First of Two Parts
I am a lucky migrant and I am privileged to have received as much as I have from this country over the past 50 years.
I received excellent education in New Zealand and married a Kiwi who has put up with me for almost 46 years. She is with us today with our daughter Indra, son-in-law Ronil and our grandchildren Shalina and Shaam. Thank you for everything Prem and thank you Indra and Ronil for the grandchildren.
Our son Pramen and daughter-in-law Alini will be watching in New York, my 96-year-old mother in Vancouver with the rest of my family. My 90-year-old mother-in-law is watching in Auckland. We have gone international.
Over the years, I have been very fortunate to have worked with many New Zealand families and children, taught many university students at Massey University and travelled widely to make a contribution to the international community on New Zealand’s behalf.
Visa denied
However, it almost did not happen. When I was being denied a visa even though I had married a New Zealander, it was only the advocacy of a number of prominent West Auckland educationalists and leaders that Immigration New Zealand relented.
The main person behind that advocacy was Nigel Langston, who was the Principal at Freyberg School in West Auckland where my wife was a teacher.
Nigel has travelled down from Auckland for this event. I owe you an enormous debt of gratuity Nigel that I can never repay.
Life as a politician
I have trained many of New Zealand’s now-prominent social work practitioners, child and family advocates and policy analysts over the years. I have been entrusted as New Zealand’s Race Relations Conciliator, a Human Rights Commissioner, adjudicator on Immigration Appeals and as the Chief Families Commissioner.
But nothing prepares you for life as a politician. In the eyes of many, I became useless, self-interested, untrustworthy, and “just a bloody politician” overnight.
Such is the contempt in which we are held, but that reputation is neither accurate nor deserved.
I have the utmost respect for all my Parliamentary colleagues across the House. I have never worked with a more hard working and dedicated group of individuals who provide 24/7 service for the nation.
Yes, we are ambitious for what we believe in and we argue vigorously for our policies and programmes.But no one should ever underestimate or doubt the dedication to serve and the sheer determination to make a difference of Members of Parliament whatever their colour.
Biased media
I believe that the media could do better to portray this more fairly. Instead, politicians are fair game and we dare not even reflexively pick our noses in public because that would be reported as a deliberate negative action by the media.
I have been asked to speak directly to Mrs Macindoe in Hamilton, Tim’s mother, who wants to know why I am always mean towards her son when debating in the House.
Tim has been unable to convince her otherwise. Mrs Macindoe, I count your son as a friend and we have travelled together to China and Mongolia with our wives. Tim is a perfect gentleman and on every occasion outside this House we act as friends and we always enquire about each other’s families.
Vigorous debates
It is the nature of life in this Camber that we debate vigorously when our values lead to different policy prescriptions but we remain civil, supportive and human in our other interactions.
My time in Parliament has coincided with the Government’s Welfare Reform Programme of which Tim is a strong advocate. Along with my colleagues, I am a strong critic of many parts of that Reform agenda because my life’s work with many of these families tells me something different.
Tim usually spoke before me in many of those debates, he always left himself open to a full frontal attack, and I had to put him right Mrs Macindoe. So that is what Mrs Macindoe, and every other Mrs Macindoe saw and not the many more occasions when we represent our country and Parliament with equal pride and we get on very well.
If anyone else has been offended by my passionate debates in the House, then please accept this as my apology.
Portfolio Responsibilities
My time in Parliament has been taken up by my portfolio responsibilities in Ethnic Affairs, Social Development and Immigration and in my work on the Social Services Select Committee.
I want to make a few comments about Ethnic Affairs and Immigration.
But first, I want to acknowledge the current ethnic members of this Parliament: Raymond Huo, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Melissa Lee and Jian Yang. While we come from different sides of the House, we collectively understand ethnic issues and the demands of our communities.
Our Constituency
However, I wonder whether the nature of these demands is fully understood in the various courts of this Parliament. There are 500,000 members of ethnic communities in New Zealand and this is our constituency.
These communities have come to see ethnic MPs as their link to our formal systems.
In addition, they have a not unreasonable expectation that we will be their advocates, their advisers and their champions.
We are required to be present at all their major events and functions, to speak at these events, and to act like their electorate MPs.
Therefore, for ethnic MPs, the country becomes their electorate and there is no end to the constituency matters they have to deal with.
I have already acknowledged the huge demands on all MPs in this House.
Community demands
For ethnic MPs, this is something else.
Family life for us is even more non-existent.
We upset as many of our constituents as we satisfy by not being able to be at all their major events because we just simply find it impossible to service their needs adequately.
There is neither any criticism implied here of ethnic communities nor any complaints about the demands on us.
But what I want to register is that the standards by which we are judged do not make any allowances for our pattern of work. It is different from those of our other colleagues and in some ways closer to what Māori and Pacific MPs experience.
The frame that is applied to ethnic MPs is the same as that which is applied to other MPs and yet the nature of our work is very different.
We all also come from cultures where promoting yourself is frowned upon and where obligation has a particular meaning.
Annual Report
I have seen a suggestion that all MPs should prepare an individual annual report on the work we have done as a way of informing people.
This is a sensible idea and could be useful in reaching over the media to inform people more widely. Instead, what is reported is how many press statements we put out, how many requests we lodge under the Official Information Act we lodge or how many questions we ask for written answer.
These have become the measuring stick never mind the fact that most of them are never published and that many are binned immediately after they are received.
Our Parliament is largely mono-cultural, notwithstanding the fact that there are some concessions to tangata whenua. Pasifika MPs would have similar demands put on them and their frustrations are probably akin to those of ethnic MPs.
Unfair judgment
It is noteworthy that all ethnic MPs in this Parliament are backbenchers with fairly low conventional profiles. Those who report on us and judge us are never present where we do the bulk of our work and all they rely on is what is in the mainstream media or in this House. I say this not with any acrimony towards those who make these judgements but more with a sense of sadness.
In my six years, I cannot recall a substantive debate on a significant issue that was particular to ethnic New Zealanders in this Parliament.
Here we play a mainstream role.
I believe that it is time for political parties to reflect in the business of the House the importance they place on ethnic communities outside.
Other than the celebration of Diwali, Chinese New Year and Eid Al Fitr with invited members of the public, there is nothing that this Parliament does that reflects our growing ethnic diversity and the political challenges that entails.
If Parliament could consider how that diversity might be reflected in the business of the House, I am certain our ethnic Members of Parliament would be able to add greater value to the business of this House and thereby involve their constituencies in the political life of the nation.
Editor’s Note: The above Speech was, by tradition, addressed to the Speaker of the House. The second and final part of Dr Prasad’s speech will appear in our next issue. Please read related report under Homelink and the Guest Editorial by David Shearer in this Section.
