PARLIAMENT | PARTY | GRASSROOTS

Red Alert

Posts Tagged ‘Pacific’

Some Pacific Seasonal workers in appalling conditions

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on February 1st, 2011

I just had a Samoan man in my office going over the nightmare of an experience that his brother endured while here on the seasonal work scheme.  His brother was housed in a 2 bedroom flat with 11 other Samoan workers.  Five slept in the lounge and two slept in the kitchen while the other five slept in the two bedrooms.  There was no ceiling in the house – apparently more like a shed than a house and the washing machine and shower were both coin operated.  The house had no TV and no oven in the kitchen – only a two burner gas stove outside for cooking.  All of them were paying $100 a week for rent.  What 2 bedroom flat  in this state on the East Coast could possibly bed worth $1200 a week in rent?

The man fell sick and asked his employer if he could assist him in getting to a doctor.  The employer said yes but 3 days later had still not gotten him any medical attention and the mans health had deteriorated.   The NZ based brother who lives in Waitakere had to ring the employer himself to get them to seek  medical attention for his brother.

The Auckland based brother was so concerned that he ended up travelling to the East Coast to check on his brother and his working conditions.  On arrival he immediately saw that they workers had no safety boots, masks or sunscreen.   He made the decision, despite the employers protests, that he would take his brother back to Auckland and send him back to Samoa. 

What kind of country are we if this is how we treat our workers?  After reporting it to the Department of Labour, the NZ brother has been assured that the case is being investigated.  Meanwhile a lot of the workers putting up with those conditions don’t want to complain because their families are relying on them earning money and sending it back home. 

I will be following this up.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: Pacific issues, workers rights
53 Comments

Flights of fancy

Posted by Phil Twyford on November 12th, 2010

Michael Field reports the Samoan PM Tuilaepa Sailele saying Air New Zealand’s decision to end its Los Angeles-Apia service is stupid. The flight brings much-needed American tourists to Samoa and Tonga but Air New Zealand says the run is not economic. New Zealand has been subsidising the route with aid funds for the last few years. Tonga has said it no longer wants its aid money from New Zealand to subsidise the flight so the deal is off.

It raises some interesting questions about our development aid. The last Labour Government initiated the subsidy as a stop-gap measure to protect the tourism industries in Samoa and Tonga, with the intention of carrying out cost-benefit and economic impact analysis. But the National Government has rolled the subsidy over for another two years, spending several million dollars and I’d be very interested to know whether they have done the cost-benefit sums.

Development blogger Terence Wood has this to say in an interesting post on Murray McCully’s changes to the aid programme:

… the Minister has selected some rather questionable new aid projects for funding. A good example being the decision to subsidise Air New Zealand flights from Samoa and Cook Islands to Los Angeles (discussed here). The subsidy might have development benefits – linking relatively isolated island states to markets – or it might not. And, even if it does have development benefits the money devoted to it might be more effective elsewhere. The decision to subsidise was of the type that requires careful analysis before being acted on. And yet there’s no evidence that such analysis fed into the Minister’s decision. More worryingly still, the subsidy was awarded directly to Air New Zealand instead of through the best-practice approach: to put the services out to tender and see which of the various airlines servicing the region could deliver best value for money. Which makes the whole affair seem remarkably like corporate welfare.

Murry McCully is very keen on spending aid dollars to promote economic development but I am yet to see much rigour when it comes to careful economic or social impact analysis. Without it, you are left with trickle down economics. Which is not fair on the taxpayer or the people our development aid is supposed to be helping.

Tags: , , , , ,
Filed under: Pacific issues, overseas aid
2 Comments

John Banks and Auckland City Council offends Tangata whenua

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on March 11th, 2010

I just came from the Civic Opening for the Pasifika Festival.  Prior to the concert beginning, there were formalities in the VIP tent.  Unfortunately the turn out was poor – probably because the Auckland City Council only made the decision to run this at the end of last week.  Our Pasifika leaders were there along with members of the City Council and of course that soon to be GONE (thank goodness) Auckland City Mayor was in attendance.

