o Respondents who viewed speaking English or having Māori or European ancestry as important parts of being a New Zealander reported less warmth towards Muslims and less support for diversity o When having respect for Aotearoa New Zealand’s laws and political institutions was seen as being an important part of being a New Zealander, respondents reported slightly less warmth towards Muslims but slightly more support for diversity. There is a need for more up-to-date research exploring attitudes towards immigration and different types of migrants, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, the Christchurch terror attacks, and other socio-political developments in recent years. 2.1.5. Prevalence of racism and discrimination towards migrants in Aotearoa New Zealand Contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand is known to the world as one of the safest, most peaceful nations, with an excellent human rights record where acceptance of others cultures, ethnicities and religions is widely embraced (Institute for Economics and Peace, 2020; The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020; Vásquez & Porčnik, 2019). The Christchurch mosque attacks on 15 March 2019 were a recent, extreme act of hatred and racism in Aotearoa New Zealand and brought Islamophobia and racial extremism to the forefront of our society’s consciousness (Health Quality and Safety Commission, 2019; Human Rights Commission, 2019). However, despite calls on social media that this event was “not us”, Waitoki (2019) argued that this denial of and complacency about racism is in fact a true representation of Aotearoa New Zealand society and our colonial history. A thematic analysis of Facebook comments made in response to the Human Rights Commission’s “Give Nothing to Racism” campaign supports this argument (Nairn, 2020). While a large portion of comments admitted the prevalence of racism in Aotearoa New Zealand, there were numerous comments denying racism, accusing Māori and tauiwi of receiving special privileges and of being more racist than Pākehā, and arguing that Pākehā were victims of racism as well. Despite denials of racism on social media and in the public domain, racism and discrimination towards both Māori and migrants continue to this day. There are multiple Aotearoa New Zealand studies indicating the complexity of racism for Māori and migrants and the resulting health, social and economic disparities (see section 2.4). However, it is difficult to ascertain the prevalence of racism towards migrants in Aotearoa New Zealand as it is under-reported, and complaints lodged with the Human Rights Commission have incomplete data on ethnicity and migrant status. However, the Human Rights Commission (2019) reported that: • 5,666 enquiries and complaints were lodged with them from 2018-2019 – this was the second highest number annually recorded with the Commission www.malatest-intl.com Drivers of racism – March 2021 20