The biggest private sector union in New Zealand, E tū, has suspended a staff member and unionist, after a female business owner has come forward with allegations that the E tū representative had demanded sexual favours from her, in return for settling her worker exploitation case in which he [the E tū representative] was involved as a mediator. Confirming this was Bill Newson, E tū National Secretary, who said, “I can confirm that I have received a complaint making serious allegations against one of my staff.”

“I’m proud Labour has candidates like Dr Gaurav Sharma who is prepared to put his hand up to represent his constituency. As I said at the beginning of the year Labour is focused on running a positive and inclusive campaign. We have fantastic Indian candidates such as Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Baljit Kaur and Dr Sharma who I am hopeful will join our team in Parliament after the election,” PM said.

In a first case of its kind in New Zealand, a well-known Kiwi-Indian community leader based in Wellington, Mr Kantilal Bhagabhai Patel, has lost his membership of the Wellington Justices of Peace (JP) Association, after some of his social media posts were deemed anti-Muslim in nature.

One day last year, Narinder Singh Warraich, an immigrant from the Indian state of Punjab, was driving past the famous Hagley Park in Christchurch, when he saw some young boys teasing, bullying, and passing racist slurs towards an elderly Indian men, with a beard and a turban.

If you are near the coast and feel an earthquake that is LONG or STRONG: GET GONE. A tsunami is a series of waves caused by large earthquakes. All of New Zealand’s coast line is at risk of tsunami. A tsunami wave can grow to become a fast moving wall of water.

Have your say about the future of civil defence emergency management in New Zealand. Public consultation on a proposed National Disaster Resilience Strategy for New Zealand is now open.

The strategy sets New Zealand’s vision and long-term goals for civil defence emergency management. It has a strong focus on building community and societal disaster resilience to protect New Zealand’s prosperity and well-being.

Please mail or email submissions to the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management by 5pm, Friday 7 December 2018.

The Waitakere Ethnic Board (WEB) & West Auckland NewComers Network held its usual once a month New Out West meeting with Waitemata Police Detective Senior Sergeant Kelly Farrant presenting the new initiative that are been rolled out in West Auckland.

“Speaking more than one language has enormous cognitive, cultural, social and economic benefits. New Zealand is a diverse country where 160 languages are spoken, and it’s important that what’s being taught in schools reflects that. My Bill would require the Minister of Education to set at least ten national priority languages for schools following public consultation and places a requirement on the Crown to resource teaching these languages in primary and intermediate schools.”

The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM) has enlisted the support and advice of Auckland Emergency Management as it develops a new national public education strategy for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, which is due to be released early next year. The ministry is also providing funding support to a joint project by the Christchurch City Council and Plains FM 96.9 – a community access radio station based there - to develop foreign language emergency messaging for radio.

In an event where Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities and MP for Mt Roskill, Michael Wood, seems like “the token white guy” - his own words – New Zealand’s diversity would be amply demonstrated. Such was the case on August 10, at the opening of Labour Party’s new office in Maungakiekie, where three of the Party’s MPs - Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki, and Raymond Ho, will now be based.

Democracy in action! MPs from all four major political parties putting their parties stand in front of the New Zealand public on April 27 at the Aurora Centre for Performing Arts. From left - Denis O'Rourke from NZ First, Megan Woods from Labour, Stuart Smith from National, and Kennedy Graham from Greens. Also on stage is350.org organiser Charles Drace. (picture credit: Elizabeth Guthrey)     

In what can be termed as an excellent example of religious harmony in New Zealand, and more so, shining a bright light on India's age-old diverse traditions, last weekend, Keralites [those from the southern Indian state of Kerala, also called Malayalis] in Christchurch celebrated Easter, a Christian festival, and Vishu, a Hindu festival, together. First up on Saturday, April 22, was the celebration by the Kerala Cultural Forum (KCF), which was formed in 2009. This was followed by the event on April 23, hosted by the oldest Malayali organisation in the City – since 2005 - the Christchurch Kerala Association (CKA).  

Police Commissioner Mike Bush on April 12, announced the numbers of new Police staff each district will get as part of the $388 million investment in Police announced by the Prime Minister in February 2017. The investment will see an increase of 880 sworn and 245 non-sworn staff over four years.  Sworn staff will be recruited over the next four years from July 2017, with approximately 220 new additional recruits added per year. The first phase includes the recruitment of 220 constabulary staff.  The first wing to include new recruits funded through the investment package, Wing 308, will start on July 10, 2017. These 80 recruits will graduate in October, 2017.

The Lyttleton Summer festival went through the course of the February month and the first week and a half of March. In all, there were ten events that celebrated the artistic and diverse culture that Lyttleton had to offer. The festival took over half a year to organise. Interestingly, the event was organised through the Lyttleton Time Bank, which is used by the community to trade their skills, instead of dollars. Also, time credits are used as payments.  One of the event organisers Jill larking said, “It was great we could use the time bank because that meant we got community involvement and feedback through their members.”

The Human Rights Commission’s That’s Us anti-racism campaign has reached almost 2 million people (1.9 million) and engaged with more than 600,000 people since its launch on the September 1, 2016.  That’s Us is New Zealand’s first nationwide, anti-racism campaign with its first stage focused on sharing the stories of everyday Kiwis.

"Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust (MSSAT) started in 1991 in Christchurch when a client asked his Counsellor how he could go about meetingother men who had experienced similar childhood trauma. Together they formed a support group and in 1997 members of that group registered MSSAT as a Charitable Trust. In recent years MSSAT has been instrumental in the establishment of MSSAT Auckland and MSSAT Waikato who both operate as independent Trusts but with the same principles and objectives of MSSAT. Support groups for male survivors, their parents and partners are held in Nelson and Wellington. All MSSAT organisations offer one to one, peer and group support for survivors and their significant others.  Group support and the validation from other men is very empowering for recovering survivors. As abuse usually takes place in isolation healing works well with others."

The Parliament on March 15, passed Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill through its third reading, which will establish a new legal framework for the Whanganui River, Te Awa Tupua. It recognises the river as an indivisible and living whole from the mountains to the sea. Te Awa Tupua will have its own legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person.

In conversation with Dame Susan Devoy, Race Relations Commissioner, and Rakesh Naidoo, her Strategic Advisor on race relations

Mollie Howarth's involvement with CAB is almost a decade old; six years out of which, she has been the Christchurch manager of the organisation. Now, she heads a team of two part-timers, and 105 trained volunteers, all of whom team up to operate three branches and two satellites help desks across the city. “What we do can best be summarised as a personalised information help desk, which is open for anyone in New Zealand. You may be on a work visa, resident, citizen, or just a visitor, our trained volunteers are always at hand to provide the desired information to the best of their abilities,” she says.

'Towards sustainable futures through multilingual education' - This is the theme of 2017 celebration of the International Mother Language Day, which falls on February 21, as recommended by UNESCO.

The Human Rights Commission has called on New Zealanders to stand alongside Muslim New Zealanders in the wake of the United States ban on immigration from some Middle Eastern nations.

“So many of us are feeling helpless but the one thing we can do is let our own decision makers know that we will not allow hatred and intolerance to spread and become normalised here at home: Not in our New Zealand,” said Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.

This Friday, November 25, was White Ribbon Day, a UN-recognised international day urging all to eliminate violence against women. It all came about through a men’s movement in Canada drawing attention to the issue in 1991 that led to the UN designating a world day to call on global efforts to tackle the issue of gender-based violence.

Women in crisis can call 24 hours 7 days a week, 0800 SHAKTI or 0800 742 584

or

Email: sawc@shakti.org.nz

or

Visit shakti.org.nz

"I am a competent confident New Zealand-born Kiwi woman. Yet, I too stayed in a violent relationship for six years. Thus, I can feel what all domestic violence victims feel. I also understand why some women choose to stay in a violent relationship. First - is the feeling of guilt. That somehow women start believing it's their fault. Second - is the shame of explaining to everyone why they put up with such abuse. Third - is after a while women loose confidence and their sense of individuality. Fourth – is hope. Hope that things will change. Hope that the man will realise his mistake. That's why organisations such as Shakti do such an amazing job. This is a cross-party issue and I believe the Justice Minister Amy Adams is doing a good job handling it."

Dozens of people took a seat on a blue ‘Smile Couch’ at the Ashburton A&P Show last month to find out more about the Ashburton District Council’s Start with a Smile campaign. The campaign, which launched in September, aims to make Mid Canterbury feel like home for the many newcomers who are choosing to live and work in the district.

