首先，新西兰的法律无论是Bill of Rights Act 或者Human Rights Act 都是以政府机构为出发点来对discrimination 做出平衡和保护的。
Human Rights Act 之后增加了相关条例把雇主包括在grounds of discrimination 里，而通过S61, 62, 63 把个人之间的关系也包括了进去。
但是你仔细读后会发现，对个体对个体之间的关系并不用discrimination 这个词，而是取代为disharmoney, harrasement等用词，其实是把要求大幅度降低，变成为侵权类行为（torts) 为什么呢？discrimination 包含了equality，就是要求行为中对他人相同的待遇，例如if you treat a white kiwi one way, you must treat a chinese (ethnicity wise) the same. 但我们知道在现实中人与人之间并不能够达到相同待遇，如果是两个人（或者一个组织对个人，不包括雇主）之间，允许一定的差别对待，包括言论自由，只有言论自由到达了攻击或者侮辱的地步，human rights commission 才能插手。
The policy reason for the above is to strike a balance between freedom of speech and racial harmony.
如果你仔细阅读the human rights act 的话，会发现所有的grounds of discrimination 都是subject to and/or limited by section 3 BORA的，除了雇佣关系被包括在内。And further, the human rights act itself is limited in the sense that if discrimination is legal in any other enactment then the Human Rights Act must give way to such enactment.
For example, if you cannot be hired as a military officer for being a Chinese passport holder by HR Act it is a form of discrimination but surely the Act is trumped by some other legislations which require discriminations by citizenship.
呵呵，要不是我打过很多的human rights cases, 我还真被你难倒了呢。作者: 深夜食堂 时间: 2013-4-30 11:30:44
We thank you for your on-line complaint form received on 28 April 2013.
The Human Rights Commission recognises the concern and upset this material has caused yourself and others. The Commission has been contacted by a number of people regarding offensive material about Chinese and Jewish people left in their mailboxes. There have also been objectionable posts on blog sites.
Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy says she and the Commission will work with the New Zealand Police and other agencies to provide assurance to communities upset by the distribution of material that targets the New Zealand Chinese community.
Dame Susan said, “Who wouldn’t feel threatened by this kind of material? It presents a hateful view of law abiding people. It is unfair and based on ignorance, intolerance and prejudice.”
The Human Rights Act requires the Commission to balance the right to protection from racial hatred with the right to freedom of expression. It also requires that Commissioners do not have direct involvement in individual unlawful discrimination complaints which are dealt with by the Commission’s enquiries and complaints team.
That team considers that the complaints received about leaflets and blog sites do not meet the threshold for unlawful discrimination as defined in the Human Rights Act and that there has not been a breach of section 61 which relates to inciting racial disharmony. New Zealand has set a high bar in balancing freedom of expression over banning what many would consider hate speech.
The Commission’s response is therefore to speak up for and support people facing racial hostility and find ways to respond to activity that has a negative effect on race relations. Race Relations Commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy will be coordinating a series of actions by the Human Rights Commission:
liaising with the New Zealand Police to monitor the activity
working with communities to provide assurance that the Police would protect them
working with Netsafe on a response for social media site on material that breaches acceptable use policies
the Race Relations Commissioner intends to meet with the affected communities.
While your complaint might not meet the threshold for unlawful discrimination or inciting racial disharmony, the Commission thanks you for having made your concern known to us. Dame Susan encourages other people affected to continue to contact the Commission. This will help the Commission to monitor the extent of the activity as it continues to liaise with the New Zealand Police.
