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Ethnic Whispers April 2010


Foreword

Hon Pansy Wong

Ciao – Greetings in Italian and welcome to the April edition of Ethnic Whispers.

This month we focus on helping people get the information required to make their immigration process as easy as possible. There is now a law in place to promote and protect the interests of people receiving immigration advice and enhance the reputation of New Zealand as a migration destination.

From 4 May 2010, people based overseas will need to be licensed to give immigration advice about New Zealand. This means that people giving immigration advice about New Zealand must be licensed, unless they fall into one of the exempt categories - people like Members of Parliament, lawyers and Citizens’ Advice Bureau volunteers are all exempt.

The fact that New Zealand is named by Economist magazine as the most peaceful country should enhance our reputation as a destination for migrants. Our successful model of social harmony is based on celebrating multi-culture and multi-faith beyond tolerance.

The increasing number of festivals enjoyed by Kiwis from all backgrounds is a testament to that. We had the Iranian, Ukrainian, Sikh, Thai and Tamil communities holding celebrations of harvesting and New Year during March and early April.

I see New Zealand as a garden of harmony. It is great that many ‘gardeners’ from various communities are willing to nurture the seeds of mutual respect and sharing culture by organizing events and sharing celebrations.

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Ethics and standards in ethnic media

The Office of Ethnic Affairs in Christchurch held a media forum in mid-March. The forum is one of a series of interactive workshops being held by the Office of Ethnic Affairs on ethics, standards of journalism and broadcasting, advertising and internship opportunities in print media.

The forum provided an interactive session for discussion of some hot topics among representatives of the ethnic media. Speakers were Helena Wang & Ted Zhang from the New Zealand Messenger, Dev Nadkarni, Indian Weekender, Kevin Park, President of Korean Society, Coen Lammers Deputy Editor of The Press, Nicki Reece of Plains FM96.9 and David Robie, Associate Professor of AUT University.

The programme gave attendees a unique opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of news and media and the professionalism involved.

Speakers included Jim Tully, Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Canterbury, Dominic Sheehan, Chief Executive of Broadcasting Standards Authority, and Tim McInnes Director of Ruffell Productions.

Keynote speaker Jim Tully spoke on ‘The Journalism of Inclusion – reporting on diversity in a multicultural society’. He said “mainstream media have an obligation to reflect their communities in all their diversity of interests and aspirations. Rather than ‘ghettoising’ coverage of communities of difference in special sections or programmes, all mainstream journalists should be competent in reporting diversity and include relevant perspectives and sources in all their stories.”

Panellists (from left to right) Dr. David Robie, Coen Lammers, Nicki Reece, Dr. Ted Zhang, Yoonha Park, Dev Nadkarni, and Helena Wang back to top

Immigration Advisers Licensing Act – is your adviser licensed?

People who need immigration advice can now easily find out who is, and who isn't a licensed immigration adviser.

It's not legal for people to give immigration advice in New Zealand unless they are:

From 4 May 2010, people based overseas will also need to be licensed to give immigration advice about New Zealand.

So, if you want to use the services of an immigration adviser, search the Immigration Advisers Authority’s Register.

You can find out their names and contact details, when they were first licensed, the type of licence, if a licence is still active, and if a person’s application has been refused, cancelled, suspended, surrendered or expired. You can also search for a licensed adviser by where they work and by their business name.

The Authority can print a copy of the Register and send it to you if you ask them to do so. However, this will only be a ‘snapshot’ of the Register on any given day, as the Register is constantly updated as new immigration advisers receive their licence.

You can find out more information about licensed immigration advisers by visiting the Authority’s website, www.iaa.govt.nz

For further information

Contact the Immigration Advisers Authority, at info@iaa.govt.nz or New Zealand freephone 0508 IAA IAA (0508 422 422) or +64 9 925 3838 (a fee may apply).

Auckland Ukrainian Association of New Zealand Easter celebrations attended by Minister Wong. Photo courtesy of Vlad Vernygora UANZ back to top

Barry Smedts - Registrar of Immigration Advisers - Focus on community member

What is the Immigration Advisers Authority?

The Immigration Advisers Authority was established through the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act. This means that people giving immigration advice about New Zealand must be licensed, unless they are exempt. People like MPs, lawyers and citizens advice bureau volunteers are all exempt. Anyone else who gives immigration advice about New Zealand must be licensed, including people who live outside New Zealand.

Read more.

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Muslims and the media – making the relationship work

As part of a nationwide initiative with the Muslim community, a second ‘Muslims and the Media’ dialogue forum was held in Auckland on 10 April. These sessions are being run to help establish an effective relationship with the media, gaining a working knowledge of how the media works and incorporating a response mechanism that can address any media coverage and stereotyping that may occur. The dialogue is part of our ‘Building Bridges’ programme, which encourages a better understanding and cooperation. Similar forums have been held in Hamilton and Wellington.

Some of the guests at these dialogue sessions were Broadcasting Standards Authority of New Zealand, The New Zealand Press Council, Maori Television, Ingrid Leary from the British Council, The editor of the Waikato Times as well as academics.