The Labour Attache from the Philippines Embassy in Australia was in Christchurch recently to generate awareness about the workers rights in New Zealand. We present below some parts of his presentation.

No Limits director and Ara Institute of Canterbury Pasifika Liaison Sela Faletolu-Fasi (inset with mic), performing with young Pasifika performers at the YMCA theatre in Christchurch on November 4. The show which has been performed by the team since last four years is known to leave audiences in tears when the reality of challenges Pacifika youth face hits home. After the show, former mayor Garry Moore complimented the young performers saying, "I have never contemplated suicide in my life. So to see what all our youth face while tackling the hardships of life is an eye-opener." Councillor Glenn Livingstone added, "We hear you. Now is the time all of us - the decision makers - sit together to find a solution to this problem."  

She was in Christchurch recently to attend an open forum organised by Nicky Wagner, MP for Christchurch Central, to address the issue of recent spike in aggravated robberies targeting dairies and liquor stores. Natu Rama, President of the city-based Indian Cultural and Social Club, who led a delegation of Indian shop-keepers at the workshop, was present at the forum along members from Community Patrols and the top brass of Canterbury Police. This included Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price, Acting Inspector Paul Reeves, Detective Inspector Tony Hill and Acting Superintendent Peter Cooper.

I also want the Council's decision-making to be more open and transparent through the engagement and consultation with residents.

In a panel discussion organised by the Khadija Leadership Network (KLN) and Pearl of the Islands Foundation in Auckland on Tuesday, three women MPs - Golriz Ghahraman of the Green Party, Parmjeet Parmar of the opposition National Party, and Priyanca Radhakrishnan of the ruling Labour Party, participated.

Our Hijrah, a research project undertaken by Khadija Leadership Network (KLN), is aiming to record and understand the journeys of Muslim women in New Zealand, and their contribution and service to their communities. The project is partially funded by UNESCO New Zealand.

New Zealand’s most important historic site. More details at www.waitangi.org.nz

Manoj Rathi, joint secretary of Pakistan Association of New Zealand who also manages the All Sindhi’s Association of New Zealand, shares his experiences with Gaurav Sharma

Over the weekend at the 11th NZCFC, the Palestinian Panthers and Czech Lions gave spectators a nail biting finish after drawing nil all after extra time. The two teams stood together shoulder to shoulder and cheered each other on during the penalty shootout, with the final score 4-2 to the Panthers.

If the sub-continent’s history was not so chequered, Urdu and Hindi could have been one language called Hindustani. Unfortunately though, due to the divide and rule policies of the British Raj, Urdu has come to be identified with Muslims and Hindi with Hindus, over the last century or so.

Chilean Independence Day is always celebrated in Chile on September 18, and marks the date when the Chilean people declared independence from Spain. The Chilean War of Independence was a war between pro-independence Chilean criollos seeking political and economic independence from Spain and royalist criollos supporting continued allegiance to the Captaincy General of Chile and membership of the Spanish Empire.

The Mexican War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de México) was an armed conflict, and the culmination of a political and social process which ended the rule of Spain in 1821 in the territory of New Spain. The war had its antecedent in Napoleon's French invasion of Spain in 1808; it extended from the Cry of Dolores by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla on September 16, 1810, to the entrance of the Army of the Three Guarantees led by Agustín de Iturbide to Mexico City on September 27, 1821.

The Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple has been part of the Christchurch landscape for over 25 years. In its current location for the past 10, the temple provides an amazing space where people from every culture come to share experiences, learn new things, and maximise the joy from there life. The building is designed around the Longmen Grottos in China, a place were there is over 10,000 Buddhist Statues carved throughout an intricate network of caves.

The event was World Refugee Day held on July 1.  It was an amazing evening, and the hall was jam packed. There was standing room only.  While we were expecting 250, almost 550 people came. Most of the former refugees settled in the city came. There were 12 cultural times followed by a multicultural fashion show. This included performance by a sufi group in the city, Indian, Irish and Chinese dancing, Japanese drumming, and a kapa haka.

Volunteers from Jannah Road Charity Op Shop, which is "New Zealand's first Islamic Op Shop committed to supporting local Muslim communities", at Auckland's Eid'ul Adha celebrations on August 22. The charity also runs a hajj sponsership project, says Denit, the founder, who herself immigrated from Turkey.

This years Vietnam Veterans Day was held on Saturday, August 18, in the Papanui RSA club with about fifty members and guests attended. The ceremony started with the parade of Vietnam veterans. The Piper played while representatives of various sections of NZ troops laid the wreaths. This was followed by other participants laying poppies. The bugler played “The Last Post”. I gave a speech, presenting the view of a Vietnamese who had lived through Vietnam war.

Auckland War Memorial Museum in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki presented the Cultural Festival 2018, a celebration of the vibrant art and culture of Auckland’s local Asian Communities, during the weekend of 25 – 26 August. 

Kiwi-Pakistanis all across the country came together last week to celebrate the country’s Independence Day, which falls on August 14, every year. The celebrations kicked off in Auckland on August 19, with the Pakistan Association of New Zealand (PANZ), organising a day-long event at the King’s College in Otahuhu. There were cultural stalls showcasing Pakistani culture, and few cultural performances including the bhangra. 

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities and MP for Mt Roskill Michael Wood has come out in support of the Deputy Prime Minister's recent remarks on multiculturalism saying, “I have heard Mr Peters recently talking about forging a New Zealand identity. A unique Kiwi identity, if you will.”

India is known for its unity in diversity. A mini-Europe, sort of, with hundreds of languages spoken, every prominent religion practised, and cuisine and culture differing from region to region. That’s why when Indians move abroad, even while forming pan-Indian identity denoting associations, region-specific organisations are also very common. Like in Auckland, while there’s a New Zealand Indian Central Association, but there’s a Tamil Association as well.

Organised by three community organisations, the Eid Carnival held in Christchurch on June 16, at the Lincoln Events Centre, was a huge success. The evening event, which culminated with the end of Ramadan, was made possible by the tireless efforts of volunteers and office bearers of the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust (CMCT), Muslim Association of Canterbury (MAC), and National Islamic Sister Assembly (NISA).

"I absolutely despise the word assimilation. I think it should be consigned to the dustbins of history. A similar such word is tolerance. These words inherently mean that there is one preferred way of doing things, and everyone should adhere to that. Among developed nations, France is the only one, which went on the path of assimilation due to its cultural arrogance and it’s been an absolute failure there. What we should do instead, is integration and acceptance. A rather simplistic analogy is that of a soup and fried rice. In a soup, you can’t taste the ingredients separately, which is possible in fried rice. I want our New Zealand society to be like fried rice."

TasiNZ, or the Telugu Association of South Island New Zealand, an informal group in existence since 2006, celebrated Ugadi - the Telugu New Year in Christchurch last month. Ugadi, as it is called in the Deccan region of India, marks the commencement of the Hindu New Year by recognising a change in the lunar orbit. (picture credit: TasiNZ)

The Zimbabwean community in Canterbury celebrated their 37th Independence Day on April 22. Zimbabwe attained its independence from Britain on April 18, 1980. Since then it has been a very important day in the calendar of Zimbabwe. To mark this day, the Zimbabwean community in Canterbury came together to reflect on the journey of the country so far. The occasionwas well attended by Zimbabweans as well asother invited international communities in Christchurch.  The ceremony was officially opened with a karakia by Maori elder, Sally Pitama followed by our guest speaker, Hilton Chaza, who chronicled the history of Zimbabwe and the struggle that culminated in attainment of independence. Entertainment was provided by the the Chitongo African Band which mesmerized the crowd with their traditional beat from the heart of Zimbabwe.

One of the most sacred Buddhist festivals in the world, celebrating the birth, along with commemorating the enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha, which falls on May 3, this year, was celebrated in Christchurch on April 22. The event was co-organised by the Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) South Island NZ and Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple (FGSBT) South Island, which reopened its door late last year after four years of intensive earthquake repairs. It was also the temple's 10th year of establishment, causing the celebrations to be bigger than usual.

Formed in 1998 The Canterbury Shetland and Orkney Society is a friendly network and social hub for interested locals and Island descendants. We have about 120 members and we meet every two months for social outings and to celebrate festivals such as ‘Up Helly Aa’ (www.uphellyaa.org/) held on the last Tuesday in January, by singing the three Viking songs and carrying out a ‘Galley-Burning,’and playing such Viking games as Kubb.

Eric Chuah, former head of migrant banking with ANZ, has launched Cultural Connections, New Zealand’s first social enterprise to specialise in researching migrants, is calling all migrants to join its research panels and in doing so help the country’s multicultural community groups flourish.