Pasifika people are very good with the protocol and demonstrate the respect that should be afforded to our Tangata Whenua – Maori.  Unfortunately it was the Auckland City Council staff and the Mayor that undertook the formal proceedings that unfolded in the VIP tent.  None of those that spoke acknowledged Ngati Whatua or the Chairperson of the Ngati Whatua o Orakei Trust Board (who was there) – Grant Hawke.  The only person that John Banks acknowledged was the one National MP in the room – Nikki Kaye (over and over again…to the discomfort of our Pacific community present).  The only other thing that I recall John Banks rambling on about was the Mayoral race (as if anyone in that tent will be voting for him!).  John Banks couldn’t even bring himself to say a simple ‘Talofa Lava’…I guess any language other than those stemming from European countries would be too much to ask of him.

They then closed those formal proceedings and then attempted to return to mix and mingling with their glasses of merlot.  The music had started up but unexpectedly Grant Hawke took to the podium.  He was as respectful as always but obviously disturbed by what had just unfolded.  He pointed out very clearly the special relationship between Maori and Pacific and the support that Ngati Whatua have always demonstrated for Pacific and the Pasifika festival.  He also pointed out very emotively the disappointment he felt from Tangata Whenua having been completely overlooked and ignored during these proceedings – and rightly so.  As an onlooker I was almost reduced to tears out of embarrassment for what had unfolded.  Following the speech from Grant Hawke – one of our Pacific leaders took to the podium and provided a formal apology for the complete disregard for Ngati Whatua that was demonstrated by the council – it was a genuine gesture and I’m sure it was accepted by Grant Hawke, but everyone in that room was still left feeling incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
65 Comments

Lets build Pacific Rugby

Posted by Trevor Mallard on December 13th, 2009

Wainuiomata, League and Sky identity Ken Laban has being pushing for some time to relax eligibilty rules to allow NZ rugby players to be released to play for Pacific Is countries especially for RWC. Last weekend he posted on facebook:-

Ken Laban IRB should relax eligibility rules in World Cup years only to ensure that all the best players are at the tournament. Jonah Lomu, Doug Howlett, Anthony Tuitavake, George Smith and Mark Gerrard playing for Tonga? Joe Rockocko, Lote Raikabula and Tomasi Cam for Fiji? Jerry Collins, Rodney So’oialo, John Schwalger and Son…

Gregor Paul picked the issue up in todays HoS.

I can’t see the downside. Most rugby players who have lived in NZ would prefer to be All Blacks but for some this is no longer realistic. Getting these players into Pacific teams would provide both talent and experience.

Some of the six nations countries might be a bit threatened because their chances of making the quarter finals would be reduced.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: sport
11 Comments

More irrational cuts to education – What was Tolley thinking… or was she thinking?

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on November 10th, 2009

The Manukau Family Literacy Programme (known to many as the COMET Programme) have been pursuing an answer regarding funding for quite some time and have recently found out – they won’t be getting the $350,000 that they need to operate next year.

The ridiculous thing is that this programme has been praised by all sides of parliament i.e. Tolley praised it at its September AGM and Rodney Hide said it ‘rocked his socks’ – in a speech he gave earlier this year.

The programme basically focuses on parents of usually new entrant children. It approaches literacy through the provision of a certificate in early childhood education (so the parents are engaged with the school their kids are at and improving literacy whilst learning techniques for teaching etc, and some go on to train as early childhood teachers).

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report shows that adults engaged in this programme are likely to increase their income by about about $200 a week. The majority of people who participate on this programme are Maori and Pacific. The benefits to society (as outlined by the PricewaterhouseCoopers report) far out weigh the amount of money spent on the programme.

I’ve heard that part of Tolley’s rationale was that they are investing in another literacy programme in South Auckland which Sharples launched (the Manurewa litearcy project) and although investing in childrens literacy programnmes is important – it ignores the fact that a big strategy for engaging the children in learning – is engaging their parents/ family.

