Twyford PhilREGULATORY SYSTEMS (EDUCATION) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingDebate resumed from 30 July.Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū): Thank you Mr Speaker. We are discussing the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill and I wanted to use my brief contribution this afternoon to comment on the part of the bill that makes some changes to the provisions that govern the Pacific Education Foundation and this bill amends their Act which was passed originally in 1972.The board of the Pacific Education Foundation administers various kinds of support and scholarships and grants for Pacific peoples including the Tulī Takes Flight scholarships as part of the Government's goodwill package—in fact the former Labour Government's goodwill package that was set up in response to the Dawn Raids. The reason I want to comment on this is that it sparked my interest because one of the provisions here changes the definition of a Pacific person" and replaces it with a new definition for an "Aotearoa Pacific person". And the intention here is to ensure that the definition of people who are selected for the board of the Pacific Education Foundation reflect the new diverse reality of New Zealand and our cities. And it refers to a person with quote "indigenous Pacific cultural heritage" and it expands the list of Pacific places—a longer list than was in the previous definition—and it means that more Aotearoa Pacific learners and their families will be eligible for support from the foundation.The thing I wanted to say about this is that there is a very live debate going on in Auckland right now in amongst the Fiji Indian community which is a significant large and quite fast-growing community—particularly in West Auckland where I'm based. And the Fiji Indians are all the sons and daughters of the Girmits. That is the people who were indentured labourers in the 1800s. In fact 145 years ago the first ship arrived delivering the first group of what turned out to be more than 60000 people who the British colonial authorities shipped from India to cut sugar cane in Fiji. And it was indentured labour. They weren't there particularly by choice. They were there actually in conditions that were far more akin to slavery than the kind of employment practices that we would associate with modern times. The Fiji Indian community believes—many of those people—that they are Pacific people. They have lived generation after generation in the Pacific in Fiji. They shaped and developed the country that Fiji is today and many of them and their offspring have subsequently made new lives in New Zealand and are making a fantastic contribution to this country. And they now mark Girmit Day every 14 May and they have reclaimed and celebrate that identity as Girmityas the people of the Girmit. "Girmit" is a transliteration from that time in the 1800s of the English word "agreement".And so they feel strongly that they should be recognised as a people with a distinctive historical experience and cultural identity that places them in the Pacific. And yet they are not. They are not recognised that way by numerous different Government agencies. And in raising this I'm not having a crack at the Pacific Education Foundation; Labour's supporting this bill which tidies up various regulations but I do think it's important that as a country and as lawmakers we can listen to and consider the arguments being put forward by the Fiji Indian community that they should be recognised as Pacific people. So for nearly 150 years they have been in this region. That is the historical experience that shaped them. They are just as much Pacific people and are not people of India anymore just as Pākehā people in New Zealand who have lived here for generations don't consider themselves to be any more people of Britain. And I think that's a really interesting argument that that we need to consider in this super diverse country that we now live in."