Abstract:
This work would not have been possible without the help, love and support of many people. To my sister and her beautiful family, thank you. It is only in seeing the future generation of this country that you can begin to think about what you want that future to look like for them. To my baby brother, and his wonderful girlfriend, thank you for your help in containing the insanity…and for at times bringing it out. To my Mum, thank you for raising me with the confidence and respect in myself to pursue what I believe to be right, and for the long conversations that helped me figure out what that was. Thank you to my Dad and his wife Sue, for putting up with all the conversations that were just on the cusp of blasphemy in the great city of Kansas. To my partner, thank you so much for putting up with the late nights, the rants, and the immeasurable amount of crazy that would have sent a lesser man running. Several people, to whom I owe a great debt, have impacted upon my academic work. Firstly, my supervisor James Oleson, who was patient and wise with me, even if I did not deserve it. To Bruce Curtis, who, while at times encouraged the madness, was always great at controlling it, thank you for all you did for me while I jumped on a bus. Thank you to Rob Webb, who acted as a mentor and editor extraordinare in my time of need. To everyone who has impacted on my academic life, both here at Auckland University and at Victoria University, thank you. Finally thank you to my peers, Rob Fleet, Brendan Wyatt Roisin Bennet, Charlotte Moore and Juliet Perano, who have traveled this crazy masters road along side me. We held each other up, where otherwise we might have fallen, and I could not have gotten through this without you and to you I dedicate this quote, which became a guiding theme for my masters “A person’s a person, no matter how small” - Dr Seuss.
