Executive Summary
The Ministry of Justice has prepared this Pacific Island Peoples' Constitution Report in conjunction with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.
It has endeavoured to assemble a descriptive account of the history and modern development of some demographically-significant Pacific Island communities in New Zealand. It includes an assessment of any reasons or principles that might be relevant to recognition of these communities and the development of policies in regard to them by New Zealand Governments. The communities chosen are those originating from the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, the Tokelau Islands, Fiji and Tonga.
This report is a constitutional inquiry in three senses.
Firstly, because it seeks to analyse the ways in which the rights and obligations of New Zealand citizenship - a core constitutional concept - are relevant to the lives and aspirations of citizens and communities choosing to maintain a link with the cultures of their particular Pacific Island homelands.
Secondly, because four of the six communities trace their origins to homelands with current or recent formal constitutional links to New Zealand (the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and Samoa).
Thirdly, the report proposes how the New Zealand Government might approach policy-making for these communities, while remaining true to the terms and spirit of both New Zealand and international law, and maintaining the reputation of New Zealand as an honourable and responsible state in the South West Pacific.
Chapter 1 defines the objectives, definitions and the approach taken in the preparation of the report. It seeks to clarify the terms 'nation' and 'state' and the rights of people living outside of their homeland.
The second chapter follows the history of New Zealand's Pacific connection, including Seddon's voyage in 1900 and New Zealand's 'little empire'. It follows subsequent developments including decolonisation.
Chapter 3 discusses the contemporary character and constitutional status of the chosen Pacific states - the homelands and modern relations with New Zealand.
Current demographics of the Pacific Island populations in New Zealand are looked at in Chapter 4. This includes health, education, income and employment, housing and justice.
New Zealand Domestic Law and International Law on Minorities and Ethnic Groups is the subject of Chapter 5. This includes New Zealand Domestic Law on Minorities, the Bill of Rights Act, the Human Rights Act, the International Law on Minorities, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) and the Human Rights Commission jurisprudence on Minorities.
Chapter 6 sets out the implications of the report.
A Summary of Conclusions completes the report.
