland synth pop duo Imugi about their musical influences, independence, growing up, and giving voice to bicultural experiences. We all have those years that define us for the rest of our lives, and for Yery Cho … Read more
Summer reissue: High Court judge Justice Timothy Brewer asked a lawyer if she was making a “political point” by introducing herself and her client in te reo Māori. Sociolinguist Vini Olsen-Reeder unpacks the bias underpinning those comments. This post was first published 12 November 2018. Headlines about things Māori often seem to miss the point. “High … Read more
Leonie Hayden went in search of the people behind community access radio station Planet FM, and their newly minted and very silly Twitter account. She discovered a group of people who love their jobs and the communities they help. Community access radio station Planet FM gives good content. If you had any investment in this … Read more
Last Tuesday, High Court judge Justice Timothy Brewer asked a lawyer if she was making a political point by introducing herself and her client in te reo Māori. Sociolinguist Vini Olsen-Reeder unpacks the bias underpinning those comments. Headlines about things Māori often seem to miss the point. “High Court judge asks if interpreter needed following lawyer’s … Read more
A new English-language paper highlighting the stories of New Zealand’s multiethnic communities published its first issue at the start of this month. The founders of Multicultural Times explain why they wanted to launch a newspaper, what they hope to achieve, and how they plan to work within the country’s existing ethnic media landscape, in an interview with … Read more
Hobson’s Pledge and their ilk argue for a culture that treats everyone the same. Anthropologist Haimona Gray looks at what’s actually at stake when we embrace multiculturalism. Go look at a wall! Is it very different to say, dirt? It is, because a wall is not a natural phenomenon. A person made that wall, but … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Winston Peters goes at it on the radio, nurses go back to the bargaining table, and Trump and Putin agree that the FBI is wrong. Acting PM Winston Peters went on Newstalk ZB for a long form interview with Leighton Smith yesterday, and there was no … Read more