August 02, 2022
Parties celebrate Samoa independence
A large diplomatic mission led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Apia today for the 60th anniversary of the Samoa and New Zealand Treaty of Friendship.
It includes members from all political parties, iwi representatives, leaders of Samoan communities in New Zealand, and other government officials.
Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer says alongside the formal ceremonies, there is a lot of whanaungatanga.
“We’re also going to be back on whenua where we get to respect and value the richness of our indigenous traditions and challenges, to be there enjoying the culture of our whanaunga who have got independence, what it has meant for them and how we assert or own mana motuhake is going to be great as well but to be honest it’s the whakawhanaungatanga that goes on around the formalities that I am really looking forward to as well,” she says.
Today there will be meetings between parliamentarians on issues of mutual concern such as climate change and the recovery from the pandemic.
New Zealand captured what was then known as German Samoa in August 1914 and from 1920 to 1962 governed it under a League of Nations mandate.