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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Ethnic leaders call for more resources for better social cohesion
Representatives from the National Ethnic and Faith Community Leaders Network meeting opposition leader Chris Hipkins in Auckland on 15 August 2025. Photo: Supplied Ethnic leaders are calling for more resources to tackle issues such as social cohesion and health disparities at a meeting with opposition leader Chris Hipkins in Auckland on Friday. Representatives from the National Ethnic and Faith Community Leaders Network attended the meeting, with the Labour Party's ethnic communities spokesperson Jenny Salesa also present. After the event that was closed to media, Hipkins said they've discussed issues concerning the general public, such as employment, health, homes and cost of living, as well as these specific to migrant and religious communities, such as immigration. He said life has become tougher for the ethnic communities since he met the same group last year. "Issues around the cost of living have gotten worse. I think issues around polarisation continue to be a real area of concern when I speak to our community," he said. "More tension within the communities and more overt displays of racism within the communities are something I'm very concerned about." Hipkins said "the many faces of our community" needed to be reflected in the way services were being delivered such as health and education. When asked what would he do about the problems, Hipkins said it would be reflected in the Labour Party's policies before the next election. "Part of the reason that we're here is that we want to make sure that we're listening to New Zealanders as we develop our policies," he said. Dame Ranjna Patel, Chris Hipkins, and the Labour Party's ethnic communities spokesperson Jenny Salesa. Photo: Supplied Social cohesion was a topic that concerned Dame Ranjna Patel the most. "The social cohesion in the ethnic community and mainstream is very divided at the moment, and it's just progressively getting louder and more of a problem," she said. Patel said the differences of all the ethnic communities are so wide and groups should come together for solutions. "We do need to work together to give bite size problems with bite size solutions, not just say this is a issue, fix it. It's too hard for every government to do. We have to have a budget that lets us do that," she said. "To get communities to develop themselves to be able to deal with these, we'll need a lot more resources." Debbie Chin, president of the New Zealand Chinese Association's Wellington branch. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen New Zealand Chinese Association's Wellington branch president Debbie Chin's area of focus was the health of wellbeing of Asian New Zealanders. "We're looking for improved access to services for our Chinese and Asian communities," Chin said. "That means that we need services that meet the needs of our population, and we also need to have providers who can... understand our culture." "We need diversification across all of those areas, across service delivery, cross workforce, cross funding and commissioning and the people in the decision making seats." Chin pointed to a recent report which found that almost half of Asian parents said their children have been bullied at school in the past 12 months often associated with racism. "I hope [the government] will put investment in to ensure that our people are not bullied and that the children understand that's not acceptable and that we build inclusion and social cohesion across our community, in our workplaces and in our schools," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Te Pāti Māori accuses Electoral Commission of 'voter supression' over enrolments
Whānau being moved off the main roll without consent is an attack on "our mana and our rights", Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Te Pāti Māori has accused the Electoral Commission of "voter suppression" after correspondence with the commission failed to address the "real issue" around Māori enrolment complaints. But, the commission says the enrolment processes it follows are long standing and set out in the Electoral Act. RNZ has heard from multiple people who claim their electoral details had been altered or erased , including Taryn Utiger, who told RNZ she was moved to the dormant roll despite only recently speaking with the commission. In a media release, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the commission was blaming voters being moved onto the dormant roll as the reason for the complaints. Ngarewa-Packer said the commission could "dress it up however they want" but whānau being moved off the main roll without consent was an attack on "our mana and our rights". "We've got kaumātua who've lived in the same whare all their lives, never missed a vote, and never had a knock on the door, a text, an email - nothing. "This is not a mistake. It's voter suppression," she claimed. Rawiri Waititi says if the party was not satisfied with the commission's response, it will begin lobbying the government for a Royal Commission of Inquiry Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Te Pāti Māori is pursuing a two-pronged legal action into matter, looking to the commission's calculation of the Māori electoral population and reports of missing enrolments from the Māori roll. Labour has also asked the Auditor-General to look into the issue. Te Pāti Māori say they want an urgent briefing with the commission, an urgent inquiry into the enrolment system and the scale of "deregistration" affecting Māori and Pasifika communities. Waititi said if the party was not satisfied with the commission's response, it will begin lobbying the government for a Royal Commission of Inquiry "Our tīpuna fought to have the right to vote, we will not stand by while Māori are quietly scrubbed from the roll," he said. The Electoral Commission has repeatedly rejected claims it had tampered with people's enrolment details without their consent and insisted it found no faults with its online system. Speaking to RNZ earlier this month chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne said the "auto-fill" feature on some people's mobile phones and laptops could be the reason why their records were not showing up on the website. In a statement to RNZ, Le Quesne encouraged people to reach out to the commission directly if they were still experiencing issues. "The enrolment processes we follow are long standing and are set out in the Electoral Act. They apply to both the general and the Māori rolls. "Under the Electoral Act, if we lose touch with a voter, for example if we get returned mail from an old address, we will try to contact the person by text or email. If we can't make contact, the person is moved onto the dormant roll until they update their address with us. Since the last general election, we have sent 139,036 emails and 152,794 texts to people whose details were out of date," he said. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith declined to comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Christchurch nurses regularly in tears over staff shortages
Nurse Bruce MacIntosh joined other nurses on strike in Christchurch today. Photo: RNZ/Rachel Graham A Christchurch nurse, who joined others on strike this afternoon , says staff shortages are so bad he is regularly seeing colleagues in tears. Nurses from theatre, post-anaesthetic care and radiology wards at Christchurch Hospital walked off the job from 2 to 4pm on Friday over a breakdown of collective bargaining. About 80 supporters and nurses gathered in Hagley Park, across the road from Christchurch Hospital, waving flags and posters calling for safe staffing. New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate and operating theatre assistant Bruce MacIntosh said he is constantly seeing the impact of the staffing shortages. "Its incredible when you go around the wards, and see it like we do and meet with the delegates regularly. It is a crisis. Some of the delegates are crying on the night shift when they can't fill the (staffing) spots," said MacIntosh. "It is risky for the nurses, because if something goes wrong their name is on the block, which is a risk to their practice. So, not only is there risk to the patients, but also risk to the practitioners, the nurses." Nurse Averil Cooper said she too was making a stand for the safety of the patients and nurses' registration. "We have no staff, very little staff. They are run ragged and putting their scope of practice and registration on the line," said Cooper. She said the staff are dealing with chaos every day. Gayl Marryatt, a registered nurse and NZNO delegate, said the strike was part of a rolling strike being taken by the union. She said it was to highlight that multiple parts of the hospital are being affected by the short staffing. Nurses planned to hold nation-wide industrial action on 2 September and 4 September. Health NZ said contingency plans were in place during the strike. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
