Sun, sand and sovereignty: What New Zealand can learn from the Troubles

I know what it’s like to watch politicians argue over the meaning of words, the importance of symbols, language and contested history

Summer is my favourite time of year in New Zealand. Those beautiful blue-sky days, sitting by the beach, chilling down at Auckland’s waterfront, or sipping wine on Waiheke usually illicit a “well, you can’t do this at home” from either myself or my partner. It’s not often you get a 28°C day in Northern Ireland; any more than a few consecutive days of sunshine and people start saying wild things like they miss the rain. A sign of sunstroke, obviously.

Otherwise, there are a lot of commonalities between our two nations – beautiful scenery, a deep connection to land and culture, and the struggle to keep and revive indigenous languages, culture and traditions.

Imperialism and the Troubles have given Northern Ireland a set of problems, distinct and yet familiar to other postcolonial nations or conflict zones – high levels of trauma evidenced in high rates of mental health disorders, alcohol and drug use, suicide, areas of deprivation and high smoking rates. A 2015 Public Health Agency report labelled smoking as “the single greatest cause of preventable illness and premature death in Northern Ireland”.

Northern Ireland doesn’t have a founding document like Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But we do now have a litany of other agreements arduously developed in a bid to ensure peace and to form a working government: the Good Friday Agreement, the St Andrews Agreement, the Hillsborough Castle Agreement, New Decade, New Approach, and then the post-Brexit Windsor Framework.

I know what it’s like to watch politicians argue over the meaning of words, the importance of symbols, language and contested history.

After two long years, the Stormont executive is back up and running with a historic swearing-in of its first nationalist first minister in Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill on 3 February. It comes with a £3.3 billion package from Westminster to pay the backlog of bills, including long-delayed public-sector wage hikes.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is ploughing ahead with his tobacco-control legislation, and combined with the financial sweetener, these may go some way to tackle the litany of problems Northern Ireland is facing, particularly in the health sector, which is on the brink of collapse.

The UK’s ban on disposable vapes and its tobacco-control aims will make it a world leader – despite the inspiration coming from New Zealand’s Smokefree legislation, now in the bin as part of the Coalition Government’s first moves.

While things may be starting to show some hope at home, my chosen home looks less certain. The scrapping of our Smokefree legislation is a major blow to health policy and to the communities most impacted by smoking. Attempts at addressing historical inequities with entities like Te Aka Whai Ora are also being dismantled. And the proposed Treaty Principles Bill can be nothing but divisive.

The mobilisation of Māori for the opening day of the new Government in Parliament last year, the Kīngitanga hui and the massive turnout at Waitangi show the depth of feeling around these issues. Multiple claims have been laid with the Waitangi Tribunal over the Coalition Government’s policies. Te ao Māori is gearing up for a fight the Government seems set on having.

I have no appetite for a divisive referendum marred in racism and mis- and disinformation. A tit-for-tat mudslinging “whataboutery” and political tribalism we’ve seen emerge in places like the US, UK, in Australia over the indigenous voice referendum, and that have been par for the course in Northern Ireland politics for decades.

At Waitangi, prime minister Christopher Luxon told the crowd: “No other country has attempted to right its historical wrongs or dared to undertake such an ambitious national reconciliation project as we have. While the journey continues, all New Zealanders can take pride.”

The world is watching what we do about the Treaty Principles Bill; let’s not undo that “ambitious” reconciliation project. New Zealand can, and should be, a world leader again.