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Family fighting to keep aunt in New Zealand as Immigration tells her to go

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

An Auckland family is heartbroken two beloved members of the family are being told to leave the country by Immigration NZ.

Loasi Latu and her husband have lived in New Zealand for decades and have been told they have until Friday to leave the country voluntarily.

It was complicated by the fact Latu is a carer for her brother Viliami, who is a New Zealand resident and needs 24/7 support.

Latu has helped to raise many members of her wider family. On top of that, she is now the full-time carer for Viliami due to his intellectual disability and epilepsy.

An older woman with a man wearing a red cardigan.

Loasi Latu and her brother Viliami. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Latu said she was scared about being sent back to Tonga after more than 20 years in New Zealand.

“I feel heartbroken. New Zealand is my home. I’m scared. I don’t want to leave my brother. I am the one who understands him and the one he listens to. All my family is here and my grandkids.”

Family spokesperson Karina Kaufusi, who lives with Latu, said it has been a difficult time for the family and they were approaching RNZ and going public with their story as a last resort.

“My family is heartbroken and we have psychological reports from specialists talking about the psychological impacts it will have not only to my uncle Pila, but actually to three generations.

“My siblings and I, we’ve got really good jobs, we contribute to the economy significantly. She looks after my nieces. So they get to keep their nana. If she stays and they will be psychologically impacted if she is no longer here to care for them. So we’re absolutely devastated by this.”

The couple are technically overstayers, more than 20 years past the student visas they originally travelled to New Zealand on.

But they say they started the process of applying for residency before their visas expired, but were taken advantage of by their immigration advisor, who took their money but did not apply for residency.

They believe if they had been better represented, they would have been given residency years ago.

They applied for a special direction for permanent residency from the minister in 2023, but this was declined.

Since then, they have gathered further evidence for a new application with Associate Minister Chris Penk, but Immigration New Zealand said the couple must leave New Zealand even though that process is underway.

“They’ve told my aunt and uncle that they need to voluntarily leave this country by Friday. So all we’re asking is to let the process run through, let the minister review this new compelling evidence that we have gathered.”

That new information includes reports about how Latu’s brother, who is nearly 70 and lives with an intellectual disability and epilepsy, would be adversely affected if she were to leave the country.

The family calls him Pila and said Latu caring for him means he is not straining the public system by requiring full-time care.

But if she cannot do it then the options are put Pila into care, send him to Tonga, or keep him in the family, which could mean a lot of change for Kaufusi.

“The first option would be to put him in an already stretched public healthcare system that will cost New Zealand millions and millions of dollars because he needs 24/7 supervision and care. That option, for us, it’s not culturally appropriate.

“We’re a Tongan family and in our Tongan culture, we don’t give our vulnerable, we don’t give our elderly people to strangers to take care of them. The family takes care of them and so the second option, being the youngest of the family, being single, being a woman, my Tongan, an obligation and duty to my family is to sacrifice the career that I have.

“I’m a young, brown, female senior structural engineer. The engineering industry needs more females, it needs more pacific people in it, and I would be sacrificing and giving that up so that I can look after my uncle Pila to provide the 24/7 supervision that he needs.

“The third option is to send him back to Tonga …. He deserves a quality life here. Tonga doesn’t have the resources to look after my uncle.”

They said they believe sending Latu to Tonga would have humanitarian and economic impacts, through increased cost on the taxpayer to care for Pila, and a lower quality of life for him.

RNZ asked Immigration if it had considered the wider consequences if the couple were to leave NZ, and why it could not wait to hear the response for the second application for special direction.

It did not respond directly to RNZ’s questions.

In a statement, national compliance manager Stephanie Greathead said Latu and her husband have been in the country unlawfully since 2004 and are liable for deportation.

She said they have no further right to appeal, and she encouraged them to leave voluntarily.

The family’s latest request for a special direction is with Penk.

A spokesperson said: “Minister Penk is unable to comment on specific cases due to privacy reasons. Requests for ministerial intervention are prepared by Immigrations officials before being considered by the minister in accordance with the Immigration Act.”

Tributes flow for Tongan mobility scooter victim after being fatally hit by car in Hamilton, NZ

By
Kaniva Staff
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A person on a mobility scooter has died after a collision with a vehicle in Hamilton yesterday afternoon.

