Realtor Janet Dickson's refusal to learn Māori values goes to court
Realtor Janet Dickson's refusal to learn Māori values goes to court
An Auckland real estate agent is taking a principled stand that has consequences, her lawyer says.
This is such a strange thing to require someone to know, especially when she doesn't deal with Maori land, and all sale is the same legally regardless of the ethnicity of the buyer. And the justification given for making this mandatory is incredibly tenuous, in my view.
I dunno. I think their explanation fits:
"It's important that licensees when conducting there business and engaging with consumers are conscious of the fact that not everybody is like them, that different people have different cultural understandings and the way conducting oneself can have a negative impact on a person."
However, the thing that really makes me side with the REA is that I looked up the course. It's a 1.5 hour module. I'm sorry but if you go to court because you want to be a real estate agent but don't want to do a 1.5 hour module on cultural diversity... well then you're probably the person that needs it the most.
1/4 of NZers weren't born here, and 1/5 are Māori, so it seems like a valuable use of time for an old white lady wanting to work with the public in a regulated profession.
That does answer a question I had about this, namely how long the module takes to complete. 1.5 hours doesn't seem worth making so much noise about.
The law weeded out someone so racist they can't handle a ninety minute educational course
Make the course longer, it's working
This is not law.
This is a mandatory course directed from the REAA:
In 2023 the Real Estate Agents Authority directed all real estate agents to undertake a course called Te Kākano - which was designed in partnership with Whakatāne-based tertiary institute Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
It's actually no longer mandatory, according to other articles I've read since, it would be interesting to know their reasoning for the change.
"He said believed "this law is nothing but an attempt to drive a particular worldview that is not the view of the majority of New Zealanders".
"We don't want a particular view of the world forced on anybody."
No one's forcing anyone to subscribe to a new or different worldview, what the government is doing is making sure those who deal in the sale of land and buildings are AWARE of other peoples worldviews as to be sensitive to them, which on it's face, given it takes 1.5 hours to complete, is a perfectly reasonable ask
This woman should have her license suspended for 5 years, and take that time to consider whether or not that hour and a half would have been worth the virtue signaling and loss of active employment, god knows the Maori have had to endure far worse for far longer with nothing but pain to show for it
This is not the government.
Per the article:
In 2023 the Real Estate Agents Authority directed all real estate agents to undertake a course called Te Kākano - which was designed in partnership with Whakatāne-based tertiary institute Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
which on its* face
Its not reasonable because Maori worldview is pretty normal to anyone in nz. Maybe it differs if you are buying and selling maori land since there might be ritual customs but she isn't. Maori are normal people and no one treats them any different except our racist government who treat them like they've just discovered a new species.
My problem with this kind of shit is that she is absolutely not standing up for her rights. She's sponsored by a right wing group. Granted, it's possible the lobbyists approached her after her case became public. But her associating openly with them shows what values she's actually interested in.
In that case, she absolutely should have to do that 1.5 hour course to learn a little about 1/5th of the population of the country.
yeah i read this on stuff earlier. totally needs to readjust her world view, she should certainly lose her license. so racist. unbelievable pretty much sums up this govt too. empowering racism and culture wars. fuck the 3x Stooges make them a one term govt sorry I'll get off my soap box. but these people make me so upset 😭
This began long before our current government was elected though, so I'm not sure why you think they're to blame.
To play devil's advocate here.
I find these type of courses less than useless, for those already bigoted all they do is increase resentment. For those that are inclined to listen the the message that is trying to be conveyed....they are almost certainly already thinking about others in a constructive manner.
Having this being promoted and encouraged, but voluntary would work better.
In saying the above, this person is clearly an idiot, sitting through a 90 minute course and having something to complain to your friends about later, has to be preferable to jeopardizing your license for 5 years. Also as soon as I saw "woke madness" I knew this wasn't about logic and thoughtful argument.
A good test in these situations is to substitute the thing for a similar thing. If we substitute the "Te Triti" training course with, "The Koran", "The Bible" or even "the Chinese migrant world view". Does the feeling of "rightness" change, it does for me.
Changing the attitude toward Maori and Te Triti is the work of generations, hell we spent generations instilling the shitty culture we have now. There are some usually older people (though not exclusively) who will never change their backward views.
The cynic in me also says, what is the point of these types of courses, they have little relevance to the industry. Are there cultural sensitivity courses for the Indian world view? if you are constantly working in those communities you may want to seek out that info to better understand your customer.
"Hey look at these strange people and how they're so different from us! Oh, you think all humans are pretty much the same and base that conclusion on science as well as experience? Racist!"
This is fucking stupid.
These courses are so stupid.
Have you done one?
Yeah I've done a few.