Senior Ethnic Affairs Advisor, Asma Bashir said, “The Muslim community and the Office of Ethnic Affairs have been working together 'building bridges' since 2005. The overarching principles of this collaborative approach are respect, inclusion, empowerment and participation. We do this through a series of training workshops, forums and visibility activities.”

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Language Line soon to be available through St John’s Ambulance

Language help will soon be available for those in a medical emergency. That’s because the company behind the ambulance services in New Zealand has joined Language Line. People who ring for an ambulance in Language Line hours of Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm can ask for one of forty languages and be connected to a professional interpreter almost immediately.

Manager Diana Clark said “I am particularly pleased to welcome St John’s and their allied ambulance services. What this will mean is help for those who speak no English but also support for those who prefer to use their own language in a crisis. We look forward to more effective immediate response assistance because this new partner has joined us.”

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Chinese Entrepreneur Workshop builds vital economic relationships

In March, the Office of Ethnic Affairs in association with the Chinese New Settlers Services Trust held a day long Chinese Entrepreneur Capacity Building Workshop in Auckland. In response to key issues arising from the Chinese Entrepreneur Forum held in June 2009, this workshop provided an opportunity for Chinese entrepreneurs to access useful information about New Zealand’s business environment, international marketing strategy, New Zealand’s banking, finance and taxation systems, and learn from the Chinese business model in the United Kingdom.

Experts from government agencies, the banking industry and academics spoke on a range of topics, from the New Zealand Business Environment to International marketing strategy.

Participants who attended the workshop came from a wide range of businesses and industry backgrounds. It is necessary to connect the talent, skills and networks of our Chinese communities who are important for the prosperity of our nation.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs in association with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise continues to work in this area by delivering the Chinese Newspaper Trade Information Series nationwide, from April. This aims to provide the Chinese community with information about New Zealand’s economic and trade policies, and explore the opportunities of doing business between New Zealand and China, as well as promote the 2010 World Shanghai Expo.

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Palmerston North hosts forum - civic participation in a democracy.

Have you thought about joining a committee? What about becoming a board member? How about standing for the District Health Board or even becoming a Member of Parliament? All of these questions were addressed by the experts from Palmerston North City Council Electoral Officer, Registrar of Electors, Ministry of Education, Therese Arseneau Political Scientist and a panel of local people from different ethnic backgrounds. The forum was hosted in Palmerston North by the Office of Ethnic Affairs and Local Government & Community (LG&C), which are business units from the Department of Internal Affairs.

The forum was designed to inform members of the ethnic community on how they can participate and influence decisions that affect their daily lives and that those of their family, friends and neighbours by; de-mystifying electoral and political processes, providing information on how you can ‘run for office’ among other things, and understanding how you can support your children’s education by becoming part of it.

Heather Tanguay from the Department of Internal Affairs, LG&C Community Development and Funding Advisor said, “These forums are about supporting people so they can contribute to the success and resilience of their communities. It’s about how they can enjoy the benefits of taking part in an inclusive life in New Zealand.”

From left to right, Ramon Herrera JP, Paul Patel, Chair of the Indian Association and Rodney Wong who is a well-known community member. back to top

Get that job

Get that job was an interactive forum for African youth held in Auckland in mid-April. A keynote presentation was given by Ismail Ibrahim, the Manager of Settlement Purchasing, from the Department of Labour. Presentations were also given by the Auckland Regional Migrant Services, about their ‘React Now’ Programme.

There were service presentations by Youthline, The Johnson Group, The New Zealand Police and Madison Recruitment.

Scott Donaldson from Pacific Business Trust provided the participants information on small businesses while Boubacar Coulibably, the Director of CBA Consultants Ltd, gave a session on self-employment.

Jill Bice, a careers consultant spoke about aiming to build the capacity of African youth in finding employment in the New Zealand labour market. She offered tips about the New Zealand culture and labour market, developing employability, interview techniques and preparing a professional resume.

This forum was organised in partnership with Auckland Regional Migrant Services and Nileflow, an African Youth Group. Nuredin Hassan, the director of Nileflow said, “Fifty seven percent of all Africans in New Zealand are under the age of 25. By targeting this sector of the community our primary objectives are to broaden their understanding of the job market, network with others in similar fields and empower them to make positive career decisions.”

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Meet the team - Iain Sands

Iain Sands has been working at the Office of Ethnic Affairs since 2009. He became an Ethnic Affairs Advisor in March 2010, after working as Ethnic Affairs Coordinator for a year. Before starting work at the Office of Ethnic Affairs Iain had been working as Secretary to the Korean Consul General in Auckland while completing a first class honours Master of Arts degree in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland. Iain has lived and worked in Seoul, South Korea, and is fluent in Korean. Iain is also a trained classical singer. In his new role, he is looking forward to contributing to the Office of Ethnic Affairs' vision of building strong, confident, and self-directed ethnic communities and help increase ethnic responsiveness in government.

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