A small number of high- profile cases of racial misrepresentation or denigration resulted in
the Press council and the Broadcasting standards authority upholding complaints. The
complaints included North and South magazine’s feature on “Asian angst” by Deborah
Coddington in 2007, and comments by Radio Live’s Michael Laws and Television New
Zealand’s Paul Henry about the then Governor- General, the Right Honourable Sir Anand
Satyanand, and an Indian Cabinet Minister, Sheila Dikshit, in 2009.
Priorities for 2012
• Improve representation of diverse communities in the media, in particular Asian
communities.
• Respond to the Law Commission's report on new media.
10. Religious Diversity
The 2006 census saw an increase in the number of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and
those with no religion. Christians made up 53 per cent of the population, 32 per cent had no
religious belief and 15 per cent were from other religions. It is likely that religious diversity
in New Zealand has continued to grow. There is no data about the extent of growth in
religious diversity, however, as the 2011 census was postponed because of the Canterbury
earthquakes.
National interfaith forums, bringing different faith communities together, have continued
annually, expanding to include specific forums for women, men and youth. They bring
together representatives of interfaith groups, religious leaders, politicians and interested
individuals. Most main centres now have active interfaith groups. Each year a religious
diversity forum focused on policy has been held as part of the New Zealand Diversity Forum.
Government initiatives included co-sponsoring the Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue
and participating in the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations programme. Both influenced
policy and programmes within New Zealand. Government programmes included “Building
Bridges” and an Alliance of Civilisations Implementation Plan. Responsibility for these was
delegated to the Office of Ethnic Affairs. The NZ Police published a guide to religious
diversity and actively engaged with faith communities.
The Holidays act was amended in 2010 to enable workers and employers to agree to
transfer public holidays such as Christmas and Easter to days of greater personal religious or
cultural significance. Immigration policy was reviewed to better provide for the immigration
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