Ethnic people make-up almost 30 percent of Aucklanders, yet only have only five percent of council management jobs. Asians make up 13 percent of the ethnic break-down of management position and Pakeha 81 per cent. The document does not note a further break-down of Indians that hold decision making positions.
This was revealed at the annual meeting held by Auckland Council’s Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel (EPAP) on July 13 to debate if Auckland’s 400,000 “ethnic” people have any genuine influence in the city.
It does not appear that Auckland Council keeps reliable statistics on the diversity of its own workforce. A council document produced at the meeting showed that of the 9052 managers and staff members in Auckland Council, data had not been collected on the race of 4195 – almost half of the council workforce.
The government’s Office of Ethnic Affairs defines “ethnic people” in New Zealand as anyone whose culture and traditions distinguish them from the majority of people in New Zealand, i.e. those who are not of Maori, white/Pakeha or Pacific Island heritage.
According to the panel’s chairperson, Dr Camille Nakhid, most ethnic Aucklanders work in the voluntary sector and there are “very few, if any, ethnic staff in management positions on council”.
The data that had been collected showed that only five percent of Auckland Council managers are Maori, even though Maori make up over 11 percent of the Auckland population. Pasifika people make up only four percent of Auckland Council management even though they are 14.3 percent of the total Auckland population.
Deputy mayor Penny Hulse said she would have further discussions with Brown about his communications team.
“There’s no ethnic representation there. Not just ethnic representation, but there needs to be more women in management position as well. The organisation is going to take a lot of turning around” she said.
Denies racism
But Brown denied that council had an institutionally racist policy to reject Ethnic applicants. He said it was the job of the council’s chief executive officer, Doug McKay, to employ staff.
“So I’m not going to jump in there and make judgement calls as to how he does that”, said Brown. But he admitted that ethnic people were not being employed in management in numbers proportional to the size of the ethnic population.
Brown did not respond to suggestions that the EPAP be invited to sit on staff selection panels, saying only “again, it is part of the journey. It is going to take a while”. Ethnic communities not just about song and dance. Chairperson Nakhid added that ethnic organisations make the Auckland Council “look good” with their numerous cultural festivals, but that the council needed to recognise they were not just “food and festivals” or “a marketing tool” to promote the city.
“We are not just about dancing and celebrations” said Nakhid, calling for Auckland Council to commit to including ethnic representatives on decision making structures and on staff selection panels.
The EPAP was established along with the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel in 2010 under the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010, and both bodies will be disestablished on 1 November 2013. After this date, the Auckland mayor can decide whether to re-establish the two panels or not.
Brown said the panels were limited to reporting to the mayor only and that the law would have to be changed to give them more influence.
There was almost no chance of getting the law changed to allow for Ethnic and Pasifika representation on all committees with voting rights, said Brown, adding that he would find a way to convey the EPAP’s decisions to the council structure.
Panellists emphasised that they were unhappy that the future existence of the Pasifika and Ethnic panels would depend on the “generosity” of various mayors of Auckland.


- Inputs by Anna Majavu, Master of Philosophy (MPhil) student at AUT University and a Pacific Scoop and Pacific Media Centre contributor. PHOTO: Bevan Chuang