The Indian Social and Cultural Club (ISCC) – a Christchurch-based social and cultural organisation, in its recently held AGM has elected a new 20-member strong executive committee to oversee the Club’s initiatives in its 20th anniversary year. Formed in 1997, the Club is known for organising the biggest Diwali festival in the South Island every year.

He was speaking in reference to a report published in Christchurch's The Press on March 31 - "Crash victims were newcomers to NZ". The story also appeared a day earlier on stuff.co.nz. The story referred to a fatal crash that took place on March 28 near Culverden in which two Indian boys were killed. "The police have told us that the investigation will take about a month to complete. Even the report in The Press mentions 'Police said an investigation into the crash was ongoing'. Inspite of this, the report adds 'It is understood they had driven onto the wrong side of the road'. This, we believe places the blame on the Indian boys even before the crash investigations are complete, which might have implications regarding insurance claims. I have sought clarification from The Press regarding this," Clark said. 

The Christchurch Fiji Association (Cfcessa) organised a Fiji-style holi last Sunday with over 100 people attending from the community. While exchanging sweets, applying colours and doing karaoke were all part of the celebrations, the highlight was the Faag mandalis, which sang faag (holi-related folk songs) – a Fiji tradition – late into the evening. Vinesh Prakash, secretary of the Association noted, “Our coordinator for this event was Virendra Prasad, who did a great job. Back home, we have this tradition where we sing holi-related folk songs on the full-moon night holika is set on fire. This is also carried on the next morning during dhuleti when all of us play with colours. During that day, the faag mandalis also visit homes of friends and relatives, exchanging sweets, applying colours and playing music.”

Schools that participated included Haeata Community Campus, Middleton Grange School, Avonside Girls' High School, Hornby High School, Ashburton College, Cashmere High School, Papanui High School, St Thomas' of Canterbury College, Shirley Boys' High SChool, Riccarton High School, Marlborough Boys' College, Marlborough Girls' College, Burnside High School, Marian College, St Bedes' College, Linwood College, Villa Maria College and Christchurch Girls' High School, and Catholic Cathedral College.

“The great thing about Culture Galore is that the community takes ownership of the festival. It's another indication that Christchurch is embracing diversity. In addition to some good initiatives already in place such as the adoption of Christchurch Multicultural Strategy by the City council, we need more cross-cultural exchanges, especially on medium such as the Plains FM radio. With regards to Culture Galore itself, we would like to have more involvement of the Pacifika community and make the event more interactive for the audiences in the future.” - Nicki Reece, Station Manager, Plains FM, Christchurch, talking about Culture Galore and Plains FM

At a function held recently at the Selwyn District Council (SDC) headquarters in Rolleston, the members of the organising committee of the inaugural Selwyn multicultural festival, called CultureFest, which was held in October last year, were appreciated for their contributions to its success. SDC CEO David Ward and Chairman, Rolleston's 150th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Councillor Jeff Bland, presented the team members with the certificates of appreciation and copies of the special booklet prepared to commemorate the Rolleston's milestone. The team members included Dave Tippett (SDC), Surinder Tandon (Rotary Club of Lincoln and Christchurch Multicultural Council - CMC), Archna Tandon (CMC), Kevin Park (Canterbury Migrants Centre), Rachael Inch (SDC), and Joyce Davey (Rolleston Newcomers Network).

The Wellington Diwali Festival 2018 returns to the TSB and Shed 6 venues, Wellington Waterfront, on Sunday, October 28, from 1.30 pm to 9.30 pm. Entry by Gold coin.

The Diwali season kicked off with Auckland Indian Retailers Association's multicultural Diwali celebrations in Papatoetoe, Auckland, held on October 6. The city's mayor Phil Goff addressing the gathering here, hailing the city's diversity.

Our workforce is changing rapidly - it is more diverse and representative of a range of cultures, and this is particularly the case amongst caregivers and nurses. This panel discussed how the aged care sector can engage and work productively with migrants and enhance relationships with all employees, while delivering quality care for residents.

The Christchurch Multicultural Strategy, launched on August 28, last year, is a commitment by the Council to provide a framework and a set of goals and actions to ensure every single person in Christchurch feels a sense of belonging. It will also give everyone in Christchurch an equal opportunity to access the Council's services, information, as well as participating in the decision-making process.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) initiative to tackle harmful sexual behaviour in the workforce has taken out the top award at the 2018 Diversity Awards NZ. The NZDF has rolled out mandatory Sexual Ethics and Respectful Relating (SERR) training to its 11,000 personnel since June 2017, aiming to create a workforce that is both empowered and prepared to address harmful sexual behaviour.

On August 24, the Selwyn District Council, under the leadership of Mayor Sam Broughton, launched the Immigration NZ initiated Welcoming Communities plan. This is significant as the Selwyn district has been experiencing extraordinary population growth for several years. This was accelerated by the Canterbury earthquakes, with people moving from Christchurch, along with people arriving from overseas to live in Selwyn and contribute to the Christchurch rebuild.

The Diverse Thinking Capability Audit of New Zealand Boardrooms 2018, released last week by Mai Chen, Founder and Inaugural Chair of the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business, has emphasised how diverse thinking around the board table is essential to improving the performance of companies and organisations.

Auckland University of Technology (AUT) staff came together for the Inaugural Vice-Chancellor Diversity Awards to acknowledge the diversity initiatives of eight awardees at the Auckland Art Gallery last week. The awards celebrated AUT’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, embedding everyday diversity and saluting work by the University’s staff in the diversity space.

Consider this: Of the 60 new constables that graduated from the Royal New Zealand Police College last week [from Wing 317], 38 percent are females, 19 officers were born overseas and between them speak around a dozen foreign languages. The youngest recruit is 19 and the oldest is 45. One has the distinction of playing in the Ranfurly Shield-winning Hawke’s Bay rugby team, another is a fine musician who has performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

The Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa has once again thrown light on the need for diversity in New Zealand’s public sector boards. She was speaking at the launch event of this newspaper held at Auckland University of Technology on August 9.

As diversity consultants, we get the opportunity to work with a range of private and public sector organisations, many of whom are at different stages of evolution when it comes to D&I practice. For the last couple of months, we have been fortunate enough to work alongside the Department of Conservation (DOC) to deliver Unconscious Bias Awareness Training.

Born in Korea, and brought up in Malaysia, Melissa Lee moved to New Zealand as a young adult in 1988. What followed was over two decades of journalism in both print and television, including fifteen years as the presenter and producer on TVNZ’s Asia Dynamic and Asia Down Under with 600 episodes to her credit. In 2008, she entered Parliament as a National list MP, making her New Zealand’s first Korean MP. Alongside, she held positions as a Vice President of the Korean Society, Vice-President of the Korean Womens’ Association, Board member of the Asia-Pacific Producers’ Network, advisor to the National Unification Council of Korea, and an Asian advisor to the Auckland Police.

As New Zealand paid tribute to the 102nd year of Gallipoli landings last week, historians across the Tasman are calling for greater acknowledgement of the important role Indian troops played during the eight-month-long campaign. In a new book titled, Die in Battle, Do not Despair: The Indians on Gallipoli, 1915, Peter Stanley, a military historian at the University of New South Wales in Australia, has challenged past historical records that had put the number of Indians who fought at one of World War I major battlegrounds at around 5,000. Drawing from previously unpublished official and private records from the UK (including forgotten British officers' memoirs), Australia and the National Archives of India, Professor Stanley has now put a powerful argument for revising this figure to 15,000.

The Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS) opened for application from April 12, announced Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Alfred Ngaro. “From today communities will be able to apply for $12.5 million of grant funding for the projects and organisations that matter to them most. The COGS funding is unique in that it’s decided on and distributed by local distribution committees. That means we have locals deciding what matters most to them and what will have the most impact on their own communities,” informed Ngaro.

On April 8, the West African community organised an achievers award night attended by over 50 people. Dennis Agelebe, President of Nigerian Canterbury Association of New Zealand, noted the contributions of the African community in Christchurch and New Zealand. Jimmy Chen, Christchurch City Councillor, and Sally Pitama from Ngai Tahu, welcomed the African community to Christchurch. "Our aim is to acknowledge West Africans living in Canterbury that have performed exceptionally well in their field. We believe that by celebrating their hard work, future generation will be inspired to aim high in their endeavours. This will also promote our image in the wider society," noted the organisers. 

