Community Engagement Report for developing a National Action Plan Against Racism ... but some voices are missing Unfortunately, the resurgence of COVID-19 in August 2021 and the Auckland lockdown, meant most of our scheduled kanohi-ki-te-kanohi (face-to-face) hui had to be held online. We acknowledge that the planned programme of kanohi-ki-te-kanohi engagement with Tangata Whenua, Pacific peoples and ethnic minority groups affected by racism, did not fully occur. As a result, many Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti voices are missing from this report. Iwi, hapū and whānau voices are also not as strong as they might have been had we been able to have kanohi-ki-te-kanohi hui alongside the National Iwi Chairs Forum. The lockdown similarly affected other ethnic groups impacted by racism. We acknowledge there are relatively few Pacific voices here, which reflects the impact the August 2021 outbreak had on Pacific communities. An issue that was not raised in our engagement, is that Pacific communities have called for greater clarification of New Zealand’s special responsibilities to the realm nations, other Pacific neighbours, and Pacific peoples within Aotearoa. The Pacific realm nations are the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency.3 New Zealand also has historic links with other Pacific nations, such as Samoa. We mitigated the inability to carry out in-person engagements by organising online workshops, as well as providing people with the opportunity to contribute via an online survey and social media channels. However, the constraints facing communities during the pandemic meant many Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti could not participate. We have not given space to views that displayed racism in this report The Commission mostly received constructive feedback on the kaupapa of racism, but we also received a small minority of feedback that displayed racism. In some cases, this feedback displayed abuse towards this kaupapa and Tangata Whenua, as well as ethnic communities and the Commission itself. This included content that denied the existence of racism, insisted that people needed to ‘get over’ past events, objected to New Zealand being called Aotearoa, and considered existing ethnic social and economic inequities the fault of people who experience them. The Commission has chosen not to give space to those voices in this report. This ensures the voices and experiences of those who have experienced racism are at the forefront of this report. This stance is supported by research which has found that showing people their negative views are not validated, or consensually shared, can reduce prejudice.xx The Commission urges the Government to take a similar approach in developing and implementing the Plan, while ensuring there a supporting communications plan to help address the racism stirred by the Plan itself. 3 The issue is raised drawing on previous Commission work. New Zealand Human Rights Commission 33