I know that I may get a bit of flak for what I say here so let me start by saying that this is not a criticism of the people involved but rather an observation of how shallow and narrow focused we are as a country.
So last night the New Zealander of the Year was named. And whilst there has been an overwhelming positivity over Richie McCaw winning, when I heard the news I felt a tinge of disappointment, even saying to myself "shame". I felt that tinge of disappointment even more when I heard that Lydia Ko won the Young New Zealander of the Year. Now, I'm not anti-sport. In fact, far from it. I love sport. I love how it can bring people together. I love how exciting and enjoyable it is. To be fair I am quite the sports fan. I celebrated the All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup. I happily enter into office banter about how a team is going, who should be in or not and all that can be talked about in sport. I have also loved watching the rise and rise of Lydia Ko, marvelling at how composed she is and how easy she makes the game of golf look.
But, and here is where my disappointment lies, picking a sports person as New Zealander of the Year is too easy. It is too predictable and to be honest it is disappointing. What it does do is show how sports orientated this country is. I know there are people who feel that Richie particularly deserves his award but what exactly has he done? Sure, he lead a team of well paid professional athletes to victory in a competition we as a nation feel is ours by right. But that's about it. In the scheme of things it enabled us to forget about the challenges of life for a short while, but apart from the lasting effect this achievement will have in the statistics books, what else has it achieved?
It makes it particularly hard to swallow when the other two finalists have done some very important, significant things that are having, and going to have an ongoing and lasting effect on our society.
Rob Fenwick is a ground breaker, showing that business and environmentalism can go hand in hand. Not only has he looked to grow his commercial interests, but he has done it without compromising on his belief in conservation and sustainable development. He has served on a number of boards with a focus on conservation and sustainability. The company he co-founded, Living Earth, has converted millions of tons of waste into compost.
Then there is Louise Nicholls. If there is ever a person who embodies courage, strength and determination, Louise is it. Not only did she have the courage to speak out over being sexually assaulted by policemen when she was a teenager, she never gave up and had to endure and battle through five court cases. She wanted to hold the men responsible to account and her determination has seen the courts and police look at how they treat sexual violence victims. Now she is working with the police to improve their understanding of what a victim goes through. Her tireless efforts will see generations of police show my concern, compassion and care for sexual violence victims. Our society will benefit from her work for years to come.
And for me this is where the rubber hits the road. We as a society would rather celebrate the momentary joy of a sporting win and immortalise it than celebrate the tireless efforts of others. We would rather find our societal validation in our sporting achievements than take pride in the efforts of our fellow Kiwis to make not just this country, but the world a better place for us and our children. WE elevate sports to a place it does not deserve. And that is sad. Yes it is good to honour our sportspeople, but hey we already do that with their own awards night (the Halbergs). The NZ Awards should be an opportunity to celebrate the amazing achievements of our fellow Kiwis in other areas.
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It was great to read this morning to see someone else writing about the disappointing result of the NZ Awards. Alex Braae explains why Louise Nicholls would be a better winner, and I agree - Louise would have been my first choice too.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/opinion/alex-braae-louise-nicholas-should-have-won/
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