Two migrant drivers based in Christchurch can now claim they are among the country’s best, after winning the top two awards at Go Bus Transport’s Bus Roadeo at the Airforce Museum in Christchurch on Saturday March 11. Raymund Llamas, who is from the Philippines and has driven buses in his home country and in Dubai, was named Go Bus Driver of the Year, and Arvinder Singh from India, won the runner-up.

"Over the years and through the dedicated leadership of several coordinators and the work of passionate volunteers, the Mid Canterbury Newcomers Network has grown into a dynamic, community-led and community-driven organization and developed a 300+ person strong network of friends, community contacts, cultural ambassadors and grass-roots community leaders and initiatives that contribute at different levels of community building and organising. We support newcomers who have come from all over New Zealand and the rest of the world who have chosen to settle into Mid Canterbury. We are a starting point of sorts for them."

“We want to recruit new migrants onto patrols which we hope will help them fit into the local community and enable them to meet new people. The training for this is three months long, during which the volunteers learn about health and safety, observation and patrolling skills. The main purpose of the patrol is to deter, delay, deny and detect any crime from happening. On average, volunteers contribute about 10 hours every month – two 5 hour shifts - doing community patrols,” informed Helen Todd, who is NZ Police's Community Patrol Coordinator for the Canterbury region.

African women from the tip of Africa to the Bottom (in short Cape to Cairo) with their friends, celebrated International Women’s Day at Hornby Work Man’s Club on March 11, 2017.  About 50 Women of different cultures came together for dinner celebrating our oneness as women, and deliberate on how - as women all humanity comes through us - including how we influence behaviour and the character of our children. “Women are the realArchitects of Society” (Cher)

As political parties kick off their election campaigns, Labour MP’s Megan Woods and Ruth Dyson, and labour candidates, Anthony Rimell candidate for Ilam, Jo Luxton candidate for Rangitata, Tony Condon candidate for Selwyn and Duncan Webb candidate for Christchurch Central, recently met with representatives of the Canterbury Refugee Council.

Almost six years after suffering extensive damage in the 2011 Earthquake, ISKCON Christchurch opened its door again at a newly-constructed Hare Krishna Centre at 83 Bealey Avenue on March 3. The grand opening ceremony titled Revival was held over three days, and featured fire yajnas, kirtans, aartis, guru pujas, and an initiation ceremony by Indradyumna Swami. Installation of the deities including that of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra was also part of the ceremony.

The Christchurch Multicultural Strategy 2017-2021 “Our Future Together” was adopted by the Christchurch City Council on February 9. Council Community Support Team Manager Claire Phillips noted, "It's a great opportunity to embrace and acknowledge the diversity factor in Christchurch and it shows that as a city we recognise the economic, social and cultural benefits that being a diverse city brings us."

The Christchurch-based Indian Cultural Group(ICG) and Auckland-based community organisation based in Manukau, Sahaayta, came together last Saturday in Christchurch to launch a once-a-month meeting-over-coffee club. “Our goal is to focus on empowerment of South Asian women by providing a platform for women to come together and exchange life experiences.

The Zimbabwe High Achievers Awards Dinner was held at Papanui Workingmen's Club in Christchurch November 19, 2016. The event was the first of its kind and was well attended with over140 people present. This event was sponsored by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF)'s African Programme popularly known by its brand name Love Cover Protect (LCP).

Three place names in North Canterbury containing the word ‘n*****’ will be changed to reflect the offence caused by that word, Land Information Minister Louise Upston has announced. The new names will be listed in the Gazetteer, the official record of New Zealand place names, on December 15, 2016.

An English class for migrants in Waimakariri district has attracted six students from Colombia, Thailand, Japan and France. Recent work by the Waimakariri District Council’s community team in organizing get together for our migrants resulted in the class where ESOL teacher Jude Archer provides tuition. Meeting weekly on a Thursday morning upstairs in the Ruataniwha Kaiapoi Civic Centre the class practise and improve their conversation skills.

Christchurch suffered a major earthquake in 2011. Northern Canterbury, particularly Kaikoura, did so on November 14. Five years back, several - more than 60 - agencies and migrant associations got involved and guaged whether the City's earthquake response was adequate. Some key learnings were presented as a result. We present some excerpts from that Report. Question is, have we learnt something from the past?   

Inspector Hirone Waretini describing the experience, "It was certainly an amazing experience and the crowd reaction blew us away. It was difficult getting people together at the same time due to rosters and other work commitments. Once we arrived at the venue to run through the dance moves, we’d all forgotten everything and there were plenty of nerves about that. However, one thing about Cops is that we don’t like to lose, so we knuckled down for the next couple of hours and really tried to nail the routine. The few moments before going up on stage were the worst. Afterwards however it was relief, elation and disbelief that we’d actually – only just, maybe – pulled it off. We thought it was a tremendous chance for us to do something different and show the Indian Community that we really wanted to connect to them.”

The event was organised by the Christchurch Fiji Association or CFCESSA, and was attended by over 300 people. Informing this was Jagat Singh, President of CFCESSA, who added, "We have been organising Diwali for the past 14 years. Earlier we used to get some funding but not any more. Now the community gets together and organises the event. Hopefully, the City Council will start helping us again. If it happens, maybe we will be able to organise the event on a much bigger scale the next year."

This can be the story of these local elections. Two young Korean siblings Linda Chen and Catherine Chu - daughters of Korean immigrants who came to New Zealand almost two decades back - winning their respective community board elections is not an everyday occurrence. Linda who gathered 3391 votes won the Harewood Ward of the Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board. While Catherine came out as a victor in the Riccarton Ward of the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board with 2074 votes.

The Canterbury Muslim Community Trust had organised a wonderful Islamic Arts exhibition in Christchurch South Library between April 2 and 9. We had also covered the story in our last issue. Below we present some out of the 53 displays in the four categories of architectural, decorative, calligraphy and textile arts.

The banner exhibition was displayed at the Christchurch City Council building depicting their life stories. It was commissioned by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, and organised by the Foundation's Reserach Centre, and Rewi Alley Education and Cultural Centre. 

A northern hemisphere winter. Ten flights - at all times of day and night on four different carriers. One carry on backpack. Busy London. A dictator and civil unrest in West Africa. Dangerous Middle East. Within less than three weeks.

"By 1869, about 2000 Chinese men, many from Guangdong Province, were working the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. They lived in their own settlements, some of which have been restored in places like Arrowtown. A Poll Tax was introduced in 1881 to discourage Chinese immigration. This was later rescinded along with a formal apology and the establishment of the Poll Tax Heritage Trust."

The two-day event was held at the City's Isaac Theatre Royal on January 16 and 17, and saw performances by the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe, and Wuhan Opera and Dancing Theatre. More than 800 people attended the celebrations on the 16th including 13 mayors from various South Island councils. Minister Nicky Wagner and MPs Jian Yang and Maureen Pugh were also present. Consul General Jin Zhijian noted that the show was the first performance from China at the historic venue after the 2011 Earthquake. The event also celebrated the completion of 10 years of sister city relationship between Christchurch and Wuhan.

Delia Richards, Liaison Manager for Filipino worker's Social Integration Programme at Canterbury Migrants Centre, and also the founder and President of the community organisation Philippine Culture and Sports, and Christchurch City Councillor Jimmy Chen (on right of Delia), kicking off preparations for Pistang Pilipino 2017 sa Christchurch (PPSC), on February 4.

In this holiday issue, we encapsulate the beauty, the history, and the issues across South Island. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we have left areas around Kaikoura for obvious reasons, but readers may find the 69 pictures - from page 4 to page 15 - an useful aid to get the gist of Te Waipounamu. Yes, this is the Maori name of New Zealand's South Island, which means "the waters of greenstone".      

The South West Baptist Church in Christchurch had an amazing Christmas Grotto this time. Your newspaper shares some of its highlights. One picture is of the Church members singing Christmas carols. 

Marking 70 years of something is no mean feat. Especially in the rapidly changing modern life with so many distractions all around. But Christchurch’s Annual Santa Parade achieved that on December 4. Though with time, the event has become more multicultural in nature, with Indian, Chinese, Nepalese and Fiji floats proving to be great crowd pullers.

Images from the pyrotechnics display at New Brighton Pier, Christchurch, held on November 5, and attended by thousands. These images are provided by Joy Kochakkan. Please check his facebook page - JK images to view more such pictures.

Organised by the Selwyn District Council (SDC) and supported by the Lincoln Rotary Club, and Christchurch Multicultural Council, CultureFest 2016 was attended by over 8,000 people on October 15

Since 2001, visitors from around the globe have been treated to the "twin-wonders" of Nelson in the form of the World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Museum. Displaying one of Australasia's largest private collections of vintage cars, visitors are also treated to over 70 World of WearableArt garments.

