Samoan petition to stay

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33928, 22 August 1975, Page 2

Samoan petition to stay

(N Z. Press Association) I WELLINGTON. Aug. 21. A petition asking that , Samoans overstaying temI porary permits be allowed permanent residence in New Zealand was preI sented at Parliament this i morning by a deputation of I Samoan high chiefs repre- : senting the New Zealand Samoan community. The high chiefs were backed by about 100 Samoans —many in national dress—who marched with the petition from the Wellington Town Hall through the city to Parliament.

The petition was presented to the Minister of Customs (Mr Douglas), who is the M.P. for the Auckland electorate of Manakau, by thfe elected high chief for New Zealand, Mr Maua Faleauto.

i Speaking to reporters afterward, Mr Faleauto said Samoans were being discriminated against. Thev had tried unsuccessfully to get an amnesty for over-stay .-s similar to that given to 'Tongans, and now they wanted Samoans who had been in New Zealand for some time, to be allowed to live here permanently. Samoans were being hounded for overstaying permits, while Europeans and Americans here on temporary permits were left alone.

Russian visit. — The New Zealand University Students’ Association will send a delegation of students to Russia in November this year, the president of N.Z.U.S.A, (Mr A. Shaw) has said in Christchurch.