64 S e cti o n One – General • the ratification of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2006 • the increase in the budget provided to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. The Committee also recommended that the Government: • take steps to implement the New Zealand Action Plan for Human Rights • promote continued public discussion on the constitu- the foreshore and seabed, including references to the Treaty in the new school curriculum, and taking steps to enable undocumented children to attend school. The Government has indicated that it is not willing to explore some other recommendations, such as strengthening the powers of the Waitangi Tribunal. Still other recommendations, such as increasing efforts to address the overrepresentation of Mäori and Pacific people in the criminal justice system, relate to entrenched issues that require tional status of the Treaty of Waitangi and its place in sustained resourcing and the attention of successive legislation governments. • ensure that affected communities participate in any review of targeted policies and programmes, and Discrimination and harassment inform the public about the importance of special Non-discrimination is a basic right for everyone living in measures to ensure equality New Zealand. Yet evidence from a variety of national and • ensure that the cut-off date for lodging historical Treaty claims does not unfairly bar legitimate claims local surveys indicates that people from racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience a significant degree • consider granting the Waitangi Tribunal legally binding of discrimination and racism in their daily lives, ranging powers of adjudication, and increase funding for the from verbal abuse and denial of opportunity to physical Tribunal violence. • further engage with the Mäori community on the foreshore and seabed • include references to the Treaty in the new New Zealand curriculum • increase efforts to address the over-representation of Experience and perceptions of discrimination In 2009, Statistics New Zealand released the first information from the New Zealand General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS provides new information about key social and economic outcomes, and includes questions Mäori and Pacific people at every stage of the criminal relating to experience of discrimination. According to justice system the GSS 2009, one in 10 people had been discriminated • ensure that schools are open to all undocumented children • put an end to the detention of asylum-seekers in correctional facilities, and ensure grounds for refusing asylum-seekers are consistent with international standards, • collect statistical data on complaints, prosecutions and sentences for racially motivated crimes • adopt pro-active measures to improve access to procedures for complaints about racial discrimination. Some of these recommendations have subsequently been addressed, such as further engagement with Mäori on against in 2008–9. The most common were grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality or skin colour. 17 Just over 23 per cent of Asian peoples, 16 per cent of Mäori and 14 per cent of Pacific peoples had experienced discrimination in the period, in contrast to just under 8 per cent of Europeans. A Mäori Social Survey, which aims to expand insights from the GSS on Mäori, is in development and will be put into the field in 2011. 18 UMR Research regularly surveys New Zealanders’ perceptions of discrimination. This gives an indication of what people observe in their own social context. The most recent survey was in December 2009. In unprompted 17 Statistics New Zealand, General Social Survey: 2008: ‘Hot Off the Press’, pp 1,10. Accessed online on 9 November 2009 at http://www. stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/Households/nzgss_HOTP2008.aspx 18 Statistics New Zealand, He Kohinga Whakaaro: Maori Social Survey Discussion Document accessed online on 9 Novermber 2009 at http:// www.stats.govt.nz/reports/papers/maori-social-survey-discussion-paper.aspx