(file image) Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

He has been identified by Tongan family members and relatives on Facebook as Fakataha Tau’aika.

Police said they were called to the scene on Peachgrove Rd around 2.20pm, Tuesday.

The deceased was taken to Waikato Hospital, where he later died.

The vehicle left the scene but has since been found, and the driver is assisting police with their enquiries.

Part of the road was closed while the serious crash unit carried out a scene scene examination and has since reopened.

Loved ones of Tau’aika are paying tribute to him on social media.

“This is so unexpected”, a commenter wrote.

“This world makes me sick”, another wrote.

“It will take the whole day to describe how I am being devastated by your death”, one commenter wrote.

Body of Tongan fisherman reportedly among bodies of three men found on New Zealand’s Māhia beach

By
Kaniva Staff
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A body of a Tongan fisherman has been reportedly found on the shores of Māhia this morning.

He was named as Taina Sinoti, as tributes for the lost fishermen were posted online by anxious loved ones.

A man who appeared to be Taina’s father said “kuo’ ne tatau mai”, describing the death of his son in Tongan on Facebook.

Taina was one of three fishermen missing off the East Coast two days ago.

“Formal identification is ongoing, but they are believed to be the fishermen reported missing on Monday,” a police spokesperson said.

Earlier, two of them were spotted alive in huge seas yesterday.

The staff at Maritime NZ and its Rescue Coordination Centre this morning extended their thoughts and condolences to those impacted by the tragic events off Gisborne.

Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club president Roger Faber was part of a group of three boats that went out on Monday. Two had turned back as the weather turned nasty, while the three fishermen were on the third boat, which went missing.

Faber told Three’s AM Show this morning the community would be “absolutely broken” to wake up to hear the three men’s bodies had been found – especially after two had been spotted alive.

”We all thought, hey we’re going to have a great outcome – but to have this news this morning is absolutely devastating,” he said.

He added the worst part was being unable to do anything.

”Every boat in this marina would have been out searching if they possibly could have, but the conditions just haven’t allowed us to do that. It’s gut wrenching.”

The Coastguard had had to turn back last night before reaching the men, due to the weather conditions.

”I know those guys, they …pride themselves in being able to do the job,” he said. “It would have been one of the hardest things they would have probably ever had to [do].”

‘Sea and weather conditions were too severe’

RCCNZ general manager Justin Allan said it was a difficult and complex search and rescue operation.

”Weather conditions in the area were severe, and rescuers went right to their limits to get to the area we received reports the people in the water were, confirm their location and attempt to remove them from the sea.

”Responders from the region, as well as rescue aircraft sourced from across the North Island had to battle atrocious conditions; including swells of up to and at times more than six metres, 50-knot winds and low visibility, showing how determined they were to reach the men in the water.

”Unfortunately, the sea and weather conditions were too severe.”

One of the missing men was named last night as Elwood Higgins, as tributes for the lost fishermen were posted online by anxious loved ones.

A woman who said she was a relative of one of the missing men made an emotional plea yesterday for her brother to be found.

“Come on my brother, [I am] breaking into pieces over here listening to this storm kicking in. Feeling sooo exhausted, scared and helpless,” she said.

“[I have] already been through enough heartbreak for this lifetime. Make your way home to us and bring your mates home with you too xx.”

“Atrocious weather conditions” hampered the desperate search last night, more 24 hours on from when authorities were told a vessel had not returned to port in Gisborne just before 4pm on Monday, Maritime New Zealand said.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Boeing P-8 Poseidon dropped a life raft in the area where the men were last seen by a bulk carrier off the coast of Mahia just after 4pm yesterday.

Coastguard, rescue helicopter trusts, Napier Harbour Tugs, the Defence Force and volunteering vessels were involved in the mass search operation.

Yesterday’s search was suspended about 7pm with an expectation it would resume at first light this morning. Rescuers examined drift patterns throughout the night and ensured enough resources were ready to continue the search.

Three bodies found in search for missing Gisborne fishermen

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Three bodies have been located on the shore at Mahia following a search and rescue operation.

Three fishermen were reported missing after failing to return from a fishing trip on Monday.

While formal identification was ongoing, police believed the bodies to be the fishermen reported missing.

“Police thoughts are with their families at this difficult time.”

