NZ reminded of Pacific role
Tonga’s generosity towards New Zealand should not be forgotten in its own hour of need, says Josiah Tualamali’i, a co-founder of the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Trust.
The arresting and heartwrenching stories we have heard and read in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami on Tonga made me think back to snippets I’ve seen of the special relationship Aotearoa has with the Kingdom of Tonga.
In March 2018, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had her first official visit to four Pacific countries including Tonga. I was selected as New Zealand’s youth representative for the visit, based on the Pacific youth advocacy we lead here in Christchurch through the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Trust (PYLAT).
Unlike the other Pacific countries we visited, I felt uncertain that it was the right time to be in Tonga. It was a time of deep pain, only weeks after the devastating Cyclone Gita.
I was told by some community leaders I travelled with that, with crops and livelihoods destroyed so close to the visit, it would be difficult for our hosts to have us there, and our visit was potentially distracting people from the immediate needs that most of us were in no way equipped to help with. I later learned that Tongan leaders had insisted the visit continue, so our national leaders and wider team could experience the manaakitanga of Tonga, and see the challenges firsthand.
As we spent time at places such as the Red
Cross logistics centre, with the late
LGBTQIA+ activist
Polikalepo
‘‘Poli’’ Kefu, visiting where leaders were now based due to the complete destruction of the Parliament buildings weeks before, each conversation and meal shared held generosity. This was a profound moment for me, seeing the heart of Tonga – putting others first.
Reflecting on the horrific images and stories in the wake of the eruption made me reflect on the other experiences of such deep care and ‘ofa (love), and that we in Aotearoa must not forget these when called upon as a people. Our Government must give deep support to Tonga and its people.
Jumping back to September 3, 2010, as a 14-year-old, my biggest worry was NCEA starting. But at 4.35am the following morning all the certainty of what I thought school and life would look like for the next few years vanished in a crescendo of shattering crockery, as the first Christchurch earthquake struck. As the damage and ongoing challenges started to become clearer, one thing stood out to me in particular, how the people of Tonga organised one of, if not the largest, per-capita fundraisings for Christchurch, donating $705,000.
As a child I had heard so few positive stories about who we were as Pacific people, let alone the media accurately showing that the Pacific was in a relationship with Aotearoa.
The generosity and global support Tonga has given is also remembered in a precious piece of tapa in our national museum, Te Papa. Printed on this tapa is the ‘‘Queen Salote’’ Spitfire, recounting that in 1941, £15,000 was raised in Tonga to contribute three Spitfires to the war effort – equivalent to about NZ$1.6 million today.
These are but two storiesreflecting the manaakitanga we experienced in Nuku’alofa in 2018. The generosity was also visible last year as part of the Dawn Raids apology ceremony. At the time, Pacific Peoples Minister Aupito William Sio said: ‘‘In 1986 the Race Relations Conciliator found that between 1985 and 1986, while Pacific peoples comprised roughly a third of overstayers, they represented 86 per cent of all prosecutions for overstaying. Racially targeting Pacific communities created a decadeslong false impression of the status of Pacific New Zealanders.’’
The speaker who stood out most was HRH Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili, of Tonga. She spoke with the authority of the royal family, and I would like her words to close out these reflections.
‘‘Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, the apology is a move in the right direction, in the right direction of the healing process ... as a beginning of a caring, closer and better relationship between your Government and future leaders, and our Pacific peoples at large.
‘‘The gifts are significant, very significant – indeed it symbolises the Government intention to mend the ‘va with my communities.
‘‘In that regard I accept the apology. However, love you Jacinda, the ‘va could be better and complete should the Government promptly respond to the immigation-related needs of our community...’’.
In coming weeks, please give however we can to help Tonga’s communities recover, but let’s also commit to learning more about the Pacific family in Aotearoa.