This is one of the programmes that has fallen between the gaps with regards to changes in funding categories (it falls between Social Development and Tertiary Education). I’m looking in to how far Paula Bennetts advocacy for the programme extended – but from what I can tell, there was absolutely no advocacy from her whatsoever.

The other important point with regards to this programme and ACE cuts – is that Maori and PI are more likely to engage/ enrol in education/ courses as mature students and therefore – these decisions have a disproportionate affect on Maori and Pacific.

How incredibly frustrating. Having been a child of parents who had limited educations and low level literacy skills, I know the challenges that this creates for children (infact I wrote about about this in a Spasifik Magazine article recently). This is another example of Tolley not understanding her portfolio area – resulting in very very bad decisions that will have huge repercussions down the track.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: education
12 Comments

Just a thought on the range of language options provided at NZ ATM machines

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on November 5th, 2009

So you go to an ATM machine to take out money and you are provided with a range of options with regards to languages – great….but why is it limited to Mandarin and Japenese (that’s all I’ve noticed – but let me know  if there are more).

The 2006 census shows that following English Maori is the next most commonly spoken language in New Zealand, folllowed by Samoan.  Infact – in Auckland, Samoan is the 2nd most commonly spoken language (with English of course being the number 1 language).

Wouldn’t it be great if a bank actually valued the business from their Maori and Samoan customers enough to provide these two language options at their ATM machines?  Is there research to show that Maori and Samoans use ATM machines less than any other ethnic group?  Or is due to the fact that perhaps Maori and Pacific don’t have the same sums of money sitting in their coffers?  This is just one of those little day to day things that gets me wondering…

Tags: , , , , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
20 Comments

The response to the tsunami has been heartening

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on October 15th, 2009

One thing that this recent tsunami has reminded me of, is how far Pacific communities in New Zealand have come and the collective strength of the community.  We’ve had (and continue to have) fundraisers coming out our ears and the talent from the Pacific community along with the generosity of spirit and love for our homelands, has been awesome.  We’ve seen:

1.  Pacific Artists – organising trademe fundraising auctions as well as a major Artists for Tsunami relief auction to be held next week.

2.  Pacific Actors – putting on special fundraising screenings of Siones Wedding, to raise money for Samoa

3.  Pacific Musicians – holding fundraising concerts for the cause

4.  Pacific Poets/ Writers – holding a fundraiser called ‘Poets for Tsunami Relief: Love, Loss and the Sea’

5.  Pacific Academics providing support i.e. Dr Monique Faleafa’s Information Sheet entitled, Coping after a Tsunami – specifically put together and distributed to support our people during this time.

6.  Pacific sports starts getting behind the cause by working alongside Pacific Community and Church Leaders to organise the memorial held on Sunday.

To add to all of the above there are also all of the Pacific people who have very little but still manage to find some thing or some way in which to contribute…AND - on top of that there are the non-Pacific New Zealanders, who have so generously supported in some way or another. 

The response to the tsunami has been heartening.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
1 Comment

Civil Defence – What’s going on?

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on October 8th, 2009

When you’re miles away from home like I am at the moment, you want to know that your family and friends are safe.  I woke up at 3.20am (the time in Tanzania) to a text from a friend highlighting the fact that their had been 2 earthquakes that had hit close to Vanuatu and that a Tsunami warning had been put out to Fiji, NZ, Samoa, Tonga, American Samoa and the Wallis Islands.  Not long after Pacific tsunami Warning Centre drops their warning (as reported by BBC), we realise that NZ still has the warning out. 

The texts and emails I have received from friends about the threat, are mixed, with some still thinking theres a risk and others thinking that there is no longer a threat.  Obviously there needs to be some coordination between Civil Defence and our media, so that the media are aware of who they listen to when something like this arises and what messages they put out.  There also has to be some level of synergy between the Pacific tsunami warning centre and NZ Civil Defence.  As a Pacific New Zealander, I want to know that the information I am getting in NZ is the same as what my family in Tonga and Samoa are getting – I want to know, that no one on any of the islands in the Pacific is going to die due to incorrect information!  That would be inexusable in this day in age, with all of the technology that we have.

I’ve sat back over the issues that have arisen with Civil Defence in relation to the devasting tsunami that has just turned the lives of our Samoan and Tongan brothers and sisters upside down, out of respect for the more important issue at hand – the grieving of our loved ones in the Pacific.  However, now I wish to make my concerns heard:

1.  On 1st October John Carter called for a review of Civil Defence as he felt that the response to the tsunami wasn’t adequate, stating that he was concerned that Wellington Airport didn’t get information in time (this was the day after he congratulated them for a job well done). Well John – why were you not as concerned when earlier this year, a major issue of staffing arose with Wellington CDEM?  Be concerned in advance of a natural disaster – not just after it has occured.

2.  Money was cut from civil defence in this years budget (although a small amount).  Given that CDEM run on the most minimal of budgets already – I found it difficult to understand why it would be necessary to cut anything from their budget. 

Civil Defence and Emergency Management requires ongoing attention – people may not see it as a priority during their everyday lives, but when a disaster happens, you can be guaranteed that this will esculate to the top of their priority list. 

Hopefully the Government does undertake a review and gets it right now and as Audrey Young has said – hopefully it is an independent review that is more than just a PR puff piece.  We can not afford to get CDEM wrong – too much is at stake.

Tags: , , , , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
3 Comments

Twitter updates from Samoa

Posted by Chris Carter on October 1st, 2009

Phone communications are still very patchy here in Samoa.

Here are my Twitter updates from this afternoon:

CHRIS: We’ve visited most of the devastated sites on Upolu.

CHRIS: Winnie and I have been to NZ High Commission and offered any help we can provide.

CHRIS: Meeting with Samoan Prime Minister again tomorrow.

CHRIS: Winnie and l just visited the 11 injured Kiwis in Apia Hospital. All had horrific stories of survival to tell.

http://www.twitter.com/labourpacific

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: Foreign Affairs
15 Comments

Shocked by the devastation in Samoa

Posted by Chris Carter on October 1st, 2009

Pacific Island Affairs Spokesperson Luamanuvao Winnie Laban and I are really shocked and distressed by the devastation we’re seeing in Samoa in the aftermath of yesterday’s earthquake and tsunami.

This morning at dawn we attended the funeral of prominent Samoan businesswoman, and much-loved member of Winnie’s family, Tui Annandale. Mrs Annandale attended school and university in New Zealand and owned a resort that was popular with New Zealand tourists.

Right now locals are showing us the devastated south coast of Upolu and Winnie will be meeting more family members. We’re also going to muck in and help with the clean-up, as well as do our best to liaise between families in New Zealand and Samoa.

Samoa’s Prime Minister has requested an urgent meeting to brief us on the situation at 3.30pm today. We’ve already had an informal discussion and been told that shelter and food are important priorities. We’ll be looking to report back to the NZ Government after our meeting.

Telecommunications services into and out of Samoa however remain patchy. To help keep the New Zealand Pacific community in touch with what’s happening here in Samoa we’ll be sending regular Twitter updates throughout the day to http://twitter.com/labourpacific.

We’ll also try to get updates out here on Red Alert.

Winnie is urging New Zealanders to donate generously to organisations collecting to help fund the relief effort. Everyone in Samoa is involved in the huge task of cleaning up in the wake of this disaster, but additional resources are sorely needed. You can go to the Red Cross appeal website or visit ANZ or Westpac bank branches to make a donation.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: Foreign Affairs
6 Comments

Another devastating blow to our Pacific region

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on September 30th, 2009

My immediate reaction when I heard news of the Tsunami was one of complete horror. Only 3 months ago we shared in the sadness of the loss of lives brought about by the sinking of Ashika and now we are looking at a possible loss of 100 plus lives across Pago Pago, Samoa and Tonga.

After hearing the news I rang my family in Samoa and my Tongan family in NZ. Both families are fine but in Samoa they were preparing to move to higher ground after a warning that another Tsunami would soon hit (that warning has since been dispelled). My Samoan family informed me that although they were all safe, my cousin’s mums family, had lost four family members. There are numerous other friends that immediately sprang to mind given the location of their families. We share in the grief with our families and friends who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.