There was a plethora of information and ideas at the event held at Papanui High School on September 26. The Migrant Times presents a brief outline of few who were there.

This is how the Association describes itself, "The Canterbury Community Gardens Association is a networking organisation for community gardens, promoting the growth of new and existing initiatives. CCGA is a group of community gardeners and supportive individuals who are working together to promote and strengthen community garden initiatives in Christchurch."

In this photo-essay, we go to Vietnam, Lan Le-Ngoc's country till he left it in 1978. He graciously shared his life story with us for The Long Read [pg 12 & 13] for this issue.   

Yogyakarta is the hub of Javanese culture in Indonesia, which has seamlessly integrated cultural traits of Hinduism and Buddhism, with Islam. Even though, the people of Java are mainly Muslims, they are very proud of their links with other cultures and religions. On top of it, the most striking feature of the city is the omnipresence of graffiti on almost every wall around the city, presenting a very liberal face of Indonesia. To quote the Lonely Planet, "Yogyakarta is where the Javanese language is at its purest, arts at their brightest and its traditions at their most visible."

The Bishnois - India's 'original conservationist's – would be so proud of Michael Tavares spending four-days on a 500-year-old Kauri tree in Titirangi, West Auckland.

See how it changes from shades of blue to grey, to black, to even green!

Pick your horses.
Isn't it a magnificent being!

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. In this issue, we take our readers to Vietnam via few pictures. 

New Zealand and New Zealanders should and must always come first. But please broaden the definition of whom you consider a New Zealander, and how you define New Zealand values. Because you might believe that I don’t adhere to New Zealand values, and that I don’t belong here. But believe you me, I, like you, only have the best intentions for New Zealand. Today, you said in the Parliament that Friday was the "day everything changed in our country". Please let Friday be the day that changed your politics, Sir.

One way to do that is for Ministry of Education to direct schools to start celebrating all major religious festivals in our schools. Religious and community leaders, as well as interfaith societies can do school visits and educate the pupils on what every religion teaches - love for all, and what is the significance of a particular festival. Local governments across the country can also help facilitate that.

“..what about the optics? Last year's Santa parade in Riccarton had a Monster truck flying a white-supremacist flag. Even the local rugby club is named Crusaders. And all of us know the history of Crusades. Optics do matter in a society, don't you think?”

The PM has called it “one of the darkest days in New Zealand’s history”. She also called it “an extraordinary act of unprecedented violence”. We are calling it a terrorist act, as per the New Zealand Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 No 34 (as at 01 March 2017), Public Act 5, which defines a terrorist act as one “carried out for the purpose of advancing an ideological, political, or religious cause, and with the following intention: to induce terror in a civilian population...”.

We are happy to inform that we have finished analysing the feedback on our last year’s pilot launch of Multicultural Times (MT), New Zealand’s first nation-wide multicultural newspaper. As was the case with our Christchurch-based multicultural newspaper, The Migrant Times (TMT), MT too received innumerable accolades, appreciation and love from all of you.

Since our launch on August 1, we have received numerous messages from across the country. Mostly congratulatory, but with one concern. As one reader very graciously wrote, “Congratulations and I wish your endeavour every and sustained success!”. “But do note”, the reader goes on to add, “New Zealander’s of UK decent are [also] a cultural group in New Zealand! Your (Kiwi) representation of cultural groups – does not include this very sizeable and influential group at all levels in society.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." And never before in history, have newspapers faced such a crisis as they are facing now. With the advent of internet and gross commercialisation of journalism, someone somewhere missed the point. While critics are calling the mainstream media "simply stenographers to power", journalists themselves are facing something more than a moral dilemma. The thin line that once existed between perception and reality, editorial and advertisement, truth and half-truths, and news and views, is sadly diminishing. That's why 'Newzzit - news as it is' is being launched.

Allegations of migrant exploitation against Sistema; Research: Migrant issues brought to light by Caritas

As part of our continuous coverage of the Christchurch City Council 2016 Triennial Elections, we have published a short biography, the vision and picture of all the candidates for the Council and Community Board seats in our latest issue i.e. Issue 7, September 7 - September 20, 2016. [almost all as some replies were still awaited at the time of publishing]

The Canterbury Muslim Community Trust, which represents over 3,250 Muslims from 40 different nationalities, who have made Christchurch their new home, organised Eid celebrations in the North New Brighton Community Centre on July 10, 2016. Rob Dewhirst, chairman of the Trust informed, "With celebrations like these, our aim is to build bridges between members of the Muslim community in Canterbury and build bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims." 

In answering this question, you may be tempted to think about tripping hazards, workplace accidents or health and safety standards. But how often do you think about psychological safety? Psychological safety relates to the organisational or team climate and how safe people feel in speaking up and bringing a different perspective into the discussion.

The sacrificial story leads back to Abraham and Ishmael. Abraham was instructed in a vision to sacrifice his son Ishmael for the sake of God. In consulting with a willing Ishmael, both proceeded to make the sacrifice to obey the command of their Lord. In this selfless act of devotion they gained the Mercy of God who summoned a lamb in place of Ishmael. 

In New Zealand, we have a long list of skill shortages that need to be filled to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our growing population.bWe need more farmers (beef and dairy), arborists and market gardeners. We need construction managers, university lecturers, mechanical engineers, midwifes and nurses. We need bakers, builders, bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, mechanics and aged care workers.

A visiting British economist has laid down a wero for New Zealand employers to overcome their psychological hurdles and employ more refugees. Philippe Legrain, author of the book Immigrants: Why Your Country Needs Them as well as articles for The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, was the key note speaker at a Breakfast held last week at Parliament hosted by the Hon Grant Robertson in association with HOST International, Multicultural New Zealand, ChangeMakers Refugee Forum  and the Human Rights Commission.

Are you looking to connect in your new community? Make friends and find a sense of belonging? Then New Zealand Newcomers Network may be perfect for you! The journey of the New Zealand Newcomers Network Initiative (NZNN) began in 2006, after a series of government funded reports found, that making friends was one of the most difficult issues new migrants to New Zealand faced, when settling into the new community.

Isolation and a lack of English are among the issues facing people of migrant and refugee background in Canterbury, according to qualitative research from the All Right? campaign. The research consisted of six two-hour long discussion groups and in-depth interviews with people from refugee and migrant communities in Christchurch. Participants came from a range of countries including Somalia, Sudan, Korea, China and Bhutan.

I write to you in the mist of your harshest criticism to date to offer and express my appreciation for what you have achieved in the past two weeks. This letter is to commend you for being true to yourself; for identifying who you are and believing in your kaupapa; for having the conscience to use your profile for causes you believe in; for standing by your decisions despite being criticised; and most importantly for furthering the understanding of Treaty based Multiculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand.

As Chair of Christchurch City Council's Multicultural Working Party, it has been privilege to lead the development of the Multicultural Strategy for the past year. This strategy is also a commitment by the Council to support and embrace the diversity of the people in Christchurch. But in order to ensure the strategy deliver, we need to develop an action plan. We need to also monitor progress on this plan to ensure its success.

From "I did not know that there was an election", to friends that followed every step. It seems to depend partly on how often people have had a chance to go back to the Netherlands. The more they have been back, the more they still feel connected with the politics. Of those who have followed it, there seems to be a huge feeling of astonishment that even in the country that we left as a country that is very liberal and very pro freedom of speech, culture, religion etc, it is possible to give a man as Geert Wilders such a following.

60 years ago Hungarians started an uprising against the communist dictatorship forced on Hungary by the Russian troops who "liberated" Hungary in the 2nd World War. The freedom fighters failed in the revolt, but ever since Hungary gained back its independence in 1989 and announced the new republic on the anniversary day of October 23, we are free to celebrate the remembrance of the unsuccessful uprising and all the victims of fighting and the reprisals afterwards.

The Kiwi workplace is unique. From the distinctive language and communication style through to the relaxed informality with the boss, the workplace environment in New Zealand can be very different from what many new migrants have experienced before.

The newly-elected President of the American Club of Christchurch shares her memories of celebrating 4th of July, the American Independence Day, and expresses concerns on the prevalent gun culture back home

The success of Filipino-Kiwi youth in New Zealand is striking. In my first year here, I had the privilege of addressing the outstanding graduates of Marcellin College in Auckland. We hit the “Grand Slam” so to speak – the Dux, Head Boy and Head Girl were all Kiwipinos. So, I awarded them trophies in recognition of their wonderful achievements.

