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How Tonga Aids New Zealand

Length and Nature of Permits

Length and Nature of Permits

It should be clear from the above that the three month permit system (for Tongans, Fijians and Samoans) is hopelessly inadequate and unjust, and lies at the root of many of the social problems, both in New Zealand and in the Islands, arising from migrant labour. People in Tonga see six months as a minimum, and both the Federation of labour and the Manufacturers’ Association see one year as a more realistic figure. Some argue for no restrictions at all, but this seems to ignore the developmental problems of the Islands themselves when they are faced with serious population depletion as a result of emigration. What such people also forget is that emigration is not so much a question of freedom of movement alone as of unequal development as between the Islands and New Zealand. Ultimately no-one will benefit from completely free movement within the Pacific until more equitable distribution of wealth is established between New Zealand and the Pacific. Until then, emigration will be determined more by economic necessity than by free choice, and the results might well be critical for both the Islands and for New Zealnd working people.