According to ACT leader David Seymour, a new Cabinet circular is directing all public services in New Zealand to shift focus from race-based policies to need-based ones.
The circular targets ethnicity-based policies like surgical waitlists and university admissions, which Seymour argues are divisive.
He believes that looking through an ethnicity lens, before considering other factors, undermines a truly inclusive multi-ethnic society.
By drawing from the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, New Zealand’s new policy seeks to ensure that public services aren’t automatically prioritising ethnicity without first considering other variables.
Seymour suggests that instead of assuming Māori have shorter life expectancies solely because they are Māori, public servants should drill down the contributing factors. They need to ask, “is this related to living rurally, is it to do with poor housing, or other known factors?”
This data-driven approach, Seymour argues, avoids racial profiling while uncovering the real causes of social disparities.
The new circular also cancels Labour’s progressive procurement policy, which required 8% of government contracts to be awarded to Māori businesses.
Seymour calls the policy a “travesty,” claiming it unfairly benefited businesses “because the directors were able to identify the ‘right’ people in their family tree.” Instead, according to Seymour:
”Government contracting decisions should be made on the basis of value for money, full stop.”
Centerist