Can bill to restore NZ citizenship for Samoans get past first reading?

There's hope a member's bill to repeal a law that was established remove citizenship from Samoans will at least get past its first reading.

The Restoring Citizenship Removed by Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 bill, which is due to be read in Parliament in the coming month, would reinstate New Zealand citizenship to those born in Western Samoa between 1924-1949, during New Zealand's administration of the country.

“It’s discrimination,” says legal expert Graeme Edgeler. “It only applies to Samoans, it doesn’t apply to Tongans or anyone else … and so if we’re going to fix the wrongs of the past, they’re the only people who suffered because of the 1982 law.”

After New Zealand established its own citizenship in 1948, the Privy Council ruled that those born in Western Samoa before then should be deemed New Zealand citizens. But in 1982 Robert Muldoon’s government decided it didn't want a large number people from Western Samoa arriving in New Zealand, so it overturned the Privy Council’s ruling, setting up the 1982 Act.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has already indicated the National party won't be supporting the bill, despite encouragement from the Pacific Blues chair to do so.

Speaking to Levi Matautia-Morgan on Pacific Mornings, Edgeler says supporting it past the first reading could be a good political move.

“Sending it to a select committee doesn’t mean we have to pass it, it means we’re going to listen to people to see if this is a good idea.”

To pass the first reading, there needs to be approval from at least half the MPs in Parliament. The select committee process takes six months, but this could be pushed back depending on any backlog on older bills which are further advanced, and Edgeler warns it might not get past the first hurdle.

“The bill could be over in about a month. When they finally get to the first reading, it might just be voted down.”

Modern day impact

Forty years later, the restoring citizenship bill could only apply to those aged 75-plus who were born in Samoa, and is estimated to apply to less than 5,000 people, unless Parliament also decides to extend citizenship to their descendants.

PMN Samoa producer Savea Seiuli Tone Peseta says the fears about a mass migration to New Zealand today are unfounded.

“If you’re given citizenship to New Zealand, that doesn't mean you’re going to come here and have a free house or free land, you have your own free land back in Samoa, so you’d only be coming over for easy travel, doctor visits and easy access to health.”

However, Savea says restoring citizenship will make an immediate difference for travel between Samoa and New Zealand.

“Before, it used to be 21 days to wait for our visa to come to New Zealand, and the question is, why do we have to apply for a visa if we were given this right as citizenship and it was revoked?”

There are questions about what restoring citizenship might mean for the descendants or spouses of those impacted, and may spark changes to the current Treaty of Friendship with Samoa.

Other questions include whether those impacted would be entitled to New Zealand Superannuation, but Edgeler says there are residency requirements.

“If someone has lived in Samoa for their entire life, then it is unlikely that they would automatically qualify for superannuation even if they become a citizen, because they just will not have been in New Zealand for long enough, but if someone was, say, living here under some sort of work visa or something, then potentially that could be helpful.”

Listen to the full interview on Pacific mornings: