Closing the Gaps was a policy of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand for assisting socio-economically disadvantaged MÃÂori and Pasifika ethnic groups in New Zealand through specially targeted social programmes. The phrase "Closing the Gaps" was a slogan of the Labour Party in the 1999 election campaign and was implemented as a policy initiative in the 2000 Budget.
The aim of Closing the Gaps was to reduce the most visible disparities in socio-economic status and opportunity between MÃÂori and Pacific Islander groups and other groups. The policy had a social development and social inclusion approach to social policy. Closing the Gaps aimed to balance individual and collective rights and responsibilities by integrating MÃÂori and Pacific Islanders more extensively into the paid labour market.
The socio-economic gaps between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori stem from a history of colonialism. Land alienation and the MÃÂori labour migration resulted in structural inequalities in socio-economic status between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori, a central concern of Closing the Gaps. These inequalities were exacerbated by the neoliberal policy reforms pursued by the Fourth Labour and Fourth National governments. Increasing inequality throughout the 1980s and 90s disproportionately affected MÃÂori and Pacific Islanders, who were over-represented at the bottom of New Zealand's socio-economic landscape.
Closing the Gaps was a policy typical of Third Way political philosophy, popular throughout the West in the early 2000s. Third Way politics reconciles neoliberalism with social democratic ideals to mitigate the inequalities caused by neoliberal economic and political systems. Hence, Closing the Gaps is recognizant of the global political context it inhabited.
Closing the Gaps was a direct response to the findings of the 1998 Te Puni KÃ Âkiri report "Progress Towards Closing the Social and Economic Gaps Between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori", which outlined these accumulating inequalities MÃÂori and Pacific Islanders encountered. The report's overall findings revealed the gaps between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori in education, employment, economic and health status were significant. Furthermore, the report revealed these gaps had stabilized or were widening, not reducing. The Closing the Gaps report was the first government publication to measure inequalities between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori, both setting a benchmark for policy, and providing an impetus for the Fifth Labour-led Government to reduce inequality.
Closing the Gaps was recognised as one of the foremost efforts of the 2000s to combat the heavy systemic racism MÃÂori suffered in New Zealand. Doing so would promote equity for MÃÂori, with the ultimate goal of total equality. Naturally, however, the National Party led a campaign to stoke fears among its heavily European New Zealander base that the efforts were "unfairly privileging" MÃÂori and "threatening social cohesion". In June 2000, Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First party, described the program as "social apartheid". The responses from the opposition and the public reflected the perspective that MÃÂori rights under the Treaty of Waitangi were special privileges that actively excluded non-MÃÂori from their rights and privileges as New Zealand citizens. The perspective that MÃÂori were being unfairly privileged by Closing the Gaps gained popularity because the policy was portrayed as undermining an equality of opportunity approach to social policy that was popular in New Zealand.
Perspectives on Closing the Gaps was more varied within the Maori community. While the benefits MÃÂori communities received from the policy led to Closing the Gaps being perceived positively by many MÃÂori, critics argued the policy was ultimately damaging for MÃÂori because it perpetuated negative stereotypes that normalised and reinforced PÃÂkehÃÂ dominance. MÃÂori Labour Party politicians promoted the policy as providing greater autonomy and self-determination for MÃÂori under the partnership principle of the Treaty of Waitangi. Contrastingly, it was argued that by encouraging assimilation to Western values, Closing the Gaps continued to marginalise MÃÂori culture by portraying MÃÂoridom, and consequently MÃÂori socio-economic disadvantage, as deviant. Additionally, a focus on individual responsibility for reducing socio-economic gaps was criticised for failing to recognise the government's historical role as the excluding agent causing inequalities between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori.
Six months after the Labour-led Government was formed in late 1999, the term "Closing the Gaps" was no longer used in official documents. Opposition politicians observed that the Government still had a Closing the Gaps policy objective, but no longer referred to the policy by that name. Closing the Gaps was re-branded by the Government as "reducing inequalities", in an attempt to make the policy more popular with the public.
Over the term of the 1999âÂÂ2008 Labour Government, social statistics for Maori and Pacific Islanders did generally improve; however, the statistics for Pakeha New Zealanders showed a greater improvement, resulting in the 'gaps' actually increasing. Closing the Gaps failed to reduce socio-economic inequalities between MÃÂori and non-MÃÂori and did not resolve structural inequalities that socio-economically excluded MÃÂori from mainstream society.
After losing the 2002 election in a landslide, the opposition National Party campaigned, unsuccessfully, on a commitment to abolish Closing the Gaps and related affirmative action. In 2004 National leader Don Brash suggested all policies helping MÃÂori become less disadvantaged should be abandoned, calling for abolition of the MÃÂori electorates and MÃÂori claims to customary title under the Treaty of Waitangi. Brash's tactic was to claim erroneously that MÃÂori were being afforded privileges that disadvantaged PÃÂkehÃÂ. Closing the Gaps popularised a rhetoric of privilege in response to Treaty rights.