Thanks to TVNZ for putting the spotlight on the government racist immigration policies which discriminate again and again against our Pacific neighbours.
The racism occurs at all levels.
Working here:
An Australian wanting to work here simply needs to jump on a plane, come over and apply for a work permit. Pasifika from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji for example can’t do that. Most have to apply through the RSE scheme and come here as essentially short-term, low-paid bonded labour to help with harvesting etc in horticulture. The treatment of many – if not most – of these workers is a national disgrace. We’d never do this to Australians or Europeans wanting to work here so why do it to Pasifika?
Politicians say the difference is that Australians come with better work skills but this is untrue. No-one checks the work skills of Australians entering the country.
Visiting here:
Australians have had visa-free entry to this country for a long time and can come and visit friends and family, or tour the country at will. However Pasifika families must apply for a visa and these are frequently denied as outlined on the TVNZ story.
Overstaying:
There are overstayers from all groups who come here but as we saw with the dawn raids of the 1970s, Pasifika were singled out for raids and deportation while European overstayers were overlooked.
The solution:
Let’s treat everyone from the Pacific in the same way we treat Australians. Dealing with our Pacific neighbours with dignity and respect wrt immigration will significantly reduce overstaying as a problem in any case. For example, there are times in the past when the flow of Pasifika back home has exceeded the numbers coming here.
Despite having a Labour government which relies heavily on Pasifika votes to win parliamentary seats our basic immigration policies are still based squarely on deep-seated prejudices within our immigration bureaucracy and the demands for bonded labour from the horticulture sector.
It has to change.
Let’s do it!
Indeed @John.
One of the 3 main reasons I can no longer Party vote Labour.
And it’s not JUST the Pasifika issue either. It’s our immigration policies in general,
(Things like tying visas to employers which is a recipe for exploitation. And only recently has the Labour Expectorant begun to take the issue seriously – even then they’re not resourced properly.)
The 2nd main reason is the Children’s Commissioner and OT debacle, and the 3rd – various MSD policies and treatment of beneficiaries.
And then on top of that, housing, health and education when corporate welfare gets a better run than people.
How about let’s treat everyone from Australia in the same way we treat the rest of the pacific?
How about let’s treat them worse? Especially the bankers.
Australians go home and dont overstay, even if they did they they dont cause trouble.
We treat them differently because the Australians have a wealthier nation to return back to when they want to go, and Australians have similar high levels of education and skills, so they earn similar wages to New Zealanders.
It’s all economics, not racism.
Australians earn a lot more than New Zealanders which is why so many people move in that direction. But unlike Australians coming here they dont have access to any support systems.
Why do we allow non-citizens to vote when no other country does? *crickets chirping*
Yup just straight out crazy.
you don’t even need citizenship to get Super.
Because permanent residents are basically citizens?
Because we’ve become a nation of unimaginative yea nah masochists that deludes itself it’s rilly sophusticated and that punches above its weight.
It’s not JUST that we allow non-citizens to vote, We also parachute in ideologically schooled immigrants to fill senior public servant roles, giving them preferential treatment and BEFORE they’ve had time to understand our culture and Te Tiriti principles, and then let them provide us with policy advice completely unsuited to what we’d hoped to be aspoiring to.
There are so many cudda shudda wudda things that cudda shudda wudda helped us to live up to the hype that just won’t, and can’t happen while we continue to let it happen.
More fool “us”. We’re getting what we deserve.
Our elected ‘representatives’ and their senior public servant enablers, prefer to capture each other and spend money on needless exercises in rebranding, managing the message and PR spin and bullshit, than they do ekshully doing stuff.
As I drove back from 50km points north, I encountered yet another example: The NZ Post “Rebrand and Re-image”. The near destruction of previous post office capability which could have been used to provide a physical and virtual portal to ALL of GUMMINT services because apparently spending money on a few consultants and branders was more important – resulting in blue and red and more expense for the slave labour gig workers that are propping up what’s now a failing enterprise up.
So many other examples too (such as with bailing out Ear NuZull while there are shitty old 757s that keep breaking down)
This weekend’s Labour Party shindig is going to be a really interesting exercise which (if we still have a few remaining people schooled and experienced in the journalism and the 4th Estate) will let us know just how badly the Labour Party has fallen victim to the neoliberal economic and social orthodoxy.
Who has more power in the relationship is key. Aussie has more economic power than NZ, hence the 501s. Nz has more economic power than the Pacific, hence the current situation.
I would suggest NZ to stop taking refugees from other parts of the world. It is not our responsibility to save refugees from war torn countries from far and beyond.
Instead we should look after our own backyard. The number of climate refugees are going to increase substantially. If we won’t help, then China will by loaning them funds which they can’t repay.
Let’s use our funds and support to make the Pacific stronger.
The refugee thing bothers me in that when they get here they get a lot of support to get started yet there is still a whole bunch of people already here that get no help whatsoever.
Benny, how about we stop supporting regime changes and facilitating wars abroad, then we just might not have this particular problem?
There are plenty of other countries starting wars and regime change, and lets not forget simple economic and climate chaos adding to people fleeing their nations.
So New Zealand’s contribution to the total number of refugees in the world is about zero.
Absolutely this is the real issue.
We need to become really independent, without hanging on to the coat tails of the Yanks.
Taking all our refugees from Pacifica does not earn Jacinda as many brownie points at the UN . She will be looking for a job after the next election.
In answer to the original question I would imaging there would not be many overstayers from Australia that with finish up being supported by the tax payer
New Zealanders have reciprocal rights to live and work in Australia. Do they have the same rights in most Pacific Island countries? No. There is the obvious answer why there is a difference in treatment by immigration.
In addition Australians are unlikely to overstay here for economic reasons as things are so much better economywise in Australia. Whereas…….
Exactly.
Quite right Anonymous. The answer is reciprocality. We don’t want to lose our rights to Australia. Minto is naive.
” …while European overstayers were overlooked.” Untrue. They were just harder to find. Once found they were treated in exactly the same manner.
Oh, and Cook Islanders do have free residency in New Zealand. Thereby refuting racist smears.
Andrew, got proof that the European overstayers were harder to find??? And Johns post didn’t mention cook islanders if you re-read his article it’s say’s Fijians, Samoans, Tongans as he would of known that they were the main groups of polynesians sort during the 1976 dawn raids also he probably was affiliated with the activist Maori & Pasifika groups (Nga Tamatoa, and the polynesian panthers) as these groups probably participated in the 1981 springbok tour?
Awe maaaate! Rack Off! Seriously, they were overlooked in favour of chasing down others from those “shithole” nations. Just occasionally the ‘officials’ get caught – That fucking Casson being just one of them who is yet to be held to account. 2,3 4 years ago, I watched first hand some of his antics and there were some of his colleagues that let it happen without saying nowt.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind meeting the guy now just to see how deeply he’s gone down the rabbit hole.
On second thoughts, I’ve got better things to do than give time to watching wankers exercise their egos.
But I wouldn’t mind meeting some of the Immigration ‘officials’ I overheard at the Te Puke Police Station and across the road just prior to their getting their ‘raids’. (I didn’t see TV cameras present so I imagine they didn’t reach orgasm knowing they’d not be part of some reality TV Border Force show).
Serious question. Where does Pacific start and end? I feel I should know this but I don’t. Is Is a generally accepted geographic area.h
The same reason my Vietnamese wife doesn’t get treated the same. Because there is a long history of people from those countries over staying.
TV1 seem to be trying so much these days to run the government themselves – four day working weeks, ACC, Pacific immigration, the wage gap and on and on….
because the history of pasifika in modern NZ has been cheap manual labour
Maori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa/NZ. They’re ethnically polynesian. The Fijians, Samoans, Tongans, among the other Pacific Islanders are also ethnically polynesians. What’s the problem besides the differing dialectical vernacular?
that some of them dislike each other more than they do whitey perchance?
Some Pacifica eg Fijians, are Micronesian; they can score management jobs in WINZ without having New Zealand citizenship and the native Fijians can bully the Indian Fijians, both there, and here.
New Zealand does not have any indigenous people Steve….We are all settlers from other lands….The plants , birds and bees and such like are indigenous…not humans…..
Perhaps when the same applies in reverse and we can live and buy and sell land and property there also?
Maybe there is mutual benefit in doing so, maybe not, it’s got nothing to do with racism.
It’s not very clever to pick out one part of an immigration policy if you want to compare like with like and start claiming racism.
We are racist that is why we need stop talking crap about having special relationships with our PI whanau.
Yeah yeah whatever out comes the racist card. These days say Hello and you’re a racist. Try another trick.
The usual lazy racism card being played in the comments here.
Australians are wealthier than us so don’t overstay or take low paid jobs whereas it’s the inverse for Pacific Islanders.
We also have to be careful we don’t strip the labour market of quality within the Pacific Islands and damage their economies.
Yeah we should just strip them of their very talented rugby players for our national team. What a joke.
So..stop people making the best decision they can for their own future, in order to hopefully foster their nation?
It’s because we have a reciprocal arrangement with Australia which all kiwis of all races benefit from.
There are over half a million New Zealanders living and working in Australia.
Losing that reciprocal arrangement would be consequential for New Zealanders.
Could the same be said for Samoa, Tonga, or Fiji?
The diff between us and the idiots is we pay attention to the central truth.
John Minto particularly among the bloggers.
OZ protects it’s citizens by making sure that newbie residents can not draw on free welfare and health care and vote in OZ. NZ needs to do this.
Kiwis want to go to OZ to work at higher paid jobs, the sacrifice is that OZ citizens can do the same here. Pacific Islands don’t have high paid jobs and decent welfare so it is not a fair trade – instead having free access to Pacific Island residents will and does swamp NZ welfare and health care.
NZ kids are growing up in grotty hotels which has been created by ideology of the left and cancellation of what used to work.
NZ lefties have abandoned NZ poor and more interested in making sure more overseas families in poverty can access facilities that NZ kids and adults in poverty don’t seem to be getting.
Every Pasifica who wants to come in should be allowed. Good folk.