Earlier, two of them were spotted alive in huge seas yesterday.

The staff at Maritime NZ and its Rescue Coordination Centre this morning extended their thoughts and condolences to those impacted by the tragic events off Gisborne.

RCCNZ general manager Justin Allan said it was a difficult and complex search and rescue operation.

”Weather conditions in the area were severe, and rescuers went right to their limits to get to the area we received reports the people in the water were, confirm their location and attempt to remove them from the sea.

”Responders from the region, as well as rescue aircraft sourced from across the North Island had to battle atrocious conditions; including swells of up to and at times more than six metres, 50 knot winds and low visibility, showing how determined they were to reach the men in the water.

”Unfortunately, the sea and weather conditions were too severe.”

One of the missing men was named last night as Elwood Higgins, as tributes for the lost fishermen were posted online by anxious loved ones.

A woman claiming to be a relative of one of the missing men made an emotional plea for her brother to be found.

“Come on my brother, [I am] breaking into pieces over here listening to this storm kicking in. Feeling sooo exhausted, scared and helpless,” she said.

“[I have] already been through enough heartbreak for this lifetime. Make your way home to us and bring your mates home with you too xx.”

“Atrocious weather conditions” hampered the desperate search last night, more 24 hours on from when authorities were told a vessel had not returned to port in Gisborne just before 4pm on Monday, Maritime New Zealand said.

Wild weather pounds East Coast, orange heavy warnings issued

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Gisborne’s emergency sewer valve has been opened due to fears of sewage overflowing back into homes and onto roads.

(File image). Photo: Unsplash / Daoudi Aissa

High winds have also downed trees and cut power to homes in what could be a difficult night for residents.

The region was currently being hammered by severe weather.

The council has established an emergency centre in Tolaga Bay school and issued a flood warning for nearby Hikuwai River near Willow Flat.

Civil Defence officer Greg Shelton said the river level was nearing nine metres, but its banks could handle up to 13 metres.

There were orange heavy rain warnings for Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti about and south of Ruatoria and Hawke’s Bay north and south of SH5.

An orange strong wind warning was also in place for Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay from Wairoa northwards, including Māhia Peninsula.

Severe gale southerlies could reach 120 km/h in exposed places, MetService said, with the strongest winds are expected in coastal places.

At 3pm, there was 44mm of rain recorded at Gisborne Airport, according to the Gisborne District Council.

The council said the city’s wastewater system has been flooded with intense rain draining from residential homes.

Ground water levels had already very high due to rain that started at the weekend, and combined with more rain today has resulted in surface flooding finding its way into the sewer, it said.

To stop sewage overflowing back into homes and onto roads, the council had to release the excess water.

It opened the emergency sewer valve at Gladstone Road into the Turanganui River at 2.30pm.

Scour valves to the Taruheru River were opened at Palmerston Road and at Oak Street at 3pm and at Owen Road into the Waimata river at 3.08pm.

“We only open the valve when it’s absolutely necessary and only in the areas with issues.

“The discharge is highly diluted with rain water, but still poses a health risk.

“We’ll notify the Hauora Tairāwhiti Medical Officer of Health, water user and sports groups,” the council said.

Temporary warning signs would be installed and the council advised no swimming, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least five days after the valves were closed and warning signs were removed.

Meanwhile, the council said Tiniroto Road was closing overnight at the bluffs from 7pm, with contractors scheduled to inspect it tomorrow at 7am to make a decision on reopening it.

SH35 was also closed between Anaura Road and Mata Road, Mangatuna.

There were also slips south of Tutira on State Highway Two from Wairoa to Napier.

Two dead, two critically injured in mini-bus rollover near Mildura

By
Kaniva Staff
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By theage.com.au

Two people have died and nine others are injured after a mini-bus rolled over and crashed into a tree near Mildura.

Police say the passengers were migrant workers employed at nearby farms.(ABC News; Photograph supplied: Network 10)

Victoria Police said the bus was travelling south along the Calder Highway on Tuesday morning when it crashed at Carwarp – a tiny town about 36 kilometres south of Mildura.

“Sadly, two passengers died at the scene,” police said in a statement.

Sergeant Mark McDonald of the Mildura Highway Patrol Unit said some of the farm workers were Samoans, and all were employed on nearby properties.

