Issue 1 April 2013 Official Newsletter of New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils

1. Editorial
Tena Koutou Katoa everyone,
I am so pleased and excited to finally send you the
Federation quarterly update in an improved format. This has
been my dream since 2011. I hope you like it. your
feedback will be very welcome.
I am pleased to announce that our upgraded website is live
but lot of work still needed to get it to the level we want –
see more under Website section.
I would like to acknowledge the quality of the last February
Council meeting. The project was led by Pancha Narayanan
and the Federation office especially Jessica. In line with our
new Governance framework the Executive provided the
vision and the office implemented it. I am really pleased with
the outcome. I will like to thank Orongomai Marae, Upper
Hutt Multicultural Council, Ministry of Social Development,
Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Minister for Transport (Mike
Scrivener), Upper Hutt Cossie Club and Karori Rotary Club
for their support in kind and financially.
You communication buddies have done a great job
reminding people to send information for this newsletter The
Regional Review section is fantastic.
Thanks to your wonderful Executive, they have been
amazing to work with. We share the same passion, vision
and aspiration which makes our work effortless
and effective.
Today I am writing the editorial, however if you would like to
write something relevant to the work we do please sent your
article to me. Don’t forget the photo! Editorial privilege will
prevail and nothing that is destructive or lacks respect for
ourselves or others will be printed No more than 200 words.
I am really looking forward to the AGM - the workshops will
be very exciting. We will be haring our business plan and
operating budget for 2013, so exciting.
See you in June – Noho ora mai raa
Go to our new website, facebook and
twitter and take a look
www.nzfmc.org.nz (website)
twitter.com/nzfmc
www.facebook.com/pages/New-Zealand-
Federation-of-Multicultural-Councils
Nau Mai Piki Mai
NZFMC NewsletterApril 2013 Issue 1

2. What we have been up to
We have achieved some really good milestones over
the past few weeks, including:
 Getting the website up and running, we are
now on facebook and twitter
 Holding a very positive meeting with Settlement
Support in the Department of Labour
 Attending Susan Devoy’s powhiri with a
productive meeting with her the following day
 Completing The Federation’s business plan
which will be out shortly, with an associated
budget
 Beginning the AGM planning
 Successful visits by Rattan to Tauranga and
Napier
 Attendance by Anita, at the Manawatu Cultural
Festival
 Attendance byTayo at the Lower Hutt Cultural
Festival
 The start of writing the Federation’s
Constitutional review submission, please have
your comments to Rattan by 30 April. Your
comments are very important
 Attendance by Rattan at Joris De Bres “Final
Farewell”
Website
Take a look - it is fantastic, thanks to Rattan and
Jessica for all your hard work.
Rattan is working on a member login facility so that all
our updated policies, council meeting and monthly
executive meeting minutes can be accessed by RMCs.
This is in line with the current executive open
governance policy.
It is very exciting, so watch this space.
Office Policies
These are nearly complete now – you will love the
great design – they are easy to read and easy to follow.
They will be on the website once they are all
completed.
If there is any special policies you would like written let
Sheryn know – project@nzfmc.org.nz
A G M
The AGM dates are confirmed for the 28th to 30th
of June in Auckland.
The workshops are:
Restorative Justice
Auckland strategy
Presentation of business plans
The tentative venue is the Aotea Centre and
accommodation for delegates at Rendezvous
Hotel, The more delegates we get the cheaper the
room rate. At this stage it is $155
We would like to encourage you, if your funds
permit, to send a senior, women and youth rep to
the meeting. North Islanders, please carpool to
keep expenses down. Special Groups, please let
Alexis know if you want to meet Friday evening.
Please liaise with Alexis for further info
News from the Office
Press Releases
We have put out the following press
releases:
Challenged the comments made by Richard
Prosser
Expressed our disappointment in Settlement
Support services stated by you all at our
February meeting
Commented on the report of UN Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Presented the concept of Treaty based
multiculturalism
Outlined the NZFMC priorities for 2013
specifically in relation to achieving
demonstrable outcomes for Migrant
Communities.
Congratulated Dame Susan Devoy on being
appointed to her new position.

3. About town
Settlement Support
The Federation’s relationships with those who work in the
Settlement Support area have been strained over the past
few years. That was no secret. Recently the Federation
put out a press release expressing our concern about the
manner in which Settlement Support was operating. As a
result of this press release we were asked by Settlement
Support to visit them. I went with Mohamud Mohamed,
Alexis and Rattan. The meeting was very productive and
very honest. As a result we agreed that we wanted to
rebuild our relationship, and that representatives would
come to our Executive meetings and our AGM.
MOU with Parents Centres New
Zealand
I am in the process of developing an MOU with Parents
Centres New Zealand in relation to our parenting
programme currently being developed. Parents Centres
New Zealand have a long history of running parenting
programmes and providing support for new mums and
dads including prenatal classes, so it was the right
organisation to choose to partner with for the facilitation of
our programme. Members of the Regional Multicultural
councils will co facilitate the programme with PCNZ. Once
the MOU has been finalised, you will be receiving a copy.
Check out their website www.parentscentre.org.nz
Time with Dame Susan
Sheryn and I went to Dame Susan’s powhiri
last week and we came away with the
impression that Dame Susan has a very good
sense of humour, her feet on the ground and
she is ready to listen, discuss and debate the
issues of importance in New Zealand’s race
relations. This was confirmed when Rattan
and I visited her the next day. We were able
to get high on the priority list due to the
conciliatory press release the Federation put
out at the time of her appointment. She wants
to work with the Federation and we are
pleased about this. She will come to our AGM
in Auckland which will be a good opportunity
for you all to meet her and ask her questions
and answer hers. Dame Susan was open and
interested in what we had to say. I am positive
about the next five years working with her.
I would like us to acknowledge the effort of our
community who pushed and promoted,
through media releases, consultation and
ultimately our submission to CERD, the need
for the Government to retain the statutory
independence of the Race Relations
Commissioner. It was through this good work,
that the Government listened.
Settling In
It is with great disappointment that the Government has
cut back funding rather than improve and expand MSD
Settling In initiatives. We were not successful in
convincing the Government of the value and impact of
this unique program to our community especially to
vulnerable children and their families. It is a shame that
the action of the Minister contradicts her statement
NGOs get along well with whanau, individuals and
communities better than Government “ so the question
is why is she cutting back on settling in programme that
uses the model she is promoting? Before taking this
action the Minister would have benefited from a visit
our Palmerston North, Nelson, Tauranga, Dunedin and
Waitaki RMCs to see how well Settling In is doing in
helping people settle into their new communities.

