Samoan chief for islanders

PACIFIC islanders in New Zealand have their first member of parliament.

Amid all the upheavals and uncertain ties, Samoan matai Taito Phillip Field is sitting securely on one of the

country’s largest majorities as the new

MP for Otara.

Field, a 40-year-old union official, won Otara on the second try after

boundary changes brought more

working-class residents and Pacific islanders within the electorate. About 45 per cent of Otara residents are Pacific islanders and that part of south Auckland has been devastated by the

closures of factories and freezing works and the loss of blue-collar jobs.

Field says his election to parliament is a “breakthrough for the Pacific island community”. The Samoan born MP says ne’s proud of the contribution by Pacific islanders to the development of New Zealand. “It’s time their voice was represented in parliament and that’s what I aim to do.”

Field is of Samoan, Cook Island and German descent and came to live in New Zealand as a child. He speaks fluent Samoan. □