Should NZ citizenship be reinstated for Samoans who had it stripped in 1982?

“They’re (New Zealand) not the boss, the Privy Council is the boss!”

These are the fiery words of Māngere local Tofilau when asked about his thoughts on the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982.

And he's talking about the law the New Zealand government rushed through in an attempt to stump the growing population of Samoans migrating to Aotearoa, and so revoked NZ citizenship for Western Samoans born between 1924-1949, during NZ’s administration of the country.

PMN asked people at Māngere Town Centre for their opinions and the responses were overwhelmingly, and unsurprisingly, in favour of axing the law.

Tofilau, who is a nephew to Samoa’s fifth Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana, says the Privy Council’s decision to grant New Zealand citizenship to all Samoans should have been left at that.

“The New Zealand government at that time saw us as a problem. But the Privy Council made that decision and you don’t touch that.

“Because New Zealand is not independent like Samoa, they tried to fool us. Not now.”

Despite the Privy Council’s ruling to grant citizenship to all Samoans, this law remains in place and still affects some 5000 elderly Samoans.

And a bill looking to reinstate their citizenship entitlement is only weeks away from its first reading in Parliament with Greens MP Teanau Tuiono proposing his Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill.

One man says the repeal is a “good thing” in helping some families who may living with trauma that has been carried over from the Dawn Raids of the 1970s.

He says questions are rising around whether limitations will be imposed on the automatic residency.

“It’ll be interesting to see how this wave rides if they’re gonna do that.

“There’s been a lot of talk within the communities and at the border about the influx of too many people coming into New Zealand and that they should cap how many people get automatic citizenship.”

A young woman (who did not wished to be named) working in the Two Seven Five retail store says those elderly Samoans who are still here deserve to be compensated and respected.

“Yes I think they should [get compensated]. I just think they came here for a better life so they should be treated well while they’re here.”

After talking with our PMN team, one woman had just found out the Citizenship Act was still in the books, and she spoke about her own mother's journey to citizenship after migrating here in the 1970’s.

“I didn’t realise that that was the case. I mean I knew it was back then but for my own mother … [she] didn’t have automatic citizenship, it took her years and I think she only started it a couple of years ago.”

Wheelchair boxer John Fiu believes restoring citizenship is a gateway to visa-free travel around the South Pacific, especially with many Pacific children being of mixed ethnicities.

“It should be automatic for any Samoan or any kind of Pacific Island culture.

“I feel for Pacific Islanders that come through the [NZ] border and get stopped because of their Pacific identity. It should be a welcome to all.”

When Greens MP Teanau Tuiono spoke on Pacific Mornings, he urged Pacific people to voice their opinions to the coalition government and their local MPs to encourage his bill to pass through to the Select Committee.

Listen to the full interview with Teanau Tuiono below.