Former MP calls for compensation for Samoans stripped of NZ citizenship

A Samoan community leader is calling on people to support his campaign to get reparations for Western Samoans who had their citizenship stripped through a "racist" law passed by Robert Muldoon's National government in 1982.

Former National Party MP Anae Arthur Anae is running a questionnaire on the issue and he joined 531pi's Pacific Mornings to discuss his campaign around Teanau Tuiono's member’s bill which would restore New Zealand citizenship to Samoans who had it stripped from them 42 years ago.

And while Anae commends Tuiono for raising awareness of this historical grievance, he says he “doesn’t support the citizenship issue in any way at all” and instead wants Samoans born between 1924 to 1948 to receive superannuation payments and visa-free travel as a form of redress.

And he’s prepared to pursue the matter beyond New Zealand's Parliament.

“I want them all to receive their full New Zealand pension, paid to them in Samoa or in New Zealand if they’re still here. That’s the only fair thing we can do to these people.

“And I know if I took this case to the International Human Rights [Court], which is my intention if we don’t get some satisfaction here, they will back us.”

While Anae acknowledges Tuiono for initiating efforts to overturn this law, he believes it's unlikely to pass in its current form and he also thinks the repercussions of the bill could severely impact Samoa’s economy.

“My main concern about this is if Samoans were given full citizenship rights into New Zealand, there’ll be nobody left in Samoa.

“Everything will collapse and I don’t want that on my head and neither does the Samoan government or anybody else.”

He adds that the workforce situation in Rarotonga where hospitality staff are imported from Fiji and the Philippines is something to be avoided.

“There’s no way we’re gonna go down that track and I won’t put my hat to that.”

The campaign group Anae is running is called Mau a Samoa i le Sitiseni 2024, and it wants to see Tuiono's bill pass the first reading, so that amendments could then be debated through the select committee process.

The group is currently circulating a questionnaire, seeking opinions for their steering committee to “summarise and analyse” in support of a potential submission.

The three questions being asked are:

• whether someone supports Tuiono's bill or not

• if Parliament doesn’t accept the proposed bill, do they support the submission or not

• and, if they support visa-free travel to NZ for Samoan passport holders

Feedback to Mau a Samoa i le Sitiseni 2024 can be made directly to the PMN Samoa Facebook page or through the emails below:

Tofilau18@gmail.com

tone.peseta@pmn.co.nz

Watch the full interview with Anae Arthur Anae on Pacific Mornings below.