NZ Realtor Faces 5 Year Ban for Rejecting ‘Woke’ Training

‘The imposition of these mandates, infringing upon the fundamental freedom of conscience,’ said Janet Dickson’s campaign.

A real estate agent stands near an auction sign in Blacktown, Australia, on Feb. 14, 2015. Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

A real estate agent in New Zealand is at risk of having her 30-year career cut short after rejecting a compulsory course on Maori’s culture and customary behaviours.

Janet Dickson is seeking to challenge the New Zealand’s Real Estate Authority (REA) in court after the regulatory body allegedly threatened to cancel her licence for five years for refusing to take the course, according to the advocacy group Hobson’s Pledge.

Under current regulations, real estate agents need to complete 20 hours of continuing professional development each year to maintain their licence, including two hours of mandatory topics and eight hours of elective topics.

Ms. Dickson was concerned that the REA overstepped its power by forcing real estate agents to complete courses that had little to do with their jobs, especially on contentious topics.

In a Facebook post, Ms. Dickson called REA’s alleged practice of imposing compulsory courses as “woke madness” and vowed to fight to ensure that other people would not be subject to the same fate.

Ms. Dickson is seeking a judicial review in New Zealand’s High Court to challenge the REA’s power to impose compulsory courses, believing that it is essential in addressing the alleged overreach, and could set a precedent for other professional organisations.

“The ramifications of this case extend well beyond the realm of real estate. Similar mandates have detrimentally affected a wide array of professions, including doctors, teachers, and lawyers,” the webpage of her campaign read.

“The imposition of these mandates, infringing upon the fundamental freedom of conscience, requires immediate action.

“This (the judicial review) is essential not only to rectify the excessive use of authority in the present case but also to establish a precedent that will guide and inform the conduct of other professional regulatory bodies.”

Ms. Dickson’s campaign seeks donations of up to NZ$50,000 (US$31,000) from the public to cover part of her NZ$150,000 legal fee.

Response from Other Parties

Don Brash, the former Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor and Hobson’s Pledge’s founder, criticised REA’s “draconian” rules, saying it was an attempt to impose a particular worldview that was not in line with the majority of New Zealanders.

“It’s inappropriate for the REA to force people to do a course that’s not relevant to their work,” he said, as reported by the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

“We don’t want a particular view of the world forced on anybody.”

Meanwhile, Bernie O’Donnell, a Poutaki Mātauranga Maori adviser at the University of Auckland, said it was necessary for real estate agents to understand Maori due to the nature of their business.

“You can’t go into that profession blindly in Aotearoa ... it’s important they understand the history of their country,” he said, noting that it was a shame that some people didn’t want to go through that step.

“Maori are the indigenous people of this land, and in this new world, we have to start making an effort to understand their worldview.

“And even though there’s a huge history to this land, people just want to get down to business.”