June 27, 2024
Demographics fuel racist fears
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Veteran journalist Paddy Gower says rapidly changing demographics are scaring Aotearoa-New Zealand ‘s baby-boomer white population.
Latest census data shows the Māori population at nearly a million of the country’s 5.3 million total – and other non-white ethnicities like Asians, and Pasifika peoples rapidly increasing also.
Mr Gower told Radio Waatea host She Te Pou those pākeha born in the 1950s and 60s seem to feel the most threatened.
“Let’s face it, these pākeha baby boomers hold a lot of the power in this country, a lot of the sway, and a lot of the debate – and they’re the ones that go out and vote. And that’s where a lot of these views sit, you know? Old white men are scared of what’s coming,” he says.
Mr Gower says Aotearoa-New Zealand could be a more powerful nation if racial differences were either embraced, or not worried about at all.