Just like with Ashika, I am fortunate that my families in both Samoa and Tonga, have not been affected by the Tsunami, but I know my colleagues Sua William Sio and Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, are from villages that are situated closer to the water and in areas directly hit – last I heard, they were still waiting to hear that all is well with their aiga – my prayers are also with them.

It is at times like this that we are reminded of the vulnerability of our Pacific Countries – they are paradise to many, but highly susceptible to the unpredictability of mother-nature. Our Pacific communities both in NZ in the Pacific, have now been dealt a second devastating blow for the year and will require all of the support that NZ can muster. It is not just the heartfelt expressions of support that will be required – this is going to hit the pockets of our Pacific community hard. This year remittances to our Pacific countries have dropped off due to the recession and the subsequent high underemployment rates for Pacific people in NZ. Funerals and rebuilding houses and villages will not come cheap and the pressure that will be placed on our Pacific communities here in NZ will be immense.

I am sure that our NZ Govt will take the necessary steps to provide a high level of support – we have a legacy of doing this and I’m sure that legacy will continue. This is one of those issues that truly is bipartisan – we will of course support the Government in supporting our Pacific countries during this time.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
6 Comments

MMP – What’s at stake?

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on September 9th, 2009

Watching the increasing dialogue with respect to our MMP system, is concerning.  One of the biggest problems at the moment is that most of the non-politically active people I know don’t really understand our political system or the rationale for MMP.  

To this day, I still have people asking me ‘what is a list MP’.  To put it in to context for our Pacific peoples, I explain that the majority of the Pacific MPs that have gotten in to Parliament, were initially list MPs (Vui Mark Gosche, Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, Anae Arthur Anae, Charles Chauvel, Su’a William Sio and myself) and that the MMP system was set up so that minority groups and women, could get better representation.  It is a much fairer system, than first past the post.

Our NZ Parliament has come a long way with regards to fairly reflecting and representing our communities.  Currently we have 1 Indo Fijian MP, 1 Sik Indian MP, 1 Korean MP,  2 Chinese MPs, 1 Pakistan MP, 17 Maori MPs, 3 Samoan MPs, 1 Tahitian MP, 1 Tongan/ Samoan MP.   28 MPs who identify with something other than just Pakeha.

We have 40 female MPs (22 of whom are list MPs).  We also have a number of MPs who are openly gay.

Isn’t it great that we have a broad spectrum of people who represent the views of All New Zealanders – Why would we want to jeopardise this?

Tags: ,
Filed under: Uncategorized, democracy, parliament
54 Comments

Hells Pizza… bad taste (forgive the pun)

Posted by Carmel Sepuloni on August 24th, 2009

Here we go again… Of course the latest marketing ploy from Hells Pizza is going to gain a negative reaction from Pacific people, but perhaps that’s all they want. It seems that they go out on a limb to run deliberately offensive campaigns with the hope that someone will publicly criticise them i.e. free advertising.

This is what the billboard reads: “at least our Brownies won’t eat your pet dog”.

Insulting Pacific peoples is probably the least of their concerns as I would anticipate that this isn’t really their target clientel. Obviously they are more than willing to embarrass and offend a few Tongans with the desired effect being, that they appeal to those who:

  1. View it as completely acceptable to refer to Pacific Peoples as ‘Brownies’ and
  2. Have preconceived (be them misguided) views of Pacific peoples and thrive on any possible occurance that (in their minds) reinforce those views.

I can see it now – it starts with wide spread fear amongst the upper middle class… here comes the PI, hold on to your dog – with the subsequent scenario being – Poor Murtle’s dog goes missing so she informs the police of her concern that there was bbq smoke wafting over the fence from the Pacific Islanders house. Murtle is adament that those PIs must have been cooking Feefee – her poodle.

Hells Pizza – don’t have a joke at our expense. The demographic is shifting and as our numbers increase, you’re going to become increasingly reliant on our wallets to keep your business afloat.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: Uncategorized
No Comments