Better deal may be ahead for Pacific Island population

It is early days yet for New Zealand’s new Labour-Alliance government and it has a lot to do if it is going to cany out all its promises, but if you believe the pre-election propaganda, there is a better deal ahead for the country’s Pacific Island population. At least, there is a Labour policy document promising change that can always be referred to and now three Pacific Island MPs in the party to make sure the new Cabinet does not foiget it One of them, significantly perhaps, is the countiy’s first woman island MP, Winnie Laban, who should be able to find the ear of the first woman elected to the job of Prime Minister, Helen Clark.

The small, but hopefully influential. Pacific Island caucus in the government is completed by two other Samoans, Taito Philip Field and Mark Gosche. And if they forget to keep the government focused on Pacific Island affairs, no doubt the National Party’s sole island representative Arthur Anae will remind them.

Field, who became New Zealand’s first MP of Pacific island descent in 1993, held former Prime Minister David Lange’s old seat of Mangere with the third highest majority in the country at the November election. Gosche is a former union worker who impressed enough people of all races in his first term in Parliament after being elected in 1996 to be talked of as a potential future leader of the party. Winnie Laban, also Samoan, is a 44year-old family therapist conscious of the role women traditionally play in Pacific societies and entering Parliament with a reputation as an independent thinker who will stand up staunchly for her community.

“Pacific island people put us in Parliament and there is an expectation that we will really address their needs,” she said after being elected. She will not only give Pacific Island women a voice in parliament for the first time but, coming from Wainuiomata, near Wellington, she widens the community’s geographical representation, being the first island MP from outside Auckland.

The MPs’ political “bible” is a 17-page document entitled “Pacific Partnership”, explaining Labour’s policy towards the largest minority population in the country (about 173,000 on latest census figures) but the fastest-growing, along with the Asian community. The number of islanders is projected to reach 410,000 by 2026, when they will represent nine per cent of the population.

But - as has been noted many times, including in this column - Pacific peoples are over-represented in the statistics of unemployment, crime, poor health and educational under-achievement. The new Labour-led coalition government has pledged to change this, promising: “Labour’s policies for the years ahead are based on a sense of partnership and respect They are policies that will improve access for Pacific peoples to good progressive education programmes, more jobs, proper health care, and greater security in their twilight years.”

The new Prime Minister herself has said the island communities’

special needs cannot necessarily be met through programmes that apply to other groups and they require separate attention to help them achieve their maximum potential.

The policy is strongly focused on education, with Labour promising a conference to develop a national strategy for improving Pacific youngsters’ poor performance in the classroom.

While sceptics might be suspicious of yet another talkfest, it would offer the opportunity for community representatives to spell out to the government and educationalists their views on what needs to be done.

Figures show less than one-third of island students pass the School Certificate examination and they account for under four per cent of enrolments at tertiary institutions.

“Education is the key to unlocking the potential of current and future generations and ensuring they are represented in high-skilled, high income, occupations that enable them to contribute to the development of New Zealand,” the policy paper says.

In a guarantee that is especially important for the island communities, the policy stresses that the strategy must preserve island languages and cultures. With this in mind, it proposes training scholarships for Pacific Island teachers, noting there are only 350 of them in New Zealand, when on a population basis there should be at least 1300. Labour is promising a thorough review of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, noting it “has not always met the expectations” of the community, and giving it greater responsibility in the area of countering unemployment Health is a major issue, with Pacific Island people subject to an increasing range of illnesses and less likely than other New Zealanders to seek medical help.

Labour claims its overall economic, employment and housing policies will go a long way towards improving the health of Pacific peoples but says it will also encourage the establishment of Pacific Island clinics and ensure appropriate island representation at all levels of the health service.

Of interest to PIM readers outside New Zealand are proposals on immigration and a pledge to maintain funding for Radio New Zealand’s Pacific service. The government will review the criteria for family reunification to remove anomalies that prevent some family members reuniting and look at establishing a new immigration quota for Pacific people similar to the current Samoan quota, which includes good character and health requirements as well as a firm job offer.

It all amounts to an ambitious programme and the Pacific community will be keenly watching to see the new government keeps to its word.

Meanwhile, Marie Gosche made history as the country’s first Pacific Island Cabinet minister, taking responsibility for Transport, Housing and Pacific Island Affairs. Arthur Anae lost his seat in comings and goings related to counting of absentee votes, but looked likely to come back when former Foreign Minister Don McKinnon resigns to take up the Commonweallth secretary-general’s job. ■

David Barber