Public urged to make submission for citizenship bill which closes this Friday

This Friday is the last day for public submissions on a bill that could restore the entitlement to New Zealand citizenship that was stripped from some Sāmoans in 1982.

The Restoring Citizenship Removed by Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 passed its first reading last month, supported by all parties except National. The bill aims to restore entitlements to a group of Samoans who were born between 1924 and 1949.

The campaign's steering committee Anae Arthur Anae and Seiuli Tone Peseta spoke with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, from Apia, about how their efforts in raising awareness of the bill are being received in Sāmoa.

Anae says their purpose in Sāmoa is ultimately to get more people "fired up" to understand the importance of making a submission.

"With the select committee we've spent the last week or so pushing this hard," Anae says.

"To give it some emphasis that when they go to the select committee they need to see that the Sāmoan people themselves and their supporters from wherever in the world are supporting this."

Seiuli, who has spoken with various major church groups, held a press conference last week where he felt local media and their encouragement in getting church community involvement was positive.

"It was a momentous occasion for us. It's the first time we've had a press conference since we started with this company," Seiuli says.

"The media's quite positive here and there were really good questions that they asked especially concerning the groups included in this campaign.

"The church that we visited [last week] was a very good opportunity because there are over 800 delegates.

"Which is good for the people to know and understand this campaign."

Anae urges all NZ parties to support the bill, especially in light of the long history of Sāmoan communities' contributions to Aotearoa.

He says the support within the coalition government for the bill, by NZ First and ACT, is a strong message to the National Party saying "wake up and smell the roses".

"Here is your opportunity to bury your attitude. The Sāmoan people have made huge contributions to New Zealand in every facet of life.

"We have put New Zealand at the centre stage of sports, opera singing, you name it.

"Can you keep on denying this? I don't think so."

Seiuli says over 700,000 Sāmoans live across the world where 200,000 of which reside in NZ. He encourages, based on the numbers alone, Sāmoans to have their say on the bill.

"We need at least a hundred thousand boats or even two hundred thousand submissions."

Click here to make a public submission for the bill which closes this Friday, 31 May at 11:59 PM.

Watch the full interview via 531pi's Facebook page below: