Human Rights - For a Tolerant Diverse Society

Read the Human Rights Summary.

Introduction

The Green Party believes in the right to equality and freedom. We oppose any discrimination1 on the basis of nationality, ethnic origin, religion, political beliefs, gender, gender identification, sexuality, marital status, family and reproductive status, age, disability, or socio-economic background.

The Green Party believes that Aotearoa/New Zealand needs to strengthen its commitment to human rights in both the international arena and at home. Critical to the human rights framework in Aotearoa/New Zealand is the implementation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the recognition of Maori as tangata whenua of this land. For more detail, please see our Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy. Also, other relevant Green Party policies include our Education, Housing, Women's, Sexual Orientation, Income Support, Economics, and Trade and Foreign Investment policies.

Vision

The Green Party envisions an Aotearoa/ New Zealand where we are:

• A model of tolerance, democracy and inclusiveness.

• A good international citizen that accepts international responsibilities to welcome all new migrants, treat them well, and help them settle into our society.
• All enjoying a standard of living that enables everyone to feel a sense of participation in and belonging to the community.

Key Principles

1. Aotearoa/New Zealand has an international responsibility to help to achieve a free and just world, without discrimination or inequities between nations and ethnic groups.

2. Human rights include social, environmental, cultural and economic rights as well as civil liberties.
3. The rangatiratanga of mana whenua, set out in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Article 2), is a collective human right protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
4. Ethnic diversity will be celebrated and acceptance and understanding of all ethnicities should be promoted in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Specific Policy Points

1. Strengthening our commitment to human rights in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Human rights start at home. The Greens will:

1. Amend human rights legislation, including the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, to ensure that the government is bound by such legislation.

2. Review the exceptions in the Human Rights Act to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability.
3. Develop a set of indicators for assessing the extent of discrimination and the status of human rights.
4. Require that the Human Rights Commission monitor complaints bodies and its own complaints data to determine the nature and extent of discrimination in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
5. Develop a coordinated framework for human rights education and community education to empower people to understand their citizenship and human rights.
6. Develop a framework for human rights education to empower people to understand the relationship between the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Human Rights.
7. Resource the Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Commissioner for Children to fulfil their mandate.
8. Ensure that our human rights legislation and practices are in accord with our international obligations with the aim of eliminating all forms of discrimination.
9. Work with the Human Rights Commission to implement the New Zealand Action Plan for Human Rights.

2. Aotearoa/New Zealand as a good international citizen

We have a responsibility to be a good international citizen who uses, within our ecological limits, our wealth and opportunities to support the human rights of other peoples and nations. The Greens will:

1. Encourage commitment to international human rights as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international conventions, and support the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

2. Support citizens within all countries to move to become free of poverty and attain greater control of their own destinies towards peaceful and sustainable futures
3. Work toward a world where there is:
   
   1. No burdensome debt on poorer countries, achieved through a far-reaching programme of debt relief.

   2. Narrower differences of wealth between countries, through richer countries meeting their aid obligations, as stated at UN meetings.
4. Finalise an urgent timetable to reach the United Nations target of 0.7% of GNI (Gross National Income) being devoted to overseas aid by 2015 by developed countries to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
5. Maximise the effectiveness of aid by delivering a higher proportion of it through NGO's (Non Governmental Organisations) either directly, or through state counterpart funding, with a strong human rights dimension.
6. Ensure that New Zealand completes the ratification and legislative implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and its Protocol, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the ILO Conventions and the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
7. Support programmes which improve the reproductive and sexual health of all people.
8. In all dealings with countries in which human rights violations occur, including economic and trade negotiations, keep the interests of disadvantaged and disempowered communities in the forefront.

3. Promoting Tolerance and Ethnic Diversity in Aotearoa/New Zealand

The promotion of tolerance enhances and celebrates our increasing ethnic diversity. The Greens believe government should do as much as it can to combat intolerance based on ethnicity and religion and encourage acceptance of diversity. The Greens will:

1. Fully support the Human Rights Commission and Race Relations Office in their implementation of the Human Rights Act, countering prejudice and discrimination, and addressing racism.

2. Support the work of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and will ensure it is adequately funded to promote tolerance and enhance Pacific diversity in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
3. Establish a stand-alone Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, as called for by ethnic associations, in line with the establishment of a Minister of Ethnic Affairs.

Ethnic associations that represent migrant groups help migrants to maintain the languages and cultures of their ethnic groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand and celebrate the way in which their cultures are enriching the whole society around them. There is much work for the community, local bodies and government to do in promoting the development of vibrant ethnic cultures in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and meeting the needs both of the ethnic communities and the society at large. The Greens will:

4. Work with ethnic communities to combat prejudice; develop fair, compassionate, and effective immigration and migrant settlement processes; and ensure that education, health and other institutions meet the special needs of ethnic communities.

5. Enhance the work of ethnic associations and councils through partnership arrangements, promotion, and financial assistance for their projects, whether they are specific to the ethnic group or are multi-cultural projects.
6. Integrate the work of ethnic associations into the educational sector to promote tolerance in the wider community.
7. Provide all new immigrants with a copy of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in their preferred language.

4. Aotearoa/New Zealand's responsibility towards migrants

The Green Party's approach to accepting migrants is governed by our global social and environmental responsibilities, including a humanitarian responsibility to those who have suffered in their home countries, and the need to achieve our own social, economic and environmental sustainability. It is also shaped by our adherence to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and Maori, as tangata whenua, have a partnership role in determining New Zealand's immigration policy.

The approval processes for all migrants (temporary or permanent, and whether they arrived legally or illegally) should be fair, transparent, and subject to the normal rules of evidence, with full judicial appeal rights. The Greens will:

1. Remove the ability for Ministers of Government to overturn a decision by a judicial body, for example, with the Security Risk Certificate procedure.

2. Create fairer and more transparent short-stay visa processes.
3. Support freer movement of people between Samoa and New Zealand in consultation with Samoa, in recognition of the special relationship with Samoan people reflected in the Treaty of Friendship.

Refugees and asylum seekers
The Greens believe that Aotearoa/New Zealand has a responsibility, based on our principle of social justice, to do what we can to accept our share of those denied social justice in their countries of origin, particularly refugees. At present, Aotearoa/New Zealand accepts a quota of 750 refugees from the over 20 million refugees in the world, selected as 'at risk' for various reasons by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In recognition of Aotearoa/New Zealand's moral responsibility to take in and provide adequate resettlement services for refugees, the Greens will:

4. Progressively increase our refugee quota from 750 per year to 1000 per year, and provide adequate resources to implement this.

5. Ensure that all refugees and asylum seekers are treated humanely, with detention only used in exceptional cases, where a genuine security risk can be identified.
6. Abide by the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention and related international agreements, including upholding the independence of the final refugee appeal body, in this country the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, and abide by the provision in the convention that the government cannot overturn its decisions.

Settlement support
We have a responsibility to ensure that new migrants settle well in Aotearoa/New Zealand, with special efforts being require for less wealthy migrants and those for whom English is not their first language. These migrants, including refugees, need assistance to obtain appropriate housing and meaningful employment, and require access to educational facilities to become active and informed citizens. The Greens will:

7. Increase the resources government makes available for migrants' successful resettlement.

8. Ensure migrants are provided with assistance to obtain adequate housing and health services
9. Improve funding to the RMS Refugee Resettlement to enable it to fulfil its mandate.
10. Increase, in order to reflect today's cost of living, the one-off resettlement grant administered for refugees by the Ministry of Social Development.
11. Provide specialised services for refugees, such as the Refugees as Survivors Clinics, outside Auckland and Wellington, and fund the expansion of RMS Refugee Resettlement to more centres.
12. Support the establishment of further Refugee and Migrant Centres to help with resettlement and ensure greater support for ethnic associations.

Language education

13. Offer adult ESOL courses that are within the financial reach of adult refugees and accessible outside Auckland and the other main centres.

14. Fund the Volunteer ESOL Home Tutor scheme sufficiently to attract and train a sufficient number of volunteers for those in need of tutoring.
15. Provide adequate state assistance for all forms of Te Reo and ESOL tuition for immigrants.

Meaningful education and employment

16. Fund the Training Opportunity Programme, sufficiently, to provide tuition for all eligible refugees.

17. Provide professional bodies with incentives and funding support to help migrants and refugees reach the standards needed to practise their professions.
18. Ensure greater availability of bridging courses for immigrants in professions for which Aotearoa/NZ has need, and of student loans for those seeking professional registration here.
19. Encourage the use of practical supervision of those with internationally recognised qualifications as an available route to registration in place of one-off pencil-and-paper tests.
20. Ensure that new migrants have free access to education about New Zealand culture, tangata whenua, the role and rights of women, and of gay men, lesbians, and other members of the rainbow communities.

Footnote: Discrimination means the provision of civil, political, social, cultural and economic rights, including the public or private provision of employment, housing, goods, services or facilities, to any person or group of persons under less favourable conditions than are generally provided to other members of the community. Affirmative action programmes assist or advance persons or groups of persons to achieve equality with other members of the community.