Opinion: “Ka mua, ka muri”: In order to move forward we need to look back from where we have come. This month, we mark the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Human Rights Act. This significant piece of legislation is part of an ongoing journey and crusade by many to create a just and equitable society. Intertwined into the history and fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand are movements for justice, human rights and equity, frequently led by the courageous minority who have suffered from injustice and discrimination. These include:
1840: Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Described as NZ’s first human rights law.
1893: NZ becomes the first country to allow women to vote.
1972: The ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
1986: The Homosexual Law Reform Act.
1990: The NZ Bill of Rights Act.
1993: (August 10): The Human Rights Act. This act makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sex, marital status, religious belief, race, disability, age, political opinion and sexual orientation.
Each of these milestones and many others have often occurred as a response to abuse and suffering, protest and action and courageous individuals who led the way, often at great personal cost. We think of the suffragettes, anti-Vietnam War protests, the many mana motuhake movements (Māori resistance to colonisation), Dame Whina Cooper’s Māori land march, the occupation of Bastion Point / Takaparawhau, Springbok tour protests and many more.
There were also considerable protest movements and activism that led to the Human Rights Act. In the years 1991-93, as part of my work as HIV-Aids co-ordinator in Northland, I was close to the battle line that contributed to the passing of this legislation, close enough to play a small part but more so to understand the prejudice and discrimination occurring and to get to know some of the brave and committed individuals who fought so hard, so selflessly and in some cases put their lives on the line. Those people living with Aids at the time were frequently discriminated against, and despite their frail health, often led the education and advocacy movements. These were men and women of all ages and ethnicities, and from various political, social and religious backgrounds.
And they included children. Most notable was an 11-year-old living with Aids, Eve van Grafhorst. Eve toured the country tirelessly, speaking of the discrimination she had experienced in Australia and challenging people to see the person behind the disease. She changed hearts and minds. I was privileged to be with her in “conservative” Dargaville in 1993, when after two weeks of living there and talking to hundreds, she brought the town to a halt as she walked with local leaders down the closed-off main street to the applause and cheers of many.
Eve died less than a year later. I and others continued in Eve’s footsteps, speaking to hundreds of groups throughout Northland and attending too many Aids-related tangi. Through these journeys and relationships formed on the way, we witnessed misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice melting away. It seemed to me then, and still now, that so many prejudices are based on reinforced false information and stereotypes that can be broken through a relationship.
As we continue to create a society in which there is mutual understanding, justice and equity, we remember with gratitude the courageous social justice advocates who have gone before us.
Sir Chris Farrelly is a former Auckland City Missioner. Before this he worked for 20 years in the Northland health system. This included three years as HIV-Aids co-ordinator.
