Governing Diversity Through Crisis: Multicultural Politics under Aotearoa New Zealand’s Sixth Labour Government

This chapter explores multicultural politics following two shifts to the left in Aotearoa New Zealand: the formation in 2017 of a Labour-New Zealand First minority coalition government and the Labour Party single-party majority government from 2020 to 2023. The chapter examines political discourse and policy choices regarding multiculturalism and diversity under the centre-left governments of Jacinda Ardern and presents evidence of ‘renewed, but fundamentally reactive, attention to multicultural policy.’ Is this due to a shift to the left? The chapter discusses how a major shock, the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, forced Ardern’s government to act on issues of social cohesion, diversity and multiculturalism that had previously held low electoral salience. While the Covid-19 pandemic subsequently dominated government attention, Ardern’s Labour Government was distinctive for reforms that expanded space for Māori self-determination and co-governance, while also substantially boosting actions and funding in Pacific policy. The chapter shows how these developments, in the context of the country’s non-negotiable Treaty of Waitangi foundations, provided the foundation for evolving traditions of pragmatic multicultural governance in Aotearoa New Zealand.