identity...

Opinion

A question of identity...

... as New Zealand develops into an Asian- Pacific country, Polynesians should be warned they will find Asians formidable fellow country men.

The Dutch gave New Zealand its name in 1643, after explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to reach these isles. Nieuw Zeeland was later anglicised and the country has been called that for the last 350 years.

Aotearoa (“Land of the Long White Cloud”) was later adopted as the official Moari name. Every now and again, some one comes up with a proposal to ditch New Zealand as an outdated colonial tag in favour of the Maori title.

It seldom gets very far, as was the case recently when a one-time politician revived the idea and anyone contemplat ing a bet on Aotearoa becoming the name of this country in their lifetime would be well advised to keep their money in their

pocket.

A snap nationwide opinion poll found four out of five New Zealanders rejected the idea out of hand. Even Maori pointed out their ancestors never referred to this country as Aotearoa.

All the parchments of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by 500 Maori chiefs, referred to the country as either Nu Tireni or Nu Tirani. Before Europeans arrived, Maoris had no name for the whole country, calling the North Island Te Ika a Maui and the South Island Te Waka a Maui.

All that makes this debate of more than passing interest is the fact that it symbol ises New Zealand’s search for a new iden tify in the coming “Pacific Century”.

Prime Minister Jim Bolger has already floated the idea of following Australia in ditching Queen Elizabeth as head of state and New Zealand becoming a republic under a President.

This wider issue will inevitably put the country’s flag - still bearing the Union Jack of New Zealand’s former colonial

masters - under scrutiny, as well as the use of God Save the Queen as one of our two national anthems. (God Defend New Zealand is already there as a ready-made alternative.) Although nothing remotely like a repub lican movement exists, the end of monar chical rule seems certain. The only ques tion is when. This correspondent’s tip is that it will happen around the turn of the century, probably at the same time or not long after Australia makes the move.

The symbolism of the new millennium, coupled with the inevitable desire of whatever politicians are in power at that time to carve themselves a permanent place in history, will assuredly fire up pub lic support for the change.

The issue of New Zealand’s new identi ty will, however, remain. And what is of interest , if not concern, to Maori and Pacific island people living here is that New Zealand is not developing into just a Pacific country, but an Asian-Pacific one.

The concept need not necessarily worry the Polynesian community, but it needs to start thinking about it.

After a century and a half of dealing with Europeans, Maori and their island blood brothers will have to get used to a new factor in the population and econo my mix of New Zealand. And they should be warned that they will find Asians for midable fellow countrymen.

In economic terms, New Zealand has no alternative to making itself a part of the dynamic Asian region. Already, about 36 percent of its total exports go to Asia and they are worth as much as sales to Europe and the Americas combined. Asian coun tries are also the biggest source of

imports.

One-third of all overseas tourists come from Asia, more than from Europe or the

Americas ana close to me nuniDcr rrom Australia.

“If we don’t succeed in making New Zealand a part of the region, there’s a real risk the rest of the world is going to pass us by,” says a New Zealand diplomat. “We will be in danger of becoming a backwa ter.”

More significantly from the Polynesian perspective, 45 percent of new migrants now come from Asian countries, a devel opment that will irrevocably change the face of this country over time.

What Maori and their island brethren have to understand is there’s real risk the rest of New Zealand will pass them by. The danger is they could become a racial back water in the multi cultural society New Zealand will be in the 21st century.

Like it or not, it has to be acknowledged that Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Indian, Singaporean and Malaysian immigrants show econom

ic aggression, entrepreneurial ability and a

willingness to learn and adapt that has not

always been shown by Polynesian immi

grants to this country.

Their remarkable industriousness is evi dent all over New Zealand. The academic abilities of young Asian people - many of whom arrive here with little or no knowl edge of the English language - is apparent at every school prize-giving.

It matters not what New Zealand is called. The energy and ambition of its peo ple will determine the future of this coun try. That future presents a challenge to all New Zealanders - pakeha and Polynesian.

The reality is that Europeans have a head start in deciding New Zealand’s place in the coming Asian-Pacific century.

It is up to the Polynesians to ensure the Pacific has equal weighting with Asia.

From

David Barber

in Wellington