Visit to Christchurch City Council in New Zealand

On 12 March, a staff member of CLAIR Sydney visited Christchurch City Council in New Zealand and met with Ms Claire Phillips. Ms Phillips has overseen Christchurch City Council’s multicultural initiatives for years, and has extensive knowledge in the development of the City’s ethnic diversity. Christchurch City Council is widely known as one of the few councils in New Zealand to have established a strategy specifically to promote ethnic diversity within its council area, the Christchurch Multicultural Strategy. This strategy outlines what Christchurch City Council will do “in terms of improving service delivery, upskilling the internal organisation and developing authentic relationships to achieve the outcome of a diverse inclusive and welcoming city”, as mentioned in the strategy. The strategy is based on New Zealand’s historical Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Maori and British Crown representatives in 1840, and is a significant piece of history in the foundation of New Zealand. Thanks to the kind hospitality of Ms Phillips, who worked on the preparation, establishment, and implementation of the Strategy, the CLAIR Sydney staff was provided with very detailed information and was able to have a comprehensive understanding of Christchurch City Council’s recent and future multicultural initiatives. CLAIR Sydney will continue to research into ethnic diversity initiatives of local governments and relevant organisations in New Zealand and Australia to facilitate Japanese local governments in their development of an intercultural society.