Tuiono Teanau; Pugh MaureenRESTORING CITIZENSHIP REMOVED BY CITIZENSHIP (WESTERN SAMOA) ACT 1982 BILLFirst ReadingTEANAU TUIONO (Green): I move That the Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill.Faafetai i lau afioga le Fono Fetalai mo lenei avanoa. E muamua ona ou faatulou atu i le paia o le atunuu i ona tulaga faalupe. Ou te faatulou atu foi i le paia o alii ma tamaitai faipule ua tatou faatasi i lenei aso. Malo le soifua manuia ma le lagi e mamā.I want to acknowledge elders both past and present and those who are with us in the House. I want to acknowledge reverend ministers and their families and community leaders dignitaries from the Samoan High Commission and I note that the Speaker of the Samoan Parliament is with us today in the public gallery with his delegation of Samoan MPs from both political parties. I want to acknowledge other former MPs who are here today. I note former National Party MP Anae Arthur Anae who is in the public gallery. And it is always good to see the Hon Aupito Su'a William Sio back in this House. I want to acknowledge Faʻanānā Efeso Collins who did his best to teach me a mihi in Samoan and noting that I am probably the worst Samoan-language student he ever had.Although I am not Samoan can I say that I am Samoan-adjacent. All Pasifika peoples all tangata moana are adjacent to each other. I mentioned Efeso because like others from our generation as this House was moving through the Dawn Raids apology he reached out to me like many others to tell me that there was more injustice to unravel that there was further to go on this journey.Another Samoan friend of mine Renee Dingwall's dad Su'a Hans Schwalger who's over in Samoa at this time told her to tell her friend—me—to get rid of this Western Samoa citizenship Act. So Efeso Renee and all the Samoans who I grew up with this is for you.Our parents' stories are our stories. Our grandparents' stories are our stories. Those narratives form our community's narratives. These conversations can be tough conversations but they are important if we are to grow as a family of Pacific nations. I want to acknowledge Aupito Su'a William Sio who guided us through one of those tough conversations through the Dawn Raids apology. It is important work and we must continue to build on that work and I see this as another step in that journey.This is not the first time there has been an attempt to address this issue. I did note before the presence of former National MP Anae Arthur Anae in the public gallery and community members that brought a petition to this House in 2003. Over 9000 people signed that petition. I also note and I noticed in the gallery that my Auckland University fellow alumni Dr Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai is here as well along with Seiuli Savea Peseta and there are many others listening from home.I make this observation—and it is this: if you have Pacific Islanders from different political parties who in our own different ways want what is best for our communities then that is something that this House should take note of. That note should be that we need to have our communities heard at the select committee.There is a bit of history here and I want to traverse it a little bit; it's in the context of the bill. It is Samoan history but it is also New Zealand history learning about the Mau movement and the independence movement in Samoa is such an important part of our history which would give New Zealanders a deeper understanding of New Zealand's imperial aspirations in the Pacific at the turn of the century and the painful consequences of those aspirations. What a lot of New Zealanders don't know is that New Zealand administered Samoa for 48 years as part of the World War I effort on behalf of Britain from the then German colonial rule. New Zealand administered what we now know as Samoa and the Americans administered what we now know as American Samoan. The New Zealand administration was so appalling and so bad that Prime Minister Helen Clark had to apologise in 2002.In 1948 New Zealand citizenship was established. We went from being British subjects to New Zealand citizens. It was in 1982 that the Privy Council ruled that all Samoans born between 1924 and 1948 were British subjects and because of that from 1949 onwards they were New Zealand citizens. As the years go by more of these elders will pass. It is estimated that there are less than 5000 remaining. These are important stories that need to be heard and that is why this House needs to send this bill to the select committee.In terms of the Privy Council I want to acknowledge the pivotal role played by Falema'i Lesa and her family and the committee's organisers who pushed that case. Falema'i's contribution we honour not only her personal and individual journey but the collective struggle of Pacific peoples for equality and for justice.Fairness is at the heart of this bill. We had a group of New Zealand citizens who had their citizenship recognised and then had that citizenship removed by statute. That is unfair—plain and simple. States should not be able to remove citizenship wholesale like that. It is unjust. This bill will address this injustice in two ways. It will repeal the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act remove it from the statute book; and the people who lost citizenship in 1982 will be entitled to apply for and receive citizenship by a grant under the Citizenship Act 1977. This is important. The bill does not confer citizenship directly but it instead creates automatic eligibility to apply for and receive citizenship. It would not create new rights to citizenship for descendants of those whose citizenship was removed. As I said earlier the youngest of these elders is now 75. That is why it is important that now is the time for us to address these issues while they are still here.Our international standing derives from our ability to influence the Pacific. Relational diplomacy is so important particularly in the Pacific where we have geopolitical tensions playing out between bigger nations. This is something that we can do and do well. The wellbeing of our people economy and environment are closely linked to that of our Pacific neighbours. It is our responsibility to continue striving to improve and maintain these relationships. That relationship is always worth strengthening. Supporting Samoan elders signals to the Pacific that we take those relationships seriously. That is why this House should send this bill to select committee.There has been speculation in the media that this will cause mass migration. That is not my intention. Citizenship broadly happens in three ways: by birth descent or by grant. This is citizenship by grant. Can we have a discussion on what the grant could look like that is practical and workable? I think we can. Solutions that could suit different perspectives of members across the House. We can but only if we send this bill to select committee.The Pacific is one ocean but it has many waves. Each island represents a distinct wave in the vast ocean. They are all part of the same body of water. It speaks to the shared heritage struggles and aspirations of Pacific peoples emphasising the unity and the interconnectedness that transcends geographical boundaries. This highlights the significance of recognising and honouring the collective experiences and histories of Pacific communities acknowledging the common challenges that we have faced and continue to face. Just as waves merge and flow together in the ocean Pacific peoples come together united by our shared ancestry and cultural ties to navigate the currents of history and shape our collective identity.I started with the words of Faʻanānā Efeso Collins and I want to conclude with some of those words from his maiden speech. In his maiden speech he talked about a saying in Samoan and it goes: E le tu fa'amauga se tagata—No one stands alone no one succeeds alone—and for [him] no one suffers alone." I want to add a little bit to that: that we succeed best when we succeed together. So I ask for this House to send this bill to the select committee. Madam Speaker fa'afetai tele lava. Meitaki ranuinui. Thank you to the community for coming out today. Hopefully your presence here in this House will inspire parties to vote for this bill in this first reading and to send it to the select committee. Thank you Madam Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): The question is that the motion be agreed to."