Welcome to the Land of the Long White Cloud - The Labour Government announced on Tuesday that a review of New Zealand’s Immigration Policy is to be conducted – this policy has stood largely unchanged for the past 18 years. One motivation for this change came from revelations by NZ 1st leader Winston Peters that an ex-Iraqi Minister and an ex-Iraqi Ambassador entered the country and were applying to remain under refugee status; another may have been the prolonged detention of Algerian Ahmed Zaoui, while another drive for change may be the evolving population of New Zealand. All said, immigration laws, rules, regulations and practices are about to undergo a dramatic change. But will these changes help or harm this country?

It is said that everyone, everywhere is an immigrant of some kind. In our situation, the arrival of Kupe from Hawaiiki over 1000 years ago established the link between the past and the present, giving Maori a new home and establishing a thousand year connection to the isles of Aotearoa-Wai Pounamu-Rakuira-Whare Kauri. Stories abound of original inhabitants, the most prolific being the Patupaiarehe, but there are also living stories of Te Hapu Oneone and the Moriori. The gradual arrival and expansion of Tangata Hawaiiki over the next 1000 years created a lasting bond with the new environment, with some intermarrying (or in some cases, replacing) the Tangata Whenua, helping to establish a new strand of inhabitant.

Then came that fateful day – it was Tuesday 13th December 1642, I recall – when the Dutch sailor Abel Janszoon Tasman first saw the "groot hooch verheven landt" (a large land, uplifted high). He had journeyed South in search of the mythical ‘Terra Australis Incognita’, a land said to be rich in minerals and resources, stretching across the Pacific; Europe had now arrived in the Deep Pacific. This meeting was short, sharp and brutal – a number of Tasman’s men were killed, as were some Tangata Whenua. This exchange came to epitomise the relationship others would face over the next 400 years; and although Tasman did not set foot on the land, he recorded enough to lay claim to discovery for the Dutch. The name Zelandia, or Zeeland, appeared on maps for the first time around 1645. It was with Tasman’s information that Captain James Cook would sail into the Pacific, and into history, some one hundred years later (1).

Cook was both an able sailor and an enthusiastic scientist, viewing the rare astral phenomenon of the Transit of Venus (and the Transit of Mercury). He first sited Zeeland on Saturday 7th October 1769, landing ashore some two days later. Cook (then First Lieutenant) circum-navigated the islands, raising the British flag at Mercury Bay to claim formal possession. His visit, and crucially, his maps, went on to encourage further voyages of discovery and trade (co-incidentally, French adventurer Jean François Marie de Surville arrived at the same time as Cook, leading to the eventual colonial race between France and Britain). With European expansion into Australia (from 1606), New Zealand came to be viewed as a land inhabited, but a land with many opportunities. Sealing, whaling and raw resources were found in abundance, bringing marketers into the fold. This was further accentuated by the likes of the New Zealand Company, who had speculated on land sales and had started to enact a “systematic colonisation programme”. Increasingly, European communities established and formed in New Zealand - sometimes with the help of Tangata Whenua, sometimes against. Both the Declaration of Independence (1835) and the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840) were considered early immigration documents between Maori and the British.

It was during the late 19th Century that the Chinese - the first non-Maori, non-European people to migrate in numbers to New Zealand – arrived in Otago, with invitations sent out to Cantonese goldseekers in 1865. From the outset, the Chinese suffered incredible hardships and discrimination (the Poll Tax of 1881 significant to this anti-Chinese/anti-Asian attitude), but continued to thrive, first in the goldmines, then with market gardens, fruitshops and laundries, and most recently, in civics, education and business (2).

Immigration policy was strongly influenced by racial ideology. The Immigration Restriction Act 1920 made it necessary for immigrants to apply for a permanent residence permit before they arrived in New Zealand. Permission was given at the discretion of the Minister of Customs. People of British birth and parentage were not subject to this requirement, but officials could avoid allowing Indians and other non-white British subjects into New Zealand by referring to the definitions in the Act. These stated that a person who was a naturalised British subject (or whose parents fell into this category) or who was an 'aboriginal Native or the descendant of an aboriginal Native' of any other British dominion, colony or protectorate, was not of British birth and parentage. Thus, without specifically targeting non-whites, the Act could be used to keep them out. This remained the case throughout the period 1940–1960 (3).

World War 1 and 2 brought new faces to New Zealand, many seeking a fresh start, others escaping persecution at home. New Zealand had moved, somewhat uncomfortably, from a Bi-Cultural Society, into a Multi-Cultural Nation. Pacific Island peoples, who had a long tradition of interaction with pre-New Zealand, had been invited to work in New Zealand, but were another population identified and discriminated against; the notorious ‘Dawn Raids’ on Pacific Island overstayers poignantly reaffirmed the racialist and often, racist policy of the New Zealand Government. Meanwhile, more European migrants arrived, and increasingly, residents from throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. Interestingly, a large number of White South Africans ‘silently’ settled into New Zealand life.

Today, we are confronted with the fact that the World is borderless, where people are now capable of entering a country without actually entering the country (much like Tasman). Business is one such example – for instance, Telecom is 75% owned by foreigners (US investors hold 28 per cent, Australians 22 per cent, Britons 17 per cent, Asians 7 per cent and Europeans 3 per cent).

All throughout, we have been forced to watch politicians use immigrants and immigration as a voter-tool without due regard to the rich tapestry that has been weaved over a thousand years. Personally, had immigration been (more) restrictive, my Niuean grandfather would not have married my Ngati Pikiao grandmother, and I would not be here; and equally, my Puerto Rican-Dutch-American wife and I would not have had our beautiful son. So you could say I am an active advocate of immigration, and why not. With the recent poor treatment afforded international students, the abysmal treatment of refugees, the increasingly restrictive attitude of bureaucrats toward new migrants and US-style scare-mongering (terrorists are EVERYWHERE!), can our Government be trusted to best reflect immigration interests in this country? I for one am not so sure. Since there has been scant regard for this country’s original immigration documents (the Declaration of Independence and Te Tiriti), can we expect positive immigration policies, or more of the same racially-biased, politically-motivated, “stop them at the gates” type attitudes? Time will tell. What ever may come, we cannot sit back and let the Government deal with this without proper community consultation – let’s meet our neighbours and talk to the many people who we share this great country with, for this issue needs a greater level of community conversations. And let us design a future based on respect, understanding and appreciation, for this can only but affirm our place as Tangata Whenua, and at the same time, can be a step toward encouraging the World’s communities to respect us. Like my Koro used to say “You respect them, they’ll respect you”, and I can’t help but agree.

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Thanks to all who forwarded on our panui, we had a great response! The winner of the Nuku the Rangatira window sticker is tihewa. We will be in touch with you soon to get your address. Kia ora!