Launch of the Settling In report for Tauranga City and the Western Bay of Plenty: The “Migrant Community Social Services Report”

E nga mana, e nga reo, tena koutou, tena koutou. 

E nga iwi e huihui nei ki te whakanui i te kaupapa o te ra, tena koutou katoa.

Your Honours, Mayor Stuart Crosby and Mayor Ross Paterson;

My parliamentary colleague, Simon Bridges;

The Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres; and distinguished guests

Amongst the many interpretations of the name Tauranga Moana is one denoting a resting place or an anchorage for canoes. 

Indeed, over the generations, several of the great ancestral waka that voyaged from Hawaiki, are said to have rested here.

From early days, the hapu of Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Pukenga, Ngati Ranginui and Waitaha have shared this space with others.

It is a generosity of spirit which we now see extended to the many peoples that comprise the migrant communities in the Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty area.

It is indeed a distinctive and diverse community that has taken up residence in this rohe.

At the time of the 2006 Census between 15-17 percent of the district was made up of residents who were born overseas.

The report that we are launching today is all the richer for the experiences and reflections of some 250 people who come from over forty different homelands.

The incredible cultural wealth of these ethnic communities adds to the unique character of this region.

The lifestyles, worldviews and experiences of the peoples from nations as varied as Chile, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Tuvalu, Russia, Slovakia, and Italy, just to name a view, illuminate the picture of the every day lives of migrants who have made Tauranga their home.

This diversity enrichens our communities and helps to shape a more open-minded and vibrant society.

In an increasingly global society, these communities help us in Aotearoa to establish important connections with the rest of the world.

The key focus of the Settling in Project is about examining the connections that are made between and within the migrant communities that settle in the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty district.

Its greatest strength is that the stories are told in all your own words.

Being a newcomer to any community can be a scary thing.

As one participant said, ‘It can be very lonely till you get yourself established".

Missing home, family, friends, adds to the anxiety.

But it seems the anxiety is not only experienced by newcomers.

A challenge that emerged in the report was the need to, and I quote, "change peoples attitudes so they will not be scared of migrants - locals are scared of new ideas".

Fortunately, other locals, it seems, "made it very easy to settle in.  They are friendly, reaching out a hand for help and always willing to give advice".

It is really great to hear that sort of feedback.   I think many New Zealanders like to think of ourselves as having that general spirit of hospitality, but recent - and sensational attacks fuelled by racist intent might give a different impression.

There is, sadly, some examples of some of that tension still evident in the report. We are told that in some school sports teams, "Kiwi kids do not like the kids from different country to join in" or that there are "preconceived ideas that everybody who looks Asian is a newcomer and does not understand English".

These sorts of comments throughout the report really worry me.   For anyone settling into a new country, finding a job, a home, schools for the children is hard enough, without having to combat attitudes which discriminate.

Such attitudes are also evident in the negative responses some participants described in being denied a work permit and even being turned down for voluntary work.

And so this report is absolutely useful, not only for providing a vital record of the experience of at least 250 migrants in this area, but in also establishing an inventory of things we could do better.

A key issue for many of the participants was the vital need to access information.  

Newcomers are not always connecting with the services that are there - and so in the report, there were concerns raised around limited information regarding daycare; about which secondary schools to go to, how to enter courses, what local qualifications are required and so on.

Another pressing issue was the opportunity for newcomers to feel supported.

One person spoke about the opportunities that the church provided Tongan people with to support each other spiritually, financially and socially.   As part of the church network they formed a Men's Group - which he described as fulfilling a similar function to the village council of chiefs back in the Islands.

And in that one comment, I think there is much to be said.

Ultimately the greatest strength of the settling in process is in newcomer communities finding solutions to meet their own needs.

In this respect, I want to acknowledge the vast cast of players, that are there to help.  

I am referring to the non-government organizations, Family and Community Services, Work and Income, Office of Ethnic Affairs, Housing New Zealander, Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty Councils, Family Works and many other caring agencies and government departments.

This report helps to bring everybody together in one place and from that place, to identify the needs, the gaps in services and the suggestions for further actions.

It also describes some of the wonderful real life examples of success stories occurring along the way.  

I'm thinking about the Bay of Plenty Chinese Culture Society and Language School; a new English class for Korean mothers; the Ethkick soccer tournament involving ethnic soccer teams from across the area or the ‘Living in Harmony' evenings happening in Te Puke.

One of the participants in the study reflected that, and I quote, "it depends on your expectations - you have to make the effort to become part of the community".

It works both ways.  And so, I am really proud to launch this Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty District Settling In Report, as a blueprint for what we need to do, to ensure that settling in is both successful and positive for all of us.

All of us have the potential to make a significant contribution to the future social wellbeing of our communities and Aotearoa as a whole.   This report will help us to understand and to value the unique contributions newcomers make to our communities.

It is about embracing difference and welcoming diversity into our home.  Let us use this report as a basis to grow.

Tena tatou katoa.