The occasion was the last meeting for the year 2016 for all advisors of the Philippines Community Support Services (PCSS) in Christchurch. Aside from the Ambassador addressing the gathering, Tara Ross of the University of Canterbury, also handed over the result of the UNESCO NZ research project to PCSS that looked into the information gaps of the Filipino migrants in Christchurch.

Naoko Hiruma has been presenting her own programme, now known as Japanese Downunder, on the community radio station Plains FM96.9 since 2002, when she was only 21 years old. She had then come to Christchurch for one year to learn the English language, which she considered to be an important part of her four-year media studies Chiba University, near Tokyo.

Cartolina is a fortnightly programme on community radio station Plains FM96.9 that presents information on Italian culture and local events with Italian connections in the friendly, laid-back style of its producer, Wilma Laryn (see photo). The title, Cartolina, is Italian for Postcard, referring to the easy-going way of presenting the show’s message.

Siale Faitotonu has been broadcasting his ever-expanding radio programme for the Tongan people for 23 years on Plains FM96.9. Now going by the name Faka’amanaki, the show provides news and support for Tongans, particularly those settling into a new country. The programme’s title, Faka’amanaki, means “Hope for…” and applies to everything from “Living” to a “Better Future”. The show’s original name had been Taka-i-Fonuamahu (Living in the Promised Land).

New Children of who attend the Sri Lankan Language and Cultural School in Christchurch play a large part in the production of Plains FM96.9’s radio programme about their cultural heritage, Samadhi – Voice of Sri Lanka. Under the guidance of the co-ordinator of the school, Dr Kalyani Wijayawardana, the children help to host the half-hour show, which is broadcast at 1.30pm every third Saturday of the month, and repeated at 3.30pm on the second Sunday.

New Zealanders have an automatic connection to Nepal through the conquest of_ Mt Everest on May 29, 1953, by Sir Edmund Hillary and a Nepali Sherpa, Tenzing. Many Kiwis are also aware of the Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese nationality whose motto is “Better to die than to be a coward.” “The Ghurka were an integral part of UK military and there are even some in the Indian army,” says Binod Parajuli, who talks about many aspects of Nepalese culture, music and news on the Plains FM96 radio programme, Namaste Nepal, every Monday at 8pm, with a repeats on Thursdays.

Jalsa Fiji Radio, which is broadcast weekly on Plains FM96.9 in Christchurch, has evolved as a two-part programme that provides both local and overseas news on Indian culture. Broadcast live every Saturday, the show now takes the form of Jalsa Fiji Radio Dip Chick Moments, which is presented from 5.30pm to 6pm; and Party Hour, between 7pm and 8pm.

Reza Jarvandi is presenting a Farsi-language programme, Toranj, on community radio station Plains FM96.9 that is of interest not only to Iranians but also covers people from other countries where that language is spoken, such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan and a part of India. The 30-minute, fortnightly programme started at 7pm on Wednesday, January 11. It is funded by the Ethnic Communities Development Fund.

Presented in the Vietnamese language, the Plains FM96.9 radio programme “Nhip Cau Thong Tin” (“Making Connections”) provides the opportunity to obtain information on settling and integrating into a new country for Vietnamese people living in Canterbury, as well as possible immigrants still living Vietnam who are being given access to podcasts of the show. Some of them download the podcasts and listen to them in their own time.

Marlene Isaks has been the voice of Africans living in Canterbury for seven years through her programme, “African Flava”, which is broadcast fortnightly on the community radio station, Plains FM96.9. Born in South Africa, Marlene came to New Zealand with her parents 13 years ago and began the show in 2010 as “South African Flava”, when it was sponsored by Safari Meats.

Following up on Prime Minister John Key's announcement made mid last year of granting skilled migrants and entrepreneurs more points towards residency if they agree to live in the regions, the Government will be announcing the policy details early next year. Minister of Small Businesses, Craig Foss, who is also the Associate Minister for Immigration informed this while attending the Small Business Roadshow organised by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, on November 7, in Christchurch.

"Especially here in New Zealand, we are all New Zealanders, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, we see ourselves as part of NZ and NZ is part of us. We are not going to apologise for someone else's misdeeds."

National Party’s leader, and the Leader of the Opposition, Simon Bridges sat with this newspaper last month, and talked about a range of issues. Below is the text of the complete interview.

Immigration policy is demand driven, skill based and humanitarian; Tackling unconscious bias by NZ employers is a broad issue for the Government; Deportation of Indian students has some element of victimisation but they have to take responsibility for the information they provided; Migrants need to come out against exploitation; We are not giving up on young New Zealanders; South Island immigration policy details will be announced soon

Ethnic communities are very important to NZ; Challenges are there, but my ministry collaborates with other agencies to help migrants settle-in; We are open to any proposal to assist in translating civil defence material into ethnic languages; Tackling pacific youth suicides is a priority for this Government
Several reasons for declining voting in local government elections

Calling Labour anti-migrants is desperation on part of the PM; Labour has no magic number for immigration; depends on circumstances; The Government has turned a blind eye to what private education institutes are doing; We will put the onus back on education institutes; Co-ethnic exploitation is an issue; More labour inspectors are needed; Crime can be prevented by having more frontline police officers from ethnic communities

The Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Jesus S Domingo, who has completed almost half-a-year in this country, and is known for his hands-on approach in dealing with issues, was in Christchurch recently to interact with local Filipino leaders including Delia Richards of the Philippine Culture and Sports.

Prime Minister John Key was in Christchurch recently, when our editor Gaurav Sharma sat down with him for a chat on various migrant issues that New Zealand is currently facing.

Kelvin Coe, the Mayor of Selwyn district just South of Christchurch, talks about the economic benefits of migrants in his region and how the demographics of Selwyn has changed over the last decade or so.

In an exclusive chat with this newspaper, Angus McKay, Mayor of Ashburton District Council, says he was told by the Philippines Ambassador recently that New Zealand authorities are issuing more and more two-year work-visas these days, so that migrant workers can benefit from access to subsidised healthcare. This has been one of the major demands of the Canterbury Mayoral Forum, in which McKay looks after the migrant affairs.

South Island is changing. Even the so-called "whitest regions" are beginning to realise the fruits of immigration. This newspaper caught up with Hurunui Mayor Winton Dalley to guage his thoughts on the changing demographics of his district.

As the Canterbury Migrants Centre Trust launches the first-ever migrant newspaper in the South Island, The Migrant Times editor Gaurav caught up with Christchurch's City Mayor Lianne Dalziel for a quick chat on her thoughts about the prevailing migrant issues in the city, and whether Christchurch is ready to accept, as well as culturally, socially and economically integrate migrants of different ethnicities within its folds.

Highlights: Health concentration at the top worries me most; eight people owning more than the bottom 50 percent of the world's population is unsustainable in the long run; I believe in working towards three zeros - zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emission; The way to tackle unemployment and get people out of welfarism is to empower them and encourage entrepreneurship

Those who attended the recent Living Economies Expo came away energised and inspired to make change. The purpose of the event was to seed systemic change. The realisation that our systems are not working is fairly widespread: see the increasing coverage in our media of topics such as climate change, water quality, housing shortages, a failing health system, the growing divide between rich and poor, decrease in the diversity of species, questionable political leadership worldwide and of course the connector of all these issues – our current highly dysfunctional monetary system.

Highlights: it's important to tell the story; we need to get the community and people more involved; all new anchor projects will be inclusive, will appeal to everyone and everybody; Christchurch will be the city of future; we encourage diversity of thoughts at Otakaro; diversity of cultures and migrants have been great for New Zealand

Christchurch's rebuild after the 2011 earthquake got a major breakthrough last week with Regenerate Christchurch (RC) announcing Gerry Brownlee's - minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration - approval for the company's approach for developing a Regeneration Plan for the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. RC is a new entity, established in 2016 to lead the regeneration of Christchurch including the central city, residential red zone and the eastern New Brighton.

"The Living Economies Expo is an event recognising the interconnection of all major global issues around the driving force of our dysfunctional debt-based money system. The event will showcase examples of people doing things differently, creating healthy solutions, demonstrating what is possible, what gives hope and direction to our communities and country. Through the momentum of this event we hope to seed systemic change," says Margaret Jefferies, member of the Living Economies Trust Board, the main organiser of the event. Jefferies is also the chairperson of Project Lyttelton.

New Zealand is benefitting from immigration a new report by The New Zealand Initiative says. It also found that the current immigration policy settings are broadly fit-for-purpose, but policymakers should be vigilant to ensure this remains the case.

