Pacific Islands Forum – Issues NZ must confront

ByMartyn Bradbury

The Pacific Islands Forum is on and there are some issues that NZ must confront even if our Pacific Island whanau won’t.

Chinese influence: China has its tentacles throughout the Pacific with corruption and huge debts quickly following. To combat this, NZ needs to use Rugby Diplomacy with an All Blacks representative team touring the Pacific Islands annually and NZ should also support the Pacific Media Centre to expand the value and rights of Journalism throughout the region so that corrupt Governments can be held to account.

Meth: Wherever China’s influence expands, Triade organised crime follows. The meth crisis that is currently sweeping the Pacific Islands requires dedicated Police resourcing and treatment facilities.

Climate refugees: While our Pacific Island whanau refuse to consider the realities of being swallowed up by rising oceans, the enormity and unstoppable nature of the climate crisis requires NZ to start thinking about where this all goes. Do we offer open immigration to those Pacific Islands that we have close ties with (including the Realm of NZ), do we allow permanent displaced Pacific Government’s to have a level of representative autonomy on NZ land and help manage their economic zones and provide revenue for that? Do they retain their exclusive economic zone if there is no land as a starting point for that definition?

Australia: Their continued use of external sites to detain refugees so that they don’t breach International Refugee Conventions is sickening and quite frankly bordering on evil. Their rendition of NZ citizens and anyone else who fails their ‘character’ tests to Christmas Island is cruel and inhumane and their lack of real progress on climate change threatens everyone else in the Pacific. In short, Australia is awful.

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25 Comments

  1. As some one who has immigrated I have some aroha for all those dreamers who want better opportunities in life that they have to uproot and adopt another nation with different rules and cultures. No matter how well meaning we are there will be friction.

    John Keys immigration strategy that targets low skilled migrants. One more short-sighted, needlessly cruel, and frankly stupid move is the foreign student visa scam distorts immirgration.

    Betrayed by there supposed political and business leaders the people of the pacific are searching for stability and security and the opportunity to be useful. These people are just as kiwi as any of us. These people should not have to fear us or our government and neither are we justified in fearing them.

  2. Resurrect the Empire of Hawaiki? Should rebrand as a Federation though. “The Great Foundational Documents of The People of Hawaiki” yes that sounds like a starter. Deploy the Waka catamarans!

  3. JACINDA has NO answers, just nice words, and leave Sco Mo hang out to dry, as Australia is as unpopular as ever.

    Where is NZ ‘leading’, I ask???

    1. Its Arderns typical nonsense rhetoric. Weve elected an out of their depth kiwi Kardashian. She’s not bold or transformational, we are about to run head on into a recession that we are not prepared for. And neoliberalism, inequality, homelessness, racism and extreme poverty are all out of control. Labour is not the answer anymore, sadly I cant see who is.

      1. mickey we dont have many or any good leaders and neither does the rest of the world which is why the world is in such a fucken mess and having money does not make one a good leader yet these are the people who we expect to lead and they have lead us in to a big f n mess

  4. So what is your answer, if any? China laughs about silly Kiwis, wait and see how they will ‘resolve’ the HK issues, NZ has nothing to say, simply has to slave and provide dairy, meat and fruit the Chinese want, shut up for the rest, or else.

      1. Did not have the guts to do Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’, so deal with the people of the land and FRONT UP, thanks.

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  10. We have a sanctimonious PM about
    climate change and so forth, full of words, she does not adress Maori land issues, like at Ihumatao, she is a coward or incompetent, or both. You cannot go to the Pacific and talk and ignroe your own ‘native affairs’.

  13. i think your made your point i feel the same about our last pm as we had to put up with that shallow lying cant recall jhonkey or 9 yrs and his bull kaka

  14. I think your made your point i feel the same about our last pm as we had to put up with that shallow lying cant recall jhonkey or 9 yrs and his bull kaka

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