4. Regional Roundup
News from the South
The Multicultural Food Festival celebrating Race
Relations Day was held March 16th
once again at James
Hargest Senior College, Invercargill. This is the fourth
year we have held a Food Festival and it has now
become an annual event. Cyril from Murihiku Marae
opened the event with a karakia and welcome. The gym
area was set out like a food court with 15 food stalls
around the outer edge, and tables and chairs in the
centre.
And the not so South
Waitaki Multicultural council was part of creating Waitaki
as a safe city. The Multicultural Councils was part of the
Safer Waitaki Project coalition and joined in as part of
the designation ceremony last week. Mr Olsen, the
safer Waitaki co-chair said those who were now
involved with the project had been trying to make sure
the community was safe, but when everyone came
together, they became much more powerful.
Franklin multicultural festival
The sixth Annual Franklin Multicultural Festival - to
commemorate the Race Relations Day - organised by
the Puni School and the Counties Manukau Ethnic
Council, with the support of local sporting bodies and a
number of business houses, once again it was held at
the Pukekohe Intermediate School on Sunday 7 April
2013. The theme of the festival was “Celebrating our
Diversity”.
There were games and dances as well as numerous
other offerings, e g varieties of ethnic cuisines; children
jumping castles; train rides; balloons, raffles, free gifts;
henna designs etc.
Hutt Multicultural Councils Multi-fest
Holi celebration, held at Lower Hutt Horticultural
Centre, together with the New Zealand Hindu
Association.
In excess of 5000 people attended over the day
with Cultural and information stalls, celebrations
from different migrant groups, attendance by the
mayors, and Tayo were all part of the celebration.
The theme was peace and just before the lunch
break 10 peace doves were released to remind
us all of the importance of peace throughout our
lands.
Dunedin’s comings and goings
Dunedin Multi Ethnic Council has had a very busy
time lately. They were actively involved in the
Census project, and hope their efforts make a
difference to those responding to the census. Not
long after that they held their race relations dayon
9th
March. Nine groups provided an entertaining
and varied programme and 250 people came to
watch and participate. The Councils Chai and
Chat continues to grow, friendships are forged
and information shared. It is very valuable.
Dunedin’s big news is that are about to open an
office in town. They are working very hard to get
the right venue and the right person to staff it.
Once it is open they will let us all know.

5. Regional Roundup
Continued
Tauranga
On 14th March 2013 TRMC has hosted a delegation
from Ansan City in South Korea.
The delegation was led by the Ansan City Deputy
Mayor Jung, Seung-Bong.
Other representatives of the city included CEO/Vice
President of Ansan Urban Development Inc. Kim, Jin-
Kyu, Director of Ansan City Migrant Community
Service Centre, Bok-Hee, Jeon, and several other
officials. The delegation included also Consul of the
Republic of Korea from Sydney - Mr. Young-Chang
(James) CHO.
The visit to our office was arranged by Mr.Hyun Taek
Yang, the Director of Tauranga Korean times Ltd., who
together with Olive Fitzjphn, acted is interpreters.
The reason for the visit was to learn from our
experience how to best work with migrants and how to
make settling in process better for the many
newcomers to the Ansan City. The city is now home to
over 50000 people from other countries, which is about
10% of their population
News from the Garden City
Christchurch
Christchurch Multicultural Councils were involved with
two special projects recently. Ethnic A and
emergency preparedness:
EthnicA Christchurch.
Christchurch Multicultural Council was well
represented at the Christchurch EthnicA conference
organised by the Office of Ethnic Affairs.
Presentations included these interesting topics:
Women and leadership; Leading ethnic diversity in the
workplace; and Multiculturalism.
Emergency Preparedness:
Christchurch Multicultural Council is working with the
NZ Red Cross, Civil Defence and MSD to educate the
ethnic communities in the need for better preparation
for dealing with emergency situations such as
earthquake, tsunami etc.
Discussions are also taking place for establishing
some culture and faith specific welfare centres, or
parts thereof, where people are more comfortable
staying there than a common place. This task is one
of the actions from the “Lessons Learnt”
recommendations from the Christchurch post-
earthquake analysis.
President’s comment: This is something we must
all look at and we at the Federation will be
planning how this can be done.
Fun from Whanganui
Festival of Colours also known as Holi is to celebrate victory of good over evil and also to celebrate the harvest
season. On the 27th
of March 2013, Whanganui Multicultural Youth Group held an event, Festival of Colours at
Tulsi Dham Temple. The event started at 6pm and went until 8pm. We welcomed all ethnicities and age groups
to this event. Due to the fire ban in the area we were unable preform the usual rituals related to celebrate the
harvest. The temple was open to all for prayers. We used many different coloured powder and water balloons
The event went great, it was a fun and enjoyable night.

6. On your behalf, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our key sponsors and
supporters of the work we do. Without their support we would not achieve what we do.
Thank you to:
Thank you to our supporters