Launched on January 30, The New New Zealanders: Why migrants make good Kiwis looks at the many people who are choosing to make New Zealand their home, and the effect they have on our society.

Formed soon after the 2011 February earthquakes, the Community Language Information Network Group (CLING) has been serving the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Christchurch by communicating and disseminating information for the last half a decade.

The Canterbury Migrants Centre (CMC), earlier known as Christchurch Migrants Centre, has recently formally reviewed its operations, vision as well as the direction, and has restructured its modus operandi. George Clark, earlier the Chair of the Centre's Board and now the Managing trustee shared the reasons behind the changes.

HTG and social trends research company, Windshift, have just completed a major research project among migrants. "We spent 100 hours conducting in-home interviews as well as a national survey comparing NZ born and migrant New Zealanders. We found that migrants tend to be highly educated middle class people who are savvy consumers and well disposed towards New Zealand brands. Migrants are loyal to brands that clearly demonstrate they value migrants’ business. Sixty five percent are educated to degree level or above compared with just 36% of those that are New Zealand born. And 72% consider themselves financially stable or prospering, compared with 54% of New Zealand born," notes Windshift.

New Zealand is ageing fast, and with it is the increasing popularity of retirement villages. This has sparked a booming sector worth almost $9 billion with 130 operators, catering to over 10 percent of the over-75 age group nationwide.

The government’s new first-stop-shop product recall website has been embraced by consumers, claimed Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith recently. The site www.recalls.govt.nz went live in March this year. Since then 125 products have been recalled, and over 28,000 people have used the site to search, subscribe and keep safe by knowing which products may pose a safety risk, the Minister added.

Canterbury was put on the national map this weekend with the successful organisation of the first-ever Indian Women Expo in Christchurch. The six-hour long event, which had 47 stalls divided into nine zones, saw almost 1,000 people attending with several ministers and MPs including Amy Adams, Nicky Wagner, Parmjeet Parmar, and Ruth Dyson.

Geoff Bascand, Deputy Governor and Head of Operations at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, in a speech delivered to Otago University in Dunedin few months back, explained in detail “how migration affects the economy”. He made some pertinent points, which persuaded this newspaper to report on what he explained. Interested readers may scan the QR code below to read his full speech.

With Christchurch and Wellington city councils crossing the million mark; Auckland and Marlborough's touching 400,000 dollars; followed by Hawke's Bay and Hamilton city councils spending close to $300,000; it's time for some clear-cut guidelines on how tax-payers money is spend by councils on their website redevelopment

2017 was easily the busiest for New Zealand hotel industry, with the occupancy rate touching 70 percent. This rate is used by Statistics New Zealand to understand how difficult it is to book a room in the country. But with the America’s Cup scheduled for 2021, there is a growing concern of hotel rooms shortage hitting Auckland very soon, as pointed in a recent report by the global commercial property research institute CBRC.

People think that any building can be turned into Airbnb. However, it is not like that if architects and planners opinions are anything to go by. The plan and design have to be exquisite to prevent complaints from neighbours, comply with the regulations, and maximise the space and number of guests. 

While no one knows the authenticity of claims that Chinese buyers are driving up the Auckland housing prices, Chinese builders and financiers are contributing massively to KiwiBuild projects, that’s for sure. This assertion was made by Labour MP Raymond Ho on the sidelines of his office opening in Maungakiekie on August 9. 

“For turn-key projects – house and land packages, you pay a deposit upfront and the remainder when the property is complete. It's important to note that you may be able to purchase such a package with as little as 5 percent deposit. And your KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal or KiwiSaver HomeStart grant can make a part or all of your deposit,” informed Nathan Miglani, from Loan Market, while addressing the gathering at a free first-home buying seminar organised by the Christchurch-based social organisation Indian Cultural Group (ICG) on April 10. It was part of a series of informative sessions ICG organises, dealing with issues of health, finances, and women empowerment, explained Sandeep Sachdev, President of ICG.

Christchurch-based social organisation Indian Cultural Group have tied up with Loan Market and organised a free seminar on April 10 titled, Christchurch Indian First Home Buyers Seminar, to help the Indian community understand the new lending policies of various banks in New Zealand.

A new study has revealed that “changes in immigration policy, which can impact only on visa-controlled immigration, are unlikely to have much impact on the housing market”.

After Labour's ill-conceived Chinese surname saga, Finance Minister Bill English gave a hint about potential backlash (though, not in so much words) from the Chinese Government after returning from that country recently. But if Singapore example is anything to go by, protecting one's national interests (read - selling milk to China) without upsetting the Chinese Government (read - enforcing a stamp duty on foreigners buying property in Auckland) is certainly feasible.

And once again as a proof of success of people of Indian origin, in whatever field they choose to in New Zealand, two Kiwi-Indians figure prominently in the top 10. While Auckland-based Dev Dhingra of The Fundmaster secured his second spot for the second year running, Christchurch-based Nathan Miglani of Loan Market was ranked sixth.

Siva Kilari, 40, came to New Zealand from Tirupati, India, in 2002. A graduate of Loyola College in Chennai, his first part-time job here was picking asparagus on minimum wage at Feilding near Palmerston North, while studying automobile engineering. Now, almost 18 years later, he is the Director of Universal Granite (UC), New Zealand’s leading supplier of stones including marbles, granites, quartzite, soapstone, onyx and more.

A polymer science graduate, whose grandfather immigrated to New Zealand from Navsari, Gujarat, believes in doing whatever we can as a society, to make sports gear accessible to everyone, especially the youth of New Zealand society, and our Kiwi-Indian community.

Started on December 14 last year, Paanwala New Zealand, which in just under a year, is found in over 20 Indian restaurants and super-markets across Auckland, is looking to expand its footprint to the other two main centres in the new year.

Kush Bhargava, a naturopath by profession, who comes from Madhya Pradesh in India, has been leading the green homes revolution in New Zealand since 2010, when he established his company, the Wellington-based Eco Green Homes.

A Kiwi-Indian couple, who launched their food-delivery start-up Give Me Bread in Christchurch in 2017, have ventured into a New Zealand first.

An Alfajor is a soft biscuit-dulce de leche sandwich coated in a chocolate couverture. What is dulce de leche? It is the traditional South American caramel used for generations to create legendary recipes.

Sally Huapaya and Dr. Corin Storkey talk to Multicultural Times’ Katherine Tomaylla about Andean Maca, their business and how it helps promote the union of New Zealand and Peru.

A man who liquidated his company after being penalised nearly $430,000 for exploiting workers, has been made personally liable for the nearly $120,000 that’s still outstanding. The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ‘joined’ Jujhar Singh to his previous company Binde Enterprises Ltd, following a Labour Inspectorate investigation which uncovered nearly $210,000 in wages owed to 75 migrants working on a vegetable farm in the Bombay Hills. 

Cultural Connections is currently running “Migrant Entrepreneurs in New Zealand” research, an initiative led by Auckland Regional Migrant Services (ARMS) in partnership with Auckland Council, and Immigration New Zealand. The purpose of this research is to help us better understand how migrants start their businesses and the challenges that they face. Migrants are defined as those who are born overseas but currently living in NZ.

The recently incorporated Canterbury Indian Community Centre Trust (CICCT) has started raising funds to make the dream of an Indian community centre in Christchurch a reality in the next two years. The Trust hit the ball rolling on April 8 in a specially organised ghazal and old Hindi melodious songs night, where the attendees were introduced to the objectives of CICCT by Ponnuram Venu Gopal, one of the its trustees.

Where would Christchurch be today without the assistance of the many thousand of workers who have contributed to the post-earthquake rebuild over the past six-and-a-half years? We sometimes hear complaints about the slow pace of progress repairing the roads and infrastructure, and building new structures - but how much more delay would there have been if people had not come to Christchurch from around the region, elsewhere in New Zealand and throughout the world to help? Yet - how often have we stopped to think about and recognise the contribution of these workers to our city? We owe them a great deal.

In conversation with Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, National List MP

National List MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Police, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, is encouraging the Indian community to name and shame those who are engaged in exploiting recent immigrants from India.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse has announced new measures to stop employers who breach immigration and employment law from recruiting migrant workers, which will come into effect on April 1, 2017. This includes introducing stand-down periods during which time employers who flout the law will be banned from recruiting further migrant workers.

On February 2, Prime Minister announced that another 1125 police staff, including 880 sworn police officers, will be funded over the next four years to reduce crime and prevent reoffending. Also, the PM, noting the need to give ethnic communities a strong voice in the Government, has appointed several List MPs of ethnic origins as parliamentary private secretaries to assist ministers with ethnic communities and police portfolios.  

