[EngiNurse]

Hello all,

A quick question: The nursing recruiter we are working with set up an interview for the wife on Thursday. One of her tips was to do become familiar with the Treaty of Waitangi. Reading on Wikipedia and such, we think we've got the basics of the history and such, but I wanted to run our understanding of the importance by some of you in country.

What we gather is that it's important for a few reasons:

The Maori submitted to British rule.
The Maori were to be allowed self-governance over their internal matters.
The Maori were entitled to all the rights and protections British subjects were.
The Maori were able to petition the crown for redress of grievances.

Are we missing anything major? Any help is appreciated, as we're fairly ignorant on the subject.

Cheers,
Grant and Jamie

[jess]

It's the founding document of modern NZ. Also I often hear that there's disagreement over how the treaty was understood by Maori chiefs (the word "sovreignty" in the English version was "governorship" in the Maori version). Check out the Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ (http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealandInBrief/GovernmentAndNation/1/en) for details.

[nippa&pippa]

Yes do she know when we celebrated of treaty of waitangi? it was 6th feb this year....

[Sam B]

Hi

I'm currently working for the ministry of education, and questions about the Treaty at interview are standard apparently, but they didn't ask me one when I was interviewed by phone in the UK cos they didn't think it would be fair, they asked me about multi-cultural experience instead.

However, speaking to my co-workers, what they are really interested in when they ask about this is the modern interpretation of the treaty and how it relates to dealing with Maori clients today. So if they are going to ask you about it, then you could do with mugging up on how the government has been revisiting and interpreting the Treaty in recent years, and the rights it gives to modern Maori whanau.

Hope this helps.

[KerryS]

Yes do she know when we celebrated of treaty of waitangi? it was 6th feb this year....


Sophia it's the 6th of Feb every year. It celebrates the signing of the Treaty and is a fixed date public holiday (along with Anzac Day), which means if it falls over a weekend you don't get a day off work.

Most govt roles will state that you need knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi, but I've never been asked a single question about it in any interview or subsequently.
I agree with Sam, that it is the modern intepretations to the Treaty that are of more importance in NZ society today, and the way in which the Govt are now dealing with the consequences of their previous actions.

[barryp]

The Crown has set up a special Tribunal and processes to accept claims of its own historical wrongdoing (willful ignoring or mis-applying the Treaty). All claims must be lodged by next year, and the legislative intent is to process and resolve them all by 2020. This is an unprecedented move, going far beyond its closest parallel (Canada's negotiations with First Peoples) in scope.

Not all Maori grievances will be recognised and compensated in this process, only those demonstrating malicious Crown intent. Though there was one Treaty, there was no analogous Maori central government at the time.

The idea is that justice derives from airing all claims openly and judging them fairly, but that an open-ended process will never allow healing. Thus the filing deadline and commitment to resolving all cases by a fixed date. (It can take a long time for one claim to be appraised - the interests are intricate and the principal parties on all sides are long dead.)

I'm privileged to have an intimate association with the Tribunal, considered very important by the current Government, but I admit to being perplexed that you'd be asked about any of this in an interview. It's perfectly possible to be a functional NZ resident, even Government employee, without knowing anything about this subject.

[Lupin]

My husband was questioned on cultural safety and the Treaty during his telephone interview. I think it's more about understanding how the Treaty informs nursing practice as a legal document, rather than than the Treaty and reparations etc.

Here's the New Zealand Nursing Council Guidelines for Cultural Safety, the Treaty of Waitangi and Maori Health in Nursing Education and Practice. If your wife reads through that, I'm sure she'll have no problems :)

http://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/Cultural%20Safety.pdf

[IanW99]

As Lupin77 has said, it is common for nurses to be asked about the treaty during the interview, but if you are not from NZ they won't expect you to know it too well, so don't worry about it too much.

You will be expected to learn more about it later though :(

Ian

[Malay-Coopers]

As a mental health worker I was also asked about the Treaty. It is particularly important in the delivery of health services because the Treaty has been the basis for setting up separate Maori run services for Maori. New Zealand is officially bi-cultural meaning there are two cultures living in tandem with each other.

Just remember the three Ps: Participation, Partnership, and Protection.

The following is from the Misnistry of Health web site www.moh.govt.nz

Partnership: Working together with iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to develop strategies for Māori health gain and appropriate health and disability services.

Participation: Involving Māori at all levels of the sector, in decision-making, planning, development and delivery of health and disability services.

Protection: Working to ensure Māori have at least the same level of health as non-Māori and safeguarding Māori cultural concepts, values and practices.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more. Michael King has an excellent chapter (or two) on the Treaty in his History of New Zealand.

[EngiNurse]

Thanks for the responses, all!

Lupin, I'll have the wife look over that paper before her interview tomorrow. That looks to be more along the lines of what she may need to know.

Cheers,
Grant

[nickydwuk]

You must have been reading my mind. I was thinking about this subject today and was wondering what kind of things are likely to crop up in interviews for nurses. Apart from the Treaty of Waitangi do they ask procedural questions as I am concerned that some things will be done slightly differently in NZ from the UK. Any advice on this would be great.

EngiNurse: Did you apply directly to the DHB or through an agency? and where are you hoping to work?

[EngiNurse]

Actually, the interviewers didn't bring up the Treaty at all. It was mostly scenario questions, according to my wife: you have a patient with these symptoms; what do you do? You have these three patients; which do you assess and triage first? Why?

We are going through an agency, though the name of it escapes me right now. Our agent has been very helpful so far, and I'd recommend her. We're hoping to end up with Christchurch Hospital. My wife is a trauma nurse here in ABQ and likes that type of work, and the CC hospital sounds very similar (teaching hospital, Trauma 1, serving a wide geographic area).