The fraying social cohesion of New Zealand has been laid bare in a new report which a researcher says raises fundamental questions about the future of democracy.
The report was written by economists Shamubeel Eaqub and Rosie Collins on behalf of the Helen Clark Foundation. Surveying was carried out by research firm Talbot Mills.
Speaking to Q+A, Eaqub said that New Zealanders need to have a discussion about how we can respect different political views while still being cohesive as a society.
“If we’re going to see increasing polarisation, we’re going to see more volatile politics, less certainty around policies, and that means business, community and life becomes unpredictable,” he said.
“And our democracy, which is the bedrock of how we run this place, comes under pressure.”
New Zealand compared poorly with Australia in all dimensions, with Eaqub saying bluntly “we sucked”.
“The frightening thing for me is that so much of it was linked around poverty, around political alliances, around ethnicity. There are these fractures in our society that are much more widespread than they are in Australia.”
In the 2631 respondent survey, 81% of those asked broadly agreed that democracy was a good way of running the country.
However, a third of respondents said having a “strong leader” who does not have to bother with Parliament and elections would be a good way to govern New Zealand.
That rose to 48% of men under the age of 44.
“There’s been an extraordinary fracturing, and I think people don’t see that their interests, their values, are being represented,” said Eaqub. “It’s not good enough to say that what’s happening in America is not going to happen here because that’s exactly what we see in the data. We can’t bury our heads and say it will go away.”
“There’s a real sense of complacency about how precious and how valuable democracy is.”
Under half of respondents said the government in Wellington “always” or “mostly” could be trusted to do the right thing for the people of New Zealand, with just over half answering “sometimes” or “never”.
“It’s extraordinarily critical. If we can’t trust the leaders who are there to represent us, how can we have faith in our institutions?”
Eaqub highlighted particular communities where this measure was higher, including Māori, Pasifika, and lower-income communities.
While around half of respondents on the three questions had positive views towards immigrants, this figure was lower than that seen on similar questions asked in Australia.
Eaqub said the divergence isn’t easy to explain because the policies followed by New Zealand’s and Australia’s governments have been similar, but said it showed a much deeper level of concern around immigration levels in New Zealand.
“Immigration has always been the easy safety valve for our governments to grow the economy when everything else has failed. It was the cheap shot to the economy.
“I think what we’re seeing is New Zealanders saying we’re not comfortable with that any more.
“This is a real concern because our politicians are still talking about immigration as if it’s some technocratic rule that we pull on the other side from Wellington, and everything will be fine. But it’s clear that’s not the case.”
Meanwhile, only 32% of respondents said they were satisfied with their present financial situation.
“Erosion of social cohesion is related firstly to poverty,” said Eaqub, noting that, according to the survey, a quarter of New Zealanders sometimes miss meals due to financial hardship – twice as high a percentage compared to Australia.
“I think we do have a real problem with poverty in New Zealand, and poverty strips away people’s dignity and their ability to connect with their communities and society.”
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