The Labour Inspectorate has successfully applied to have ‘company officers’ made personally liable for $138,836 in arrears over the last month, after the companies went into liquidation. One case was when wife of a Nando’s franchisee, Corrado Ramada, was found liable in November for the $70,053 in arrears that the company owed in unpaid wages and holiday pay, when the company was liquidated and the director was declared bankrupt. Another case was of the Indian retail clothing stores Khoobsurat Collections/ Naari Collections.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ordered three owner-operators of Auckland Indian clothing retailers Khoobsurat Collections/Naari Collections Ltd to pay $60,000 for intimidating two of their previous employees. Both ex-employees were serving as witnesses in a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Labour Inspectorate investigation.

The case in question is the last month order by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) awarding Kapilaben Patel, a migrant worker from Gujarat, India, $31,413.19 for unpaid wages, working on public holidays, and holiday pay; and a further $11,400 as reimbursement of the money paid in contravention of 12(A) of the Wages Protection Act.

Aiming to help migrants and first-time entrepreneurs fulfil their dream of running successful businesses, Massey University’s start up incubator – ecentre, and Aspire2 Group’s Ntec Tertiary Group, have come together to launch a part-time business start-up programme to be hosted at the New Enterprise Centre in Central Auckland.

We have an issue in New Zealand right now about immigration. Debates about immigration can easily turn into ones about race, religion and culture. That’s wrong and people who do that are rightly labelled racist or xenophobic. But we have to be able to have a sensible debate about how to respond to a rapidly growing population in a country that is struggling to keep up. We need to talk about how our immigration system works best for New Zealand and for the people who choose to work and settle here.

Among other things that are unique about Mtech Games – one of the leading companies in New Zealand exploring the possibilities for virtual reality in the rehabilitation/medical space and beyond -  are curse-words-learning-Fridays. “That's another great advantage of having a multicultural and multilingual team. We now know almost all the swear words in Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Dutch and Danish. Few weeks back, someone from Scandinavia was visiting us. So the team got to learn some Icelandic swearing too,” quipped Brook Waters, CEO and co-founder of the company, which employs 12 employees from eight different nationalities. 

In similar vein to Hellers from Waimakariri [story on page 6], Christchurch-based AuCom Electronics, specialists in fixed speed motor control, which has 110 employees on its role, employs migrants coming from 26 different nationalities.

The population of Waimakariri is changing, with the range of ethnicities and numbers growing as employers have to go further afield to recruit workers. An example is Hellers Ltd in Kaiapoi, which employs 450 people in their state-of-the-art meat processing plant and over 50 are migrant workers.

Peter Townsend is the Chief Executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce (CECC), a position he has held since 1996. In addition, he holds several corporate directorships and is the Honorary Consul for Chile for the South Island. In recognition of his services to businesses and communities, he received the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the 2014 New Year’s Honours. He is actively engaged in earthquake recovery issues and as such he was appointed to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Advisory Board on Transition in January 2015. He is also on the Board of Pegasus Health and Ōtākaro Limited - a new Crown company established to deliver key anchor projects and precincts in Christchurch.

The task of highlighting the positives was undertaken by India's High Commissioner to New Zealand Sanjeev Kohli, who while acknowledging the constraints of geography and no free trade agreement between the two countries, noted how NZ-India trade in services is actually increasing, with both the countries poised to collaborate in technology more and more.

The New Zealand India Trade Alliance (NZITA) has launched a South Island chapter to create a
gateway for companies in the South to connect with the huge opportunities emerging in the Indian market. The event called Unlocking the Potential of India, was held in Christchurch and was attended by over 60 representatives from companies looking to expand business opportunities in the Indian market. The local chapter will be led by Michael Henstock.

E tū, the biggest private sector union in New Zealand, which was created in 2015 from the merger of several unions, and “provides members with services like workplace representation, legal advice, a freephone support centre, education on work-rights and a political voice”; is now aiming to unionise the construction workers who have immigrated from Philippines and have been an integral part of the Christchurch rebuild in the last six years.

Clive Antony is a man on a mission. The young University of Canterbury business management student, whose parents immigrated to New Zealand from Kerala in India 25 years ago, is taking the established street wear brands such as Huffur and RTM, in his bid to provide the Kiwi youth what he calls “the ethical alternative”.

No texts or negotiating positions have been officially released by the TPP countries in public domain even after 19 rounds of negotiations, which is absurd since when in force, TPP will represent 40% of the global economy

Titled Perceptions of China Monitor: Survey 2018, the first-ever survey done by the New Zealand China Council has revealed interesting insights into New Zealanders’ perceptions of China, as a comprehensive partner in trade, science, the arts and more. The online survey of 1,001 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over, conducted between the 2nd and 9th of February 2018, showed that overall, opinions of New Zealand’s relationship with China are positive.

Canterbury’s favourite community event has wrapped up for another year after three days of animals, fun and entertainment. The exhibitors are packing up their stalls and the animals are being prepared to head home for a well-earned rest.

On September 23, Chinese Consulate General in Christchurch held the reception to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. More than 200 people attended the function, including Customs and Disability issues Minister Nicky Wagner, Members of Parliament Megan Woods, Ruth Dyson, Poto Williams and Joanna Hayes, Special Advisor and Director Christchurch for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Amb. Phillip Gibson, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and 6 other South Island Mayors, and friends from various circles, representatives of Chinese community, Chinese enterprises and overseas students in the consular districts.

Migrants Workers Association (MWA) of Aotearoa organized two rallies, in Auckland and in Wellington, over the weekend, to highlight the plight of work visa holders, both onshore and offshore.

A report released on August 26, which was commissioned by E tū, and was funded by the Industrial Relations Fund, has revealed the experiences of mostly Filipino construction workers in Christchurch and Auckland in 2017 and 2018. A small number of employers from around New Zealand was also interviewed. Along with low pay, and poor housing emerging as critical issues, the report, by researcher and lawyer, Catriona MacLennan, also reveals wide-spread exploitation of migrants by immigration companies and so-called pastoral care companies.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse on April 19 announced changes to permanent immigration settings include introducing two remuneration thresholds for applicants applying for residence under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), which will complement the current qualifications and occupation framework. One will be set at the New Zealand median income of $48,859 a year for jobs that are currently considered skilled. The other threshold will be set at 1.5 times the New Zealand median income of $73,299 a year for jobs that are not currently considered skilled but are well paid. These changes will come into effect on August 14, 2017. He also proposed a number of changes to temporary migration settings to manage the number and settlement expectations of new migrants coming to New Zealand on Essential Skills work visas. Additionally, the minister announced a one-off pathway to residence for around 4,000 long-term temporary migrant workers and their families living in the South Island.

In conversation with James Shaw, Co-leader, Green Party

Labour Leader Andrew Little is univocal in what he thinks of US President Donald Trump's executive order of banning refugees and citizens of seven countries from entering the US. He is equally unambiguous of what he thinks of Prime Minister Bill English's reaction to the ban.

Roshan Nauhria, a successful Kiwi-Indian businessman, who in the past has donated to political parties across spectrum and is also the member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, has recently launched the first political party in the country dedicated to immigrants.

The Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal in a recent judgement had found that Lindsay Charles Sparks, an immigration adviser with Business Immigration Limited (BIL), had engaged in "dishonest and misleading behaviour" in dealing with Edwin Balatbat, a Filipino migrant worker. While the case is “no hold” till the appeal process is completed, The Migrant Times caught up with Ruth Burgess, Solicitor at Lexington Legal – the law firm fighting Edwin's case pro-bono – for her views on why access to justice is important for migrants well-being, as well as for the international reputation of New Zealand.

With the tagline as - investing and enabling New Zealand start-ups to succeed in China's market, and launched late last year, Zino Ventures marks the first Chinese Angel Fund in New Zealand. A brain-child of 18 Chinese entrepreneurs who have pooled together $2 million, the company aims to invest in up to 20 start-ups over the next three years.

A group of over 50 taxi drivers, belonging to all major taxi companies in the city - including Blue Star and Gold Band, organised a two-hour protest in Christchurch on September 5, against what they called government's "inadequate action" on dealing with Uber. It was the part of nationwide action taken by taxi drivers against the billion-dollar multi-national, with similar protests taking place in Auckland and Wellington – just outside the Parliament.

Absolute IT – a North Island based recruitment firm, which claims to “captures over 39,000 real-time contract and permanent employees’ remuneration as entered into itsalaries.co.nz”, has released it's latest Remuneration Report.