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Research tells us skills are the currency of the future. Unlike technical skills that are mostly taught through formal qualifications, it is the interpersonal or human skills we gain through life and work experience that are increasingly in demand.
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“E hau nei tō reo pōhiri, ki ngā iwi puta noa i ngā motu e toru – o te Ika, o te waka, o te papaonekura, kia huihui ai tātou…”
The opening lines to ‘Te Matatini ki te Ao’ by Rob Ruha and friends, which became the theme song of the 2019 Matatini Festival of the same name. The last Matatini held in the ‘before Covid-19’ time and space which now seems, for some, a lifetime ago.
When I think of the future I want for my mokopuna, I imagine one free of racism, prejudice and the barriers that have kept us in the headlines of all the bad statistics and rarely in the good ones. Whether it is Judith Collins playing the racial division card to get votes, Tauranga Ratepayers Alliance’s booing of a mihi, or the online rants of keyboard warriors like Eagle Brewery’s David Gaughan, it’s clear we still have work to do in Aotearoa. A big part of the challenge is that most people don’t see themselves as racist despite exhibiting racist behaviour.
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The rumblings of a potential revolution in our media landscape have occurred with Stuff – the publisher of The Dominion Post, Taranaki Daily News, The Press, and a number of other regional newspapers – opening its online news coverage today (November 30 2020) with the headline: “Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono: Over three centuries we’ve failed to represent Māori fairly.” Stuff then issued a formal apology to Māori titled: “Nō mātou te hē: We are sorry.” And promised to rebuild trust by saying it was adopting: “… a multicultural lens to better represent Māori and all people of Aotearoa, supported by Treaty of Waitangi principles.”
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I’ve just found out we are going into full-on lockdown. I managed to get back from the Chatham Islands in time and I’m pumped. I have a lockdown plan that will be the envy of all parents. My kids will be better taught, better trained, just all-round better people under my home learning regime. Four weeks they say. It’ll be a breeze – or so I thought.
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Since the outbreak of COVID-19 late last year, the word “unprecedented” has been used countless times by politicians, health officials and media across the world to describe the severity of this global crisis. As the situation evolved, I found myself reflecting on another unprecedented outcome experienced here in Aotearoa – a groundswell of collective kindness and goodwill, accompanied by a widespread willingness to support the government’s strategy to protect our people and eliminate the virus. We saw it when our borders began to close, and those of us returning from overseas went into voluntary self-isolation to ensure we didn’t unwittingly contribute to the spread of the virus. We saw it when we adapted to social distancing requirements, finding new ways to express friendship and aroha.
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I often wonder whether those who started the Ngāi Tahu Claim could have imagined the fruits of their labours 170-plus years on. Take Matiaha Tiramōrehu for example, a refugee from Kaiapoi Pā, who survived extreme hardship and loss, had every reason to give up, but rather than be defeated was somehow blessed with a vision of a better future and became the founding father of Te Kerēme.
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“There’s no such thing as a free lunch”, they say. And yet, with the stroke of a pen, “free” lunches are being offered to over 7000 students in 31 schools nationwide. By 2021 the number of schools will rise to 120, with more than 21,000 students serviced.
Well the saying isn’t wrong – there are no free lunches – someone always pays. But more on that later.
A sombre centenary is being marked in Samoa presently as the small Pacific country grapples with the enormity of the measles epidemic sweeping its shores. It’s just over 100 years since the island trader steamship Talune docked in Apia, with six seriously ill passengers who came ashore, bringing with them influenza. Within a week the flu had spread through Upolu and over to Savai’i, and consequently 8,500 Samoan people died – around one-fifth of the population.
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Not a week after Māoridom erupted over the harrowing images of a baby being uplifted from its mother in Napier earlier this year, another baby was killed in his home. This murdered baby was one of six children – the other five had previously been uplifted by Oranga Tamariki. Some rangatira have been quick to criticise the Oranga Tamariki uplifts with cries of “Not one more baby”.
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