Charmaine Pountney: Moving towards a better nation

Charmaine Pountney

We are privileged to live in Aotearoa. But it isn't just our richly productive land and sea which make this country special. It's the people, and how we are changing.

When I was young schools were relentlessly English. We learnt to sing Land of Hope and Glory and What Can I Do For England That Does So Much For Me? These days I feel at home in Aotearoa in ways I never imagined 50 years ago.

Two recent events reminded me of how much we have changed.

One was a service to commemorate the life of David Wakim, whose passionate commitment to family and social justice brought together distant, sometimes hostile, groups - Christian, Muslim and Jew, patriarch and feminist, Maori, Pakeha, Pasifika, African, Asian - celebrating and grieving in harmony and respect together.

The other was a powhiri welcoming a school on to a campus in Otara. Mana whenua organised community representatives and others to put their differences aside and welcome the teenagers, who responded with respect to the dignity of the elders.

No one at either ceremony agonised over the Treaty of Waitangi, set out to be politically correct, or consciously tried to weld several cultures into one country. But differences were acknowledged, common values were affirmed, and what resulted was unique to Aotearoa today.

I believe that we are indeed a finer nation than when I was young. Yes, there are terrible evils in our society still. There was gang violence, cruelty to animals, abuse of women and children when I was young. But television now shows us the beastliness we must face and overcome. And so we will.

We are certainly a more inclusive and celebratory nation, as can be seen in many ways. In food, music, film-making and festivals, talented New Zealanders fashion their work from the strands of Maori, European, Pasifika, Asian, and other traditions.

Many children and young people are fortunate to be in good multi-ethnic schools where they are learning to become New Zealand citizens who treasure their own strong personal and cultural differences but share a common culture which embodies respect for others, a desire for fair play, kindness and good humour. New Zealand has had a special place in world affairs for seeking to create a more inclusive and fairer society.

We were the first nation to agree that women were as capable as men of voting; although men and women don't share fully in the power structures of our society, we have made progress. After World War II our diplomats and politicians were involved in the establishment of the United Nations, and in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And more recently we have also acknowledged in our legal framework that religion, disability, age, gender and sexuality don't make some people less human than others. So it's timely to look at the next steps we can take towards better nationhood.

First, we need to celebrate what's good, fine and exciting already.

Second, we must affirm the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi. It was, in 1840, an agreement that Maori were entitled to manage their own affairs and hold onto their own resources, and that the English Crown could have delegated authority to govern its own citizens and negotiate land use with Maori. Efforts by governments since the 1980s to restore the economic and power base wrongfully taken from Maori during colonisation is an important part of our national identity - a matter of justice, and investment in a better future for our nation.

Third, if we want to prevent the emergence of groups like those rioting in France at present, we must improve our secondary schools. The article by Robin Staples in Tuesday's Herald celebrates the success of the AimHi programme in some South Auckland secondary schools; all schools should be challenged and resourced to ensure that the talents of all our students are properly developed.

Fourth, we need to stop whining about political correctness. There's no place in the modern world for saying narrowly Christian prayers in multi-cultural settings; for using terms like poof, coconut, frontbum; for being patronising or disrespectful to others. Personal rudeness, institutional racism and sexism, are unsafe, unjust and unacceptable. If we want a better society, we all have to be PC - personally courteous, professionally competent and publicly civil.

To make progress towards a fairer and more civil society, we must respect some differences. But to be a harmonious nation we also need shared values, and clarity about which differences we deplore or prohibit.

Educational institutions, and many not-for-profit groups, have drawn up charters which include values. But values are meaningless without virtues, and rights can't exist without responsibilities. All organisations should be encouraged to join in the writing of a national charter identifying shared values, virtues, rights and responsibilities.

Then perhaps we could have ceremonies where new citizens - immigrants, and young people becoming adults - commit themselves to this charter. As a nation, we could join the global movement to develop a Universal Charter of Human Responsibilities.

I dream of a future where we celebrate a nation of life-long learners, respectful of others, generous in spirit, tender in their care for people and planet, committed to creating a better world. And dreams become realities as we work together to achieve them.

* Charmaine Pountney has been a leading figure in education and land-care organisations.