In New Zealand, we're so young and small that we only have one distinctive regional accent - the Southland accent, typified by a rolling R - as typified in someone fresh in Christchurch telling you that they're from Gorrrre[1].
(As a South Islander, I can often, but not always, tell that a Pakeha (NZ European) person is from the North Island because they have more of a Polynesian influence in their pronunciation - South Island being notoriously white for the most part, the difference is slight but noticeable).
The Gore escapees get lightly teased about it "Hey Sharon tell us how far you went to the bar in your car" etc., but otherwise treated the same as other Kiwis.
"Accentism" as described seems to require a long history of a rural peasantry / working class and an urbanised middle - upper class - in other words, it's just a proxy for class based discrimination.
I guess we're lucky that talking like a farmer isn't considered an impediment to being Prime Minister... so far, although I still put it down to not even being a 200 year old bicultural country.
That said, in the past, speaking in the Received Pronunciation was mandatory for newsreaders etc., and people correctly pronouncing Maori names and place names etc. is still an ongoing slow improvement.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore,_New_Zealand
(As a South Islander, I can often, but not always, tell that a Pakeha (NZ European) person is from the North Island because they have more of a Polynesian influence in their pronunciation - South Island being notoriously white for the most part, the difference is slight but noticeable).
The Gore escapees get lightly teased about it "Hey Sharon tell us how far you went to the bar in your car" etc., but otherwise treated the same as other Kiwis.
"Accentism" as described seems to require a long history of a rural peasantry / working class and an urbanised middle - upper class - in other words, it's just a proxy for class based discrimination.
I guess we're lucky that talking like a farmer isn't considered an impediment to being Prime Minister... so far, although I still put it down to not even being a 200 year old bicultural country.
That said, in the past, speaking in the Received Pronunciation was mandatory for newsreaders etc., and people correctly pronouncing Maori names and place names etc. is still an ongoing slow improvement.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore,_New_Zealand