By Louis Collins
Photo: RNZ
In 1978, Samoa-born Falema'i Lesa was working as a cook at a hotel in downtown Wellington. While at work one day, she was arrested by Immigration officers, detained and faced suggestions she didn't have the right to live in New Zealand.
With the help of immigration lawyers, Lesa argued her case for citizenship all the way up to the Privy Council, which at the time was New Zealand's highest court of appeal.
In 1982 the Privy Council ruled in favour of Falema'i Lesa's case. Photo: Peter Avery
In 1982, the Privy Council ruled that Samoans born between 1924 and 1948 were British subjects and therefore had a legitimate claim to New Zealand citizenship.
This ruling wouldn't last long though, with the Muldoon government passing the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act later that same year, retrospectively stripping the right to citizenship for Samoans born in that period.
Four decades later, Falema'i Lesa sat in Parliament's public gallery on Thursday morning surrounded by other members of New Zealand's Samoan community. They watched as Teanau Tuiono's member's bill unanimously passed its second reading.
If passed, the proposed legislation (now called the Citizenship (Western Samoa) (Restoration) Amendment Bill) would (by its own description) "provide entitlement to New Zealand citizenship for a group of people born in Western Samoa whose citizenship was removed through the enactment of the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982".
The Bill's first reading in April received the support of every party in Parliament except National, who at the time cited legal precedence, the scope of eligibility, and good bilateral relations with Samoa as reasons to oppose it.
"We believe, on balance, that for this to go to select committee at this stage, in a member's bill format and forum, is not appropriate," said National's Cameron Brewer during his speech.
Nevertheless, the Bill had the numbers to further its legislative journey and was sent to the governance and administration select committee, where public engagement during the submission period was significant.
More than 24,000 individuals and groups made submissions, including some who had their citizenship removed, as well as their descendants.
The deliberations and negotiations that followed seem to have assured National that the Bill was worth voting for - the party came out the other side of the select committee stage now supporting the Bill.
Select committees are often thought to be a bastion of collegiality in a place that is all about partisanship. New Zealand First's Andy Foster touched on this on Thursday.
"I also want to place on record my thanks for my parliamentary colleagues in the Governance and Administration Committee, especially Teanau for bringing this Bill to the House. I think when you started you weren't quite sure it was going to get through, but both with the support of New Zealand First and ACT it came through the first reading, and now National has said, 'We're supporting it too.' So I'm really looking forward to seeing this Bill unanimously supported through the rest of its stages.
"My observation is that the select committees that I've been involved with are good, collegial processes. If any other select committees are less collegial, I'd encourage you to come and have a look at ours and just quietly watch them, and hopefully you might learn something from it."
As is typical in the second reading, submissions from the public were recalled in order to convey the views of the public to the House. National's Tom Rutherford, who was on the committee that considered the Bill, was teary-eyed as he stood up in the House for the last speech of the second reading.
Rutherford said the select committee stage "revealed not just the technical aspects of citizenship law that needed addressing, but the human stories behind every clause and amendment. We heard from grandchildren who spoke of their grandparents' pain, from community leaders who have worked tirelessly to keep this issue alive, and from those of you directly affected who have waited four decades for change.
"These testimonies help shape our understanding of what this Bill means, not just as a piece of legislation but as a pathway to reconciliation. This Bill also serves as a reminder of the special place that our Pacific neighbours hold in New Zealand's heart."
"Never underestimate a Samoan," said Barbara Edmonds during the Bill's second reading. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Barbara Edmonds, herself a Samoan New Zealander, suggested that the time and effort spent trying to get legislation of this nature over the line was testament to the Samoan psyche.
"24,000 submitters who organised to ensure that their voice was heard in this Bill: we hear you, and that is why we should never underestimate a Samoan," Edmonds said.
"We're very nice, we're very smiley, but we're very smart - and we forgive. We are humble in our forgiveness, but we do not forget. So to all of our community members: fa'afetai tele lava; thank you for your organisation. It is my privilege to be able to stand in support of this Bill and to carry your voice in this House, the New Zealand Parliament."
While he had to make concessions on his original proposal during the select committee negotiations, Tuiono can be cautiously optimistic of his Bill's future. Shortly, it will go through the Committee of the Whole House stage, where legislative details and technicalities will be tested. Among details that might be raised are who would administer the law, the possibility of extending eligibility, and how much it would cost to apply.
"So we have come this far, and I know that the community wants us to go further," Tuiono said. "And of course we in the Greens are open to that because there are a few more stages to traverse.
"I want to close with the words of my friend Faʻanānā Efeso Collins, who I spoke about in the first reading, when he said: 'E le tu faʻamauga se tagata: no one stands alone, no one succeeds alone, and no one suffers alone.' And I added to that, we succeed best when we succeed together. Faʻafetai tele lava."
