Neil Sands
Rt Hon Helen Clark
New Zealand is displaying a ‘worrying’ lack of social cohesion, with high levels of distrust towards government and the courts, and a significant minority open to strong, dictator-style leadership, new research from the Helen Clark Foundation has found.
The foundation set out to examine whether social cohesion was fraying in New Zealand, surveying more than 2,000 Kiwis nationwide across age, ethnicity, gender and political persuasion.
Among its most startling findings: while 81% rated a democracy as a good way of governing New Zealand, almost a third of those surveyed (32%) were open to “having a strong leader who does not have to bother with Parliament and elections”.
Men aged 30-44 were among the most enthusiastic about strong leadership with no parliamentary oversight (49) but support was still strong among men aged under 30 (47%). Greatest support came from Māori (45%), Asian (51%) and Pasifika (40%) men, compared with only 24% of New Zealand European men.
Only 28% of women felt such a leader would be a good way to govern.
The research, conducted late last year, mirrors similar work in Australia, with authors Shamubeel Eaqub and Rosie Collins saying the comparison raised concerns.
“We are lagging in every dimension… The biggest fracturing in social cohesion is apparent across political preference, work participation, income and ethnicity. There were encouragingly smaller differences across age groups and regions,” they said.
“Without social cohesion, societies become increasingly unstable – from politics to business to civil society to day-to-day life in our communities. This is a pattern increasingly seen around the world and New Zealand is not immune.”
Mistrust in institutions
The report writers found trust in institutions appears fragile, with only 43% believing courts make fair, impartial decisions based on the available evidence, falling to 31% for those struggling financially and 35% for respondents aged under 30.
There was similar scepticism about politicians, with 32% saying government leaders abuse their power most or all of the time, rising to 41% among under-30s and 56% among Māori.
Just 32% of those survey were satisfied with their financial situation and a quarter reported experiencing food insecurity, although this was much higher among Māori (44%), Pasifika (48%) and renters (37%).
Eaqub, an economist, said deepening social divisions in New Zealand would have serious consequences.
“If we’re going to see increasing polarisation, we’re going to see more volatile politics, less certainty around policies and that means business, community and life become unpredictable,” he told TVNZ’s Q&A program.
“And our democracy, which is the bedrock of how we run this place, comes under pressure.”
Eaqub said the research highlighted the need to understand what was behind the “extraordinary fracturing” impacting New Zealand society.
“I think people don’t see that their interests, their values, are being represented,” he said. “It’s not good enough to say that what’s happening in America is not going to happen here because that’s exactly what we see in the data. We can’t bury our heads and say it will go away.”
“There’s a real sense of complacency about how precious and how valuable democracy is.”
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