Looking back: How did New Zealanders view Asia 28 years ago?
Ahead of the release of this year’s Perceptions of Asia report, we take a look back at the findings of the Foundation’s earliest Perceptions surveys. In October 1997 as Chumbawamba's Tubthumping dominated New Zealand music charts and homegrown police drama Duggan made its television debut, the Asia New Zealand Foundation – then known as Asia 2000 – conducted its first survey of New Zealanders’ perceptions of Asia. How did New Zealanders – who then numbered just 3.8 million – view the region and their relationship to it?
In 1997, most New Zealanders expressed unease about New Zealand’s economic trajectory
What were New Zealanders worried about?
More than a decade on, the economic reforms of the mid-1980s were still front-of-mind for many. In 1997, most New Zealanders expressed unease about New Zealand’s economic trajectory, with some pointing to reliance on service industries, lack of production, declining exports, and “dependence on ‘imported money’ from wealthy immigrants” as negative economic indicators. Others, however, were more optimistic, noting that “New Zealand will eventually find a niche in the global economy (as a producer of technology/research/ideas).”
While a few expressed that New Zealand should try to become more self-sufficient as an economy, most felt strongly that the “future was all about looking outwards and finding new international markets.”
The impact of economic reforms of the mid-1980s were still being felt in the 1990s, and for New Zealanders job security was top of mind
By 1998, however, New Zealanders were worried about the impact of the Asian financial crisis that had begun the previous year on New Zealand’s economy. In fact, 91 percent of respondents thought the crisis would impact themselves and their families a “fair amount”, while almost half (49 percent) felt it would have a significant impact.
How important was Asia to New Zealand’s future?
In 1997, 74 percent of New Zealanders said that Asia is important to New Zealand’s future, a result echoed in the most recently published survey (75 percent).
When asked why Asia was important, New Zealanders overwhelmingly pointed to future trade opportunities. This was followed by Asia’s future potential, tourism, proximity, and its large population – many themes that we still see expressed today.
In the late 1990s the Asia New Zealand Foundation was still known as Asia 2000
Absent, however, was the current association of Asia with advanced science and technology. Technology and innovation in Asia didn’t feature as options for New Zealanders to choose from, and less than three percent pointed to the region’s “technical expertise”.
Similarly, and although Asia was seen as important to New Zealand’s economic future, economic relations weren’t seen as a given in 1997. Many felt that markets in Asia wouldn’t be easy for New Zealand to crack, with some expressing doubt that people in Asia would want what New Zealand was offering. “There’s not a huge amount of confidence in the marketability – or credibility – of the ‘clean green’ thing,” noted the report. Others felt that there would also be significant economic opportunities elsewhere, such as the former Eastern Bloc countries.
How did New Zealanders think Asia would impact the future?
While New Zealanders have been consistently positive about the impact of trade with Asia and tourism links on New Zealand – around three quarters of New Zealanders expected positive impacts from both in 1997 – attitudes towards investment and immigration have gradually grown more positive over time, and not without dips along the way.
In 1997, just 41 percent of New Zealanders felt investment from Asia would positively impact New Zealand, compared to almost two thirds of New Zealanders in the survey released June 2024.
Just 32 percent of New Zealanders felt positively about migration from Asia to New Zealand in 1997
Immigration makes for a more sobering picture. Just 32 percent of New Zealanders felt positively about migration from Asia to New Zealand in 1997. Respondents expressed concern over what a bigger population would mean for national identity as well as access to work and education opportunities. Others pointed to overtly negative – and racist – stereotypes and voiced concern about how a growing Asian population would impact “mainstream” Pākehā culture and the “laid back Kiwi lifestyle”. Some, however, mentioned looking forward to a larger, more diverse and internationally connected society and culture. There was little recorded mention of longstanding migration ties to China and India.
While attitudes towards immigration remain more negative than New Zealanders’ expectations of Asia’s economic growth and technological development on New Zealand, over half said they expect immigration from Asia to have a positive impact over the coming decades in the June 2024 survey. Similarly, 52 percent said they expect Asian languages and cultures to have a positive impact on New Zealand’s future.
How did New Zealanders see Asian cultures?
Perhaps the biggest about-face is New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia’s cultural pull.
New Zealanders did not see Asia as “cool” in the years leading up to the new millennium, reports the 1997 survey. European lifestyles were still seen as “aspirational”, and London was seen as the cultural centre for many young New Zealanders. According to the survey, Asia was most likely to appeal to Baby Boomers, while Gen Xers were less interested in Asian cultures because they weren’t seen as a part of “global electronic pop culture”.
In the 1990s, Asia was often seen by New Zealanders as a place defined by its traditions
Teenagers reportedly had similar views to adults, although some said that the “really traditional stuff like mythology, religion, and the arts” held a kind of appeal. “Ethnic music has a kind of cachet for some kids,” observed the survey.
The results couldn’t be more different today.
In the June 2024 survey, 37 percent of New Zealanders consume Asia-related entertainment at least monthly, and younger New Zealanders are its most avid consumers: 22 percent of New Zealanders under 30 consume Asia-related entertainment at least weekly, and around half consume it at least monthly. It’s not surprising, then, that over half of New Zealanders – and over two thirds of Aucklanders – reported feeling connected to Asian cultures in their daily lives.
A scene from the 2019 South Korean hit film Parasite
While more recent surveys show New Zealanders see Asia as important primarily because of its economic opportunities, when it comes to why New Zealanders most want to learn more about places in Asia, culture is the key driver.
In almost three decades of Perceptions surveys, the countries in Asia have undergone sweeping changes. It’s important to remember that New Zealand and the ways in which New Zealanders see the world – and our place in it – have too.
The next Perceptions of Asia report will be released on 17 June 2025.
The Foundation's Asia in Focus initiative publishes expert insights and analysis on issues across Asia, as well as New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the region.
