Islamic Awareness Week Launch

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and  as it is the morning and the sun has risen (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Javed Khan, President  of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, and your chief executive Sultan Eusoff; Dr Mustafa Farouk, Vice-President and Chair of the Dawah Committee; member of Parliament, Dr Ashraf Choudhary; Ambassadors, High  Commissioners and members of the Diplomatic Corps; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.  And in the context of this morning's gathering, may I add the greeting: Salaam Walaikum.

My wife Susan and I thank you for the invitation to attend the launch of this year's Islamic Awareness Week.  I have been asked to officially launch the Awareness Week but before I do, I would like to speak briefly of the importance of this week and of efforts to improve religious understanding.

Religiously, New Zealand is becoming a very diverse nation.  The 2006 Census revealed that while about half of New Zealanders are Christians, the number of those following other faiths has increased significantly. 

While there have been Muslims in New Zealand since the 1870s, until quite recently, the numbers were quite small.  Even as recently as 1950, it is said that there were only about 150 followers here. However, the last census in 2006 showed that the number of Muslims had increased to slightly more than 36,000.  Reflecting increased immigration, similarly large increases have also been seen among Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh adherents.

Alongside these changes, the number of people who express no faith at all has also increased significantly, with more than a third of all New Zealanders holding no faith at all.  As well, there have been considerable changes in the mixture of Christian adherents.

While I was educated, and remain, a Catholic, our household, and those of my parents and Susan's parents, were places where people of many different outlooks were welcomed and accepted.  We continue to have many friends of different faiths, as well as those who do not profess a faith.

With such a background, and being a New Zealander of Fiji-Indian descent, I believe that this diversity has the ability to enrich our society, culture and economy. 

But I also realise that it poses challenges. While religions can be instruments of peace, healing and love, religions can also inspire war, death and exclusion. As history shows only too well, this is not a tension particular to any one faith or sect.   

New Zealand has not been immune from these conflicts.  Issues such as the Museum exhibit involving The Virgin in a Condom, the wearing of burqa in court, the desecration of Jewish headstones and the publication of the Mohammad cartoons show the challenges inherent in New Zealand's growing cultural, ethnic and religious diversity.

New Zealanders have long been known for being tolerant people, with a live-and-let-live attitude to life and to others.  In other words, so long as others do not intrude on our space, we've been happy to let people get on with their lives.

There is some merit to this approach but it hides a danger because tolerance is largely passive in nature.  If there is little active engagement and communication, the opportunity for real understanding rarely occurs and preconceptions and stereotypes can often go unchallenged.

When times are relatively peaceful—and thankfully New Zealand has been spared the bitter divisions that continue to wreck many other nations—this has not been a great issue.  But it bears notice that when contentious issues related to religious or cultural custom have been aired in the New Zealand media, the often less than informed comment contributed on talkback radio, in blogs and in letters-to-the-editor has indicated a deeper underlying lack of understanding.

Real understanding requires interaction—meeting, talking and socialising with others who are different from us.  It also means getting to know people as individuals in their own right, and not as automatons whose behaviour may be dictated by cultural or religious imperatives. 

Communication across these differences will not be fraught or a matter of stress for New Zealanders if we are prepared to get to know people as they are, not as we simply categorise them to be. 

Events such as this, the fifth Islam Awareness Week, and the National Interfaith Forum, to which Susan and I have offered strong support, are important steps in breaking down the barriers between people of different cultures and religions and encouraging interaction by people at the community and neighbourhood level. 

The Federation's decision to establish the Harmony Awards, to recognise the contribution of New Zealanders to improving understanding and relationships between Muslims and the wider community, is also another welcome move.  Indeed, I wait with interest to hear who has won the award.

In February, when delivering my second Waitangi Day address I quoted from the National Statement on Religious Diversity.  The preamble, made a particularly a telling point when it said:

"At the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Governor Hobson affirmed, in response to a question from Catholic Bishop Pompallier, [that] "the several faiths of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also Maori custom shall alike be protected"."

That my predecessor, Governor Hobson, could have specifically referred to the followers "of Rome" only 11 years after Catholic emancipation in Britain, and also those of "Maori custom," indicates that even as this nation was founded, 168 years ago, a sound basis for religious understanding was established. 

It is a basis that New Zealanders must continue to build upon.  It is therefore ladies and gentlemen, with great pleasure, that I officially open this year's Islamic Awareness Week.

And on that note, I will close in New Zealand's first language, Maori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing everyone here good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.  Salaam and Peace.