Green MP Keith Locke says New Zealand should ‘take a stand’ and plan ahead to support climate change refugees from the Pacific.
New Zealand needs to take climate change far more seriously, he believes. A massive earthquake on Friday unleashed a 10m tsunami that battered the north-east coast of Japan, triggered a nuclear plant emergency and caused devastation as far as Hawai’i and the west coast of California.
Locke also says Pacific tertiary students should not be “penalised