NZCPR, Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand should take note of last month’s US Supreme Court ruling striking down so-called affirmative action programmes.
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 Section 19 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act 1993” – where Section 21 prohibits discrimination on the basis of 13 grounds including “colour”, “race”, or “ethnic or national origins”.
However, the Bill of Rights also has a proviso which states, “Measures taken in good faith for the purpose of assisting or advancing persons or groups of persons disadvantaged because of discrimination that is unlawful… do not constitute discrimination.”
It is this affirmative action exemption based on claimed ‘unlawful discrimination’ that is now being used to justify a range of new measures to divide New Zealanders by race in areas like health.
Is Labour’s ideological use of racial profiling in health care illegal and in breach of the NZ Bill of Rights?
The October election provides an opportunity for the public to collectively send a message to the politicians that we reject outright any attempts to divide us by race.
