Privy Council’s Samoa ruling stuns Govt

Press, 21 July 1982, Page 1

Privy Council’s Samoa ruling stuns Govt

PA Wellington The Government was yesterday considering the implications of a Privy Council ruling that appears to make most of Western Samoa’s 160,000 people New Zealand citizens.

As such, they would have free right of entry to New Zealand and by right of their New Zealand citizenship, unrestricted entry to Australia. The ruling seems likely to halt overstaying charges brought under the Immigration Act. 1964. against up to 2000 of the 60.000 Samoans now in New Zealand.

The Privy Council's decision was described by the Prime Minister- (Mr Muldoon). as “obviously a very serious matter" and by Labour's Pacific Islands spokesman, Mr R. W. Prebble, as “the most important constitutional decision in New Zealand’s history.” Samoan leaders in New Zealand hailed the ruling as ending years of trouble with immigration officials in Apia and in New Zealand.

In Apia, the Western Samoan Prime Minister. Vaai Kolone, met his Attor-ney-General. Mr Neroni Slade, to discuss the ruling, but Mr Slade declined comment until he had received the Privy Council's written decision. The New Zealand Government was also awaiting the Privy Council’s reasons for its ruling, given orally on a test case in London. Mr Muldoon said that the Government would take no action until it received the judgment, probably in a week or two. The woman who was the subject of the test case, Miss Falema’i Lesa, born in Western Samoa in 1946, hailed the news which ended a'fiveyear battle for her to remain in New Zealand. “It’s marvellous, and I am so happy,” she said in Wellington. The Privy Cpuncil’s ruling upset a series of decisions on the same issue made over a number of years by New Zealand courts, including the Court of Appeal. Miss Lesa and other Samoans born in Western

Samoa before 1949, when New Zealand citizenship was established for the first time — or whose fathers were born there - claimed they were natural-born British subjects according to New Zealand law.

They argued they should not be prosecuted and convicted of overstaying under the Immigration Act, 1964, which did not apply to New Zealand citizens.

The Minister of Immigration (Mr Malcolm) immediately described the decision as extraordinary, saying that it was an example of where court decisions did not seem to reflect common sense in the immigration area.

He said that he had neverhad complete faith. that the judicial system .Would produce “cbmmdn-sense” decisions, and so had weeks ago arranged “contingency plan" meetings with officials. Mr Malcolm met the officials at his office yesterday, and : later joined the Minister of. Justice (Mr McLay) and Mr Muldoon for a further meeting.

No statements were issued, and the Ministers avoided questions in relation to consideration of legisla-

tion to nullify the Privy Council ruling. Mr Muldoon said: “We will bring together all the material and advice we can get on it before we take any action.”

The ruling appeared to have major implications for Australia as 'well as New Zealand. “Until we see the ruling, and the reasons for it, we are not in a position to make any comment beyond the fact that anyone who has a New Zealand’ passport has the right of unrestricted entry to Australia,” an Australian High Commission spokesman said.

The First Secretary (Information), Mr Tony Miller, said that the ruling might give thousands of Samoans the right to emigrate to Australia.

There was jubilation among New Zealand’s 60.000strong Samoan community as news of the decision spread. “I cannot find words to express my happiness." said the secretary of a committee set up to fight Miss Lesa's case, Mr Pulepule Aiono. in Wellington.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Puni Raea, said, “We have the feeling now that we can rightly, and proudly, call ourselves Samoan Kiwis."

In Auckland, the Rev. Leuatea Sio, of the Presbyterian Pacific Islands Church, said, /‘Many of us, particularly older Samoans, came before independence with the feeling that we — New Zealand and Samoa — belonged to each other.

“We really tried to think of the agreement and friendship between New Zealand and Samoa as our Waitangi. This is really good news to us,” he said.

In Wellington, Sir Guy Powles, the man who took Western Samoa into independence, as New Zealand High Commissioner in 1949,

said that Samoans were proud of the fact that they had never been anyone’s subjects.

He said the Privy Council ruled that by virtue of a 1923 act Samoans were British subjects. Had that been known at the time, Samoans would have raised considerable protest. Sir Guy said that under German rule Samoans had not been German citizens and under the terms of the League of Nations mandate the subject of citizenship did not arise. He said that before independent Samoans travelled under British protected person passports, just as New Zealanders travelled under British passports. .Auckland lawyers engaged in overstayers’ cases predicted that the Government would pass special legislation to prevent an exodus from Western Samoa to New Zealand. But it is doubtful that legislation would affect the status of the 1500-2000 Samoans now estimated to be in New Zealand beyond the periods granted by their entry permits, said a Ton-gan-born barrister, Mr Clive Edwards.

Any enactment which sought to change the status of Samoans already in New Zealand would be contrary to section 438 of the Criminal Justice Act, he said.

. Mr Edwards said that about 300 overstayer cases had been stalled in the courts awaiting the outcome of the Privy Council application.

• Another lawyer, Mr Christopher Ruthe, of the Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office, also predicted special legislation. “The Government will feel it has got to do something,” he said. “The way things stand, Western Samoans have the same rights as a New Zealander to benefits, superannuation, and housing in this country.”