Correspondent's Notebook
Recession hits south island hard
19 June 2009
Like everywhere else, the global economic crisis is hitting hard in the Pacific.
But as Pacific correspondent Campbell Cooney reports, one of the places where the effect on the Pacific is the worst, isn’t, strictly speaking, a smaller island nation.
Nearly seven percent of New Zealand’s four million people are of islander descent. There’s more Samoans there than in Samoa, nearly as many Tongans as are still living in Tonga. There’s around 1,200 people living on the island nation of Niue. There’s an estimated 3,000 Niueans living in New Zealand. To some extent every Pacific Island nation has an expatriate community in New Zealand, and for most of them, their home is the suburbs of South Auckland.
I was in New Zealand reporting on a conference looking at the Pacific’s economic outlook. Its expatriate population means South Auckland has the biggest population of Pacific people of any city in the world, which means any story on how the region is surviving the economic downturn, has to come here.
The suburbs there, Otara, Mangere and those in between, are a landscape of cheap state owned housing, old cars, and fast food outlets, set against a skyline of high tension powercables, supported by pylons running through backyards and over rooftops. The area gained a measure of infamy in the 90s after being depicted as a breeding ground for domestic violence, gang warfare and poverty in the movie “Once Were Warriors”. That reputation isn’t just celluloid imagination, it’s very real. And I was told that as a reporter, with a TV Camera, looking to do a story on the affect of the economy on the area, I wouldn’t be especially welcome.
To smooth the way I visited the area in the company of one of the senior members of New Zealand’s Tongan community Melino Maka. And I think, due to a combination of the respect Melino has as supporter and campaigner for his people there, and his two metre plus height and former Rugby player build meant I encountered no problems.
Right now, Melino and others in similar positions, have their work cut out for them. Big companies like whitegoods manufacturer Fisher and Paykel are moving production to cheaper labour markets in Asia. The economic slowdown has forced other companies to either shutdown, or cutback. And many who’ve kept their jobs, are working reduced hours.
Each Saturday the market in Mangere provides an opportunity for Pacific communities to gather, gossip, and stock up on food for the week. But over the last nine months less and less of them are doing so. Samoan born Karen Crichton and her family run a fruit store at Mangere. I asked her what sort difference she’s seen in sales.
Karen Crichton: It’s a lot, it’s a lot. Thousands and thousands of dollars difference from last year to this year.
I mentioned earlier, you can’t talk about the state of economies in Pacific nations, without looking at what’s happening in South Auckland. The reason is remittances, the money sent home by expatriates. Those payments are the biggest contributor to the economies of countries like Samoa and Tonga, and right now in South Auckland it doesn’t matter if you’re an unemployed factory worker, or self employed fruit store owner, things are tight.
Samoan community leader Leau Peter Skelton: People are living over here, you must look after your family here first before you give out handouts to your family at home as well
Melino Maka from the Tongan Advisory has this succinct description of the situation for islanders in New Zealand.
Melino Maka: The land of milk and honey, the sad thing about it is the milk is still there, but the honey is running out.
