Race and ethnicity in public policy: does it work?
Race-based policies have a lengthy history in New Zealand. Nineteenth century statutes relating to land, governance, public health and justice, for example, were essentially premised on the values and philosophies of the European races. In contrast, policies specific to Maori were usually introduced to encourage conformity to Western preferences. By the 20th century, although the rationale was inconsistent and frequently unclear, minority ethnicity reporting had become an accepted marker of social wellbeing. Sometimes it was used for political purposes and often as a proxy measure for socio-economic disadvantage. In that regard policies of equality between individuals and needs-based policies have tended to assume that ethnicity and race are significant only in as much as they can be subsumed under universal indicators such as social class, life expectancy and educational achievement. Twenty-first century research, however, has demonstrated that not only is socio-economic status distin
