March 11, 2024
Tuiono takes on fight over citizenship grab
The Greens’ Pacific Peoples’ spokesperson Teanau Tuiono is lobbying for his private members bill to restore New Zealand citizenship to about 5000 elderly Samoans.
They’re the survivors of a group whose citizenship stemming from New Zealand’s control of the islands was confirmed in a court case led by legal legend George Barker in 1982 and then immediately taken away by the Muldoon National Government.
Mr Tuiono says the 2021 Dawn Raids apology only addressed some of the injustice faced by Pasifika peoples at the hands of the New Zealand state.
“Other things need to be addressed and my bill will seek to address that so I have been going into bat for our Samoan community, our Samoan relatives as well so if you have any sway with the Government Parties, the National Party, New Zealand First and ACT, give it a plug,” he says.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says National won’t support the Bill.