“We believe it [the minibus] was attempting to overtake another vehicle and lost control and collided with a tree,” he said. 

Another passenger suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, arriving shortly before midday.

Ambulance Victoria said paramedics responded about 7.45am, taking eight people to the Mildura Base Hospital.

The male driver of the bus and three passengers suffered serious injuries. Four other passengers were taken to hospital for observation.

Two people have died and nine others have been injured after a mini-bus rollover in Victoria’s north-west.

“The circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be established and the investigation remains ongoing,” police said.

The Calder Highway between Kulkyn Way and Brownport Road is expected to be closed for several hours.

Sergeant Mark McDonald from the Mildura Highway Patrol Unit will address the media at 12.30pm.

With additional reporting by Kaniva News

Car fire blocks SH20A lanes to Auckland Airport

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Police are responding to a vehicle fire on George Bolt Memorial Drive, Māngere this morning.

The fire was reported at 5.53am.

Two southbound lanes are blocked and motorists heading towards the airport are advised to expect delays or seek an alternate route.

Waka Kotahi is warning motorists heading to the airport to delay their journey or use SH20B.

Two left southbound lanes towards Auckland Airport are blocked, just before the Landing Drive intersection.

Two fire trucks were at the scene and there was no injuries.

In a statement, police said officers were attending after the fire was reporter shortly before 6am.

“Two southbound lanes are blocked and motorists heading towards the airport are advised to expect delays or seek an alternate route.”

Veteran Greens MP Keith Locke, often a voice for the Pacific, dies after a long illness

By
Philip Cass
-

A New Zealand politician with a strong connection to Tonga’s Democracy movement has died.

Former Greens MP Keith Locke has died after a long illness, aged 80.

He served as an MP from 1999 to 2011.

While in Parliament, he was a notable critic of New Zealand’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan and the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, and advocated for refugee rights.

He was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to human rights advocacy in 2021, received NZ Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender award in 2012, and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand’s Harmony Award in 2013.

Locke was often a voice or the Pacific in the New Zealand Parliament.

In 2000 he spoke out on the plight of overstayers who were facing deportation under the National Party government.

As the Green Party’s then immigration spokesperson, he supported calls a review of the overstayer legislation.

“We are a Polynesian nation, and we increasingly celebrate the Samoan and Tongan part of our national identity,” Locke said at the time.

“How can we claim as our own the Jonah Lomu’s and Beatrice Faumuina’s while we are prepared to toss their relations out of the country at a moments notice?”

The Greens MP had links to Tonga through his relationship with Democracy campaigner and later Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

Locke defended Hon. Pohiva in 1996 when he was a spokesperson for the Alliance Party. He said he was horrified that Pohiva  and two colleagues had been jailed for comments in their pro-democracy newspaper Kele’a. He criticised the New Zealand government for keeping silent about what he described as a “gross abuse of human rights.”

In 2004 Locke called on the New Zealand Government to speak out about what he called the suppression of the press in Tonga.

Locke, who was then the Greens Foreign Affairs spokesman, said several publications had been denied licences, including an offshoot of the New Zealand-produced Taimi O Tonga newspaper.

“We owe it to the Tongan people to support them in their hour of need.  We should speak out as a Pacific neighbour,” he said.

In 2007, ‘Akilisi was again charged with sedition, along with four other pro-democracy MPs, for allegedly being responsible for the rioting that took place following a mass pro-democracy march in Nuku’alofa.

“As the Greens’ foreign affairs spokesperson I went up to Tonga to support ‘Akilisi and his colleagues fight these trumped-up charges. I was shocked to find that the New Zealand government was going along with these sedition charges against five sitting MPs,” Locke said in an interview.

“I was in Tonga not long before the 2010  elections with a cross-party group of New Zealand MPs. We were helping Tongan candidates understand the intricacies of a parliamentary system.

“At the time I remember ‘Akilisi being worried that the block of nine “nobles” MPs could frustrate the desires of what were to be 17 directly-elected MPs. And so it turned out. Despite winning 12 of the popularly-elected 17 seats in 2010, the pro-democracy MPs were outvoted 14 to 12 when the votes of the nine nobles MPs were put into the equation.”

“However, in the two subsequent elections (2014 and 2017) the Democrats predominated and ‘Akilisi took over as Prime Minister. I am not qualified to judge his record on domestic issues, except to say it couldn’t have been an easy job because of the fractious nature of Tongan politics. And ‘Akilisi has been in poor health.

“As Prime Minister he took an admirable stand on some important international issues, such as climate change. At the Pacific Island Forum he criticised those countries which stayed silent on the plight of the West Papuans.”

Locke said that Tonga may not yet be fully democratic, but that great progress had been made under Pohiva’s “humble and self-sacrificing leadership.”

Person seriously injured after incident at South Auckland jewellery store

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A person has been taken to Middlemore Hospital with serious injuries after an incident this evening at a South Auckland jewellery store.

The incident happened at Pooja Jewellers on Kolmar Rd, Papatoetoe about 5.45pm.

Police are making enquiries following a robbery at a Kolmar Road store in Papatoetoe, reported around 5:45pm.

The Eagle helicopter responded to the area, however the offenders left in a vehicle prior to arrival and were not located.

One person in the store has been seriously injured after being assaulted, and was being transported to hospital.

Inspector Keki Wilson says: “Police are working to piece together exactly what occurred, we are speaking with a number of witnesses and will conduct a scene examination.”

“Violent incidents like these rightly cause concern, and Police is committed to holding offenders to account.

“Enquiries remain ongoing to locate the offenders and their vehicle,” says Inspector Wilson.

If you have any information that may assist in locating those involved please contact Police on 105 and reference event number: P059142364.

Human rights chief renews call for changes to RSE scheme

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Aui’a Vaimaila Leatinu’u, PMN

Pre-existing issues in the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme must be addressed before any plans to expand the workforce are made, the Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says.

Her comments follow Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s announcement last week that he wants thousands more seasonal workers from Pacific island countries in Aotearoa.

During his visit to Papua New Guinea, Luxon met with his PNG counterpart James Marape and both leaders discussed a refreshed partnership that could boost the number of places for short-term RSE horticultural workers coming to Aotearoa.

But Commissioner Sumeo says while the expansion is a “good opportunity” to bring in more labourers from the region, she has not seen changes to the industry since a government inquiry uncovered “a lot of concerns around the treatment of Pacific workers”.

The damning review released in November 2022 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) found that many of the workers were living in conditions that amounted to modern-day slavery.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Sumeo said the inquiry found the treatment of seasonal workers in Aotearoa was racist and she called for an urgent overhaul of the RSE Scheme.

“Inadequate accommodation, issues around pay deductions, and so forth,” she said.

“What we’re hearing and certainly through the engagements of the commission is that industries want to do better. They know that these problems exist. The industry has worked to provide guidance around human rights.

“There’s a conference on RSE that’s happening soon down in Hawke’s Bay, and we’re hoping to attend that so we can address those things like proper recruitment practices, and pastoral care and so forth.”

The RSE programme employs workers from PNG, Nauru, Tuvalu, Kibati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, and Sāmoa, for up to nine months in any 11 months and return home between seasons.

There are 19,500 workers for the 2023/2024 season. The minimum wage in New Zealand is $23.15, so that would make the minimum hourly rate for RSE workers $25.47 ($23.15 +10 per cent).

The inquiry also identified multiple human rights issues followed by several recommendations, including minimal wage deductions that comply with wage-related acts in NZ, reasonable rent rates on wage, and improved access to healthcare.

Following its inquiry, MBIE issued a report to Cabinet last year suggesting several RSE Scheme improvements, including better accommodation standards, health insurance, guidance, and pay for team leaders alongside worker access to superannuation.

Former immigration minister Michael Wood said at the time that changes were underway to ensure RSE workers were better treated.

He told reporters the changes would also ensure that employers, under the RSE scheme, were undergoing educational modules so they were “crystal clear” about their obligations.

The pressure to improve the scheme has drawn international attention. Sāmoa pushed the MBIE’s recommendations at the Universal Period Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in late April.

Sumeo said Sāmoa was the only Pacific nation to confront New Zealand and request they implement the RSE Scheme review.

“So, this is great timing if the New Zealand government wants to increase the number of RSE workers,” she said.

“It will improve the scheme and will ensure the dignity and rights of our Pacific workers are upheld. We know our industries will benefit from that.”

“Let’s address these concerns and make things right before we bring more of our people here to support us.”

-This article was first published by PMN.

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