The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has launched a petition urging the government to grant visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations, arguing that current visa policies unfairly disadvantage the country’s closest regional neighbours.
Greens’ Pacific Peoples spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said New Zealand, as part of the “family of Pacific nations,” should remove “unfair barriers to entry for our Pacific whānau.”
“Despite our country’s many bonds with the region, people from Pacific countries have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get a visitor visa approved, and often see their visas unfairly declined,”
Tuiono said.
Currently, visitors from 60 countries can enter New Zealand without a visa, yet no Pacific Island nation is on the list.
The Greens’ petition comes amid growing calls from Pacific leaders, including those from Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands, to allow freer movement within the region. Last year, Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare both pushed for visa waiver access to New Zealand.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently announced nearly NZ$27 million in funding for projects in Fiji and removed the need for transit visas for Fijians travelling through New Zealand. However, full visa-free access for Pacific nations is not on the government’s agenda.
“It is something that we continue to consider,”… “but right now, it is not a priority for us in light of the other priorities that we need to focus the system on and focus Immigration New Zealand on.”
Luxon said,
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford declined to comment on whether Pacific countries pose more risk than the 60 nations already granted visa-free access, saying that visa policies are assessed on a “case-by-case basis.”
While some immigration experts argue that visa-free travel could increase the risk of overstayers, others believe there are better ways to manage concerns.
Fijian lawyer Lavi Rokoika, who practises in Fiji and the Cook Islands, said the current restrictions are “a long-time waiting for Pacific Islanders, especially with the relationship that smaller Pacific Island countries have with Australia and New Zealand.”
Tuiono believes the visa system favours European nations and ignores the realities of the Pacific region.
“There is embedded racism in the system,” he said.
“If you look at what’s happening in the Pacific, the geopolitical tensions playing out, we gain a lot of our mana on the international stage by making sure that we have those strong relationships.”
The Greens will be promoting their petition at the Pasifika Festival in Auckland this weekend, using the event to highlight the deep cultural ties between New Zealand and the Pacific.
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