Embracing Super Diversity

This is my next contribution to New Zealand's super diverse future. The status quo is not sustainable. Super diversity stocktake, which I will talk to you about now, is designed to help us to adapt to a super diverse New Zealand to make sure that we fit for the future. Because New Zealand is super diverse right now, predominately in Auckland but actually throughout New Zealand. Here we're already 50% Mori Pasifika and Asian, 44% are not born in New Zealand. And we have over 200 ethnicities. Now the definition academically of super diversity is 25% not born in New Zealand, a hundred ethnicities. So we are almost double that number already. And Auckland will continue to become younger and browner as the Anglo-Saxon population ages and shrinks. So the mega trend here is not age and the myth. The mega trend here is not urbanization. The mega trend is demography. It's ethnicity and we need to get our head around that because most of the benefits from super diversity that we as a country are enjoying at the moment, such as greater innovation productivity and investment increase New Zealand's financial capital whereas most of the challenges from super diversity adversely affect New Zealand's social capital. However if you don't mitigate the challenges to your social capital, you are not going to maximize sustainably the diversity dividend benefits for your financial capital. New Zealand's future hinges on embracing its super diversity, particularly evident in Auckland, where over 50% of the population is Mori, Pasifika, or Asian, and nearly half are immigrants. With over 200 ethnicities, it is crucial to address the social capital challenges to fully harness the financial benefits of this diversity. Understanding demographic changes is vital for sustainable growth.