The news that Maori King Tuheitia has turned down the opportunity to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they visit New Zealand, clearly flummoxed John Humphrys on the Today programme. He didn’t speak to King Tuheitia directly but through his adviser, Tukoroirangi Morgan. The reason that the King gave for refusing the opportunity to meet the Duke again and the Duchess, was that the allocated 90 minutes was not sufficient for him and his subjects to give the Duke and the Duchess an appropriate cultural welcome and also to have time to speak to the Royal couple. The item is covered by the BBC on their website and appears to suggest that the visit was to be one of a number of visits to Maori events and at 90 minutes was a great deal longer than many of the other visits that had been planned on the itinerary. However as Tukoroirangi Morgan explained to John Humphreys “The issue is we had a group of faceless government bureaucrats who didn’t consult with the King directly.” Inevitably these same government officers will be as shocked as John Humphreys at what has happened to what they might have considered a very generous allocation of time.

Whilst it is rare for Kings or Dukes to visit us, the frequency with which their Governments make decisions based on good will and the best of intentions is something we often miss, simply because these things take place behind closed doors. The men and women who might well remember how long previous Royal visits have been to the Maori Royal Family will be few and far between. Their voices may well have been drowned out by others who know how long the Duke and Duchess are spending with others who seem at least as important to modern New Zealand as the King of the Maoris. However we ignore such needs and histories at our peril, and the need to engage with people and help them to understand the reasoning for such decisions is vital if we are to continue to call our nations civilised.

Last night I was at a meeting of business leaders, where a presentation was made by a company planning to develop a small patch of land that has lain undeveloped for many years. The impact of the plans will be beneficial to many people, and the developers have already worked incredibly hard to engage with people in the area. The need to develop the site is not in question. However the impact of the final development on some of the neighbours has the potential to leave people who are already living in great disadvantage, feeling even more disadvantaged than they do already. There is no easy solution here, just as there may be none for the King of the Maoris. However the importance of talking and perhaps more importantly listening to those who will be affected cannot be underestimated. Few of us can pull of the coup of creating a media storm from not allowing a member of the British Royal Party to meet with us. However the reverberations in Millions of communities like the one I have alluded to, when we do things badly can go on for generations. King Tuheitia and his response should be a wake up call for all of us to go further in our attempts to engage with one another in an effective manner.