Seminars

#2605 The “New” NZ

The "New" NZ: demographic change transforming Aotearoa

Speaker: Paul Spoonley

Date: Saturday 9th May 2026  10am-1pm

Venue: Waikanae Presbyterian Church Hall, 43 Ngaio Road, Waikanae

Distinguished Emeritus Professor Paul Spoonley, ONZM, is one of New Zealand's foremost social scientists, renowned for his research on social and demographic change. Paul Spoonley has spent just over four decades researching and understanding the drivers of rapid social change in Aotearoa. He was awarded the Science and Technology Medal by the Royal Society in 2009 for cross-cultural understanding and the following year, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University. Once he stepped down, he was appointed to advise the Police Commissioner (2022-25) and as Co-Director of the National Centre for Countering Violent Extremism (2022-23). He is a Fellow of the Auckland Museum and a Board member and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Germany. He is the author or editor of 29 books including: The “New” New Zealand. Facing Demographic Disruption (2021) and Histories of Hate. The Radical Right in Aotearoa New Zealand (2022).

In this seminar, Paul will discuss the major demographic changes or disruption occurring in New Zealand. It is a rapidly ageing society, and this combined with declining (and sub-replacement) fertility is changing the age distribution of the country. Moreover, some centres and regions are growing rapidly while others are experiencing population stagnation or even depopulation. International migration has been high over the last decade or so and this is changing the cultural mix of our communities. A very different country will have emerged by the 2030s.