NZ Hot Issues: The Hikoi Of Hope

What was the impelling need for the Hikoi? What was the hope?

The Hikoi of Hope in Christchurch (Photo Source: Peter Hide of Anglican Care) (Click here for a larger version)

Unemployment, poverty, overcrowded and inadequate housing, health problems, and lack of education – these are problems that many New Zealanders would like to ignore. However, the desperate situation of many families in New Zealand has stirred the Anglican church to action, to a hikoi (the Maori word for ‘walk’) which would highlight these problems. The hope has been that the Government would be moved by the concern of the people of New Zealand to upgrade its assistance to disadvantaged families.

Hikoi challenging Government to look at the basis of its policies The Hikoi of Hope was not designed to attack or to support any political party. It aimed to challenge the Government and Parliament as a whole to look at the basis of its policies and at the views and work of the church.

Where did it start? The initiative for the Hikoi came from the Anglican General Synod meeting in May 1998. A motion was put to the Synod asking it to make a statement to the Government about poverty. As the discussion progressed more and more stories of poverty came out – stories of personal hardship, stories of what was happening to parishioners and those who came to the social workers for help.

Funding for social work Government assistance to social work agencies has been cut back. At the same time people who support the church are experiencing more hardship and giving is declining. As need is increasing the resources are reducing.

Serious social problems highlighted in background material for the Hikoi Unemployment At June 30 this year 140,000 people in New Zealand were officially unemployed – one in thirteen of those who wanted work.

Poverty and cost of housing The number of households living in poverty has increased steadily to around 20% of the population, and those in serious housing need has more than doubled in the last decade. The cost of rent has been the most frequently mentioned reason for seeking help from foodbanks. The number of foodbank clients is constantly increasing. Benefits were cut, but it’s not only beneficiaries who are struggling. Many are in jobs where their wage is so low that it often barely covers the costs of rent and food.

Inadequacy of health services Public hospital waiting lists indicate that the hospital system is not coping with the need, while rural hospitals are being closed or their services are being downgraded. There is a crisis in the mental health services. The statistics for serious illnesses and suicides reflect badly on New Zealand’s health system. Maori people experience more health problems than non-Maori and are more than twice as likely to be admitted to hospital.

Unequal educational opportunities The change in funding for schools has meant that schools need to raise 12% of their budgets from donations. In poorer areas this is impossible, and such schools have fewer facilities. One in three New Zealanders aged fifteen and over has no qualification. One in five adults has poor literacy skills and it is many of these who cannot find employment. Few Maori have the advantage of tertiary education. Education should not be the privilege of the well off.

The Hikoi of Hope covering the entire country I talked to the Rev Turi Hollis who walked the South Island section of the Hikoi.

Turi explained that rapid organisation was needed so that the Hikoi could begin on September 1 to reach the Government before Parliament went into recess in early October.

The waka (canoe), the spiritual image for the march, left Stewart Island for Bluff with its cargo of stories. A similar walk began at Cape Reinga in the north of the North Island.

The whole of the road from Bluff, in the far south of the South Island, to Picton in the north of the island was walked or run by supporters of the Hikoi. A core group of walkers was joined by walkers of all ages in the small towns and cities along the way. The involvement of both rural and urban supporters was important, symbolising the fact that the problems highlighted by the Hikoi were common to people in towns and country. Among those joining the walk were Mayors and candidates in the local body elections.

Local people were invited to hand in their written stories of need and of dreams or to talk as they walked or in the evenings. Gradually a great fund of written stories was built up.

The walkers walked without a break from September 4 to 16, rested and then resumed the walk. From Temuka to Ashburton the distance was covered by clergy of various denominations; from Ashburton to Dunsandel the Anglican harriers took up the run; from Dunsandel to Hornby school children covered the distance. Along the Kaikoura coast where there was danger from traffic on the narrow stretches, runners ran a relay in pairs.

The weather During the month of the walk the only wet weather was in the south, between Clinton and Balclutha. The bad weather there became so stormy that one person was blown off the road and the walkers were taken to the town. When the weather cleared representatives of the group went back to walk that distance so that no part of the journey would be missed.

Community support along the way Walkers were billeted or stayed in church halls or on a marae, and parishes of different denominations provided nourishing meals along the way. Turi Hollis says that a great book of recipes could be written giving the different dishes served along the way – and especially the soups, never two lots the same.

Arrival at Parliament Buildings The marchers from the North Island and from the South Island converged on Parliament buildings. After a powhiri (a Maori welcome) and a service of worship, Roger Sowry, representing the Government, and Helen Clark, representing the Opposition, addressed the assembled crowd. During Roger Sowry’s address the crowd expressed their disapproval of current policies, but Helen Clark was more warmly received.

The stories that had been gathered on the way were presented to seven representatives of Parliament. When they were presented to the National Party and Act Party representatives the crowd howled their disapproval. They appeared to have forgotten that a succession of governments, including a Labour Government, had been responsible for the changes that have caused the current problems.

An unexpected problem During the service a helicopter hovered above making it difficult for everyone to hear the service. Who could have been so insensitive as to do that?

What was the value of the Hikoi? Many critics have said that the Government will not listen and have questioned the value of the Hikoi. The answer of the Church is that to be silent is to condone the policies that cause so much suffering.

The attitude of the media Media coverage was given to the beginning of the Hikoi, but from that point on it was largely ignored by television and the major newspapers. When gatherings were reported the numbers given in the media were far lower than those given by the police who were present with the crowd.

Holmes programme On the night of the Hikoi Paul Holmes interviewed The Rt Hon David Lange and Archdeacon Peter Beck about the Hikoi. David Lange’s criticisms and scornful attitude angered a lot of viewers.

People have been angered by the term coined by the media – ‘hikoi of the hopeless’. The callous sneer that has often accompanied the use of this term suggests that the more fortunate New Zealanders have become impervious to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged.

In a letter to the newspaper one correspondent, Gary McCormick, asked whether New Zealand has already gone too far down the road of individual advancement at the expense of the common good. The letter finishes, “If we are going to become a nation where it is every man and woman for her and himself let us at least draw attention to the choice we are making. The hikoi did that.”

R. S. Bargh of Featherston wrote to NZine: “On the night of the Hikoi, David Lange appeared on the Holmes show to sneer at the marchers and to advise them to ‘get real’, stop wasting their time and energy and organise themselves politically to achieve their goals.
That was rich coming from someone who, with his mates ripped the heart and guts out of both the Labour Party and New Zealand.

“The Lange government kicked off the reforms which have had such disastrous consequences for us. They replaced a pervasive moral obligation of caring and fairness with a creed of unbridled individual greed and they encouraged an indifference to the disadvantaged and helpless. It was the Lange government that started redistributing the wealth of the country so that its substantial bulk now goes to the rich both here and overseas. They reduced the top tax rate from 64 cents in the dollar to 48; it’s now an incredible 31. They over-taxed the poor by introducing Goods and Services Tax.

“Lange’s government kicked off the indebtedness which now approaches one hundred billion dollars and it’s the workers of New Zealand, those standing in the Hikoi. who have to service that debt. Their policies initiated the social ills which those in the Hikoi seek to redress.

“When the weak, the poor, and the disadvantaged gather together before the assembled parliament to declare, ‘Look at us! We beg you to relieve our social concerns! Are the present iniquities what you want for New Zealand? Is this fair? Enough is enough!’ and bloated winners like Holmes and Lange heap derision on those willing to show publicly a genuine concern, the problems facing New Zealand are clearly apparent.”