Western Samoan roundabout

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 12

Western Samoan roundabout

Tupuola Efi, the Western Samoan Prime Minister, is saying that he wants the protocol on citizenship, attached to the Treaty of Friendship between New Zealand and Western Samoa, renegotiated. What he would gain by such a move is hard to see. The protocol takes note of New Zealand citizenship rights for a number of Western Samoans who did not have them before and makes it possible for Western Samoan migrants to New Zealand to become New Zealand citizens immediately. The original Treaty of Friendship did not have these provisions. Even if it were possible to renegotiate the protocol, or to remove the protocol from the Treaty of Friendship, without it, the treaty would be the poorer for Western Samoa.

Almost certainly Tupuola Efi is casting around for political support within Western Samoa. He is leading a minority Government and has two by-elections coming up soon. When he was in opposition he had. some reservations about the protocol; but expressing reservations about what the Government is doing is a condition frequently found in opposition parties. The exigencies of election procedures precipitated Tupuola Efi to the Prime Ministership much earlier than might have been expected. Most opposition parties like a decent interval to pass before the strong positions that they have taken in opposition have to be put to the test in government. In any event, an incoming Administration is bound by the international treaties of its predecessor. Tupuola Efi has also announced that he will publicise the protocol throughout Western Samoa to ensure that its implications are understood by as many of his people as possible. It will be interesting

to see if these consultations result in a hardening of the line Tupuola Efi has adopted or serve a more local political purpose in the forthcoming by-elections.

The fact that the Government lasted such a short time is not a reflection on the validity or acceptability of the protocol agreement. Tupuola Efi cannot himself be confident about how long he will stay in office. The New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, has shown himself to be disposed to talk to the Prime Minister of Western Samoa about the citizenship question. He also appears to be arguing that, if Tupuola Efi wants a renegotiation, the whole Treaty of Friendship has to be considered. Western Samoa would probably be no better off for that. After all, the Treaty of Friendship is the only such treaty New Zealand has and is a mark of the special relationship between New Zealand and Western Samoa.

The protocol concerns the relationship between Western Samoa and New Zealand. It does not determine New Zealand’s immigration policies, which are embodied in citizenship legislation, in this instance the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act. Even if the protocol were dropped, or the whole Treaty of Friendship abrogated, the New Zealand legislation would remain and its application would not be altered in any significant way. There is no formal or legal link between the protocol and New Zealand legislation on citizenship. Tupuola Efi may want to spin out his opposition to the protocol for as long as possible, at least until the by-elections are over. He will manage to do this all the more easily if he does not come to New Zealand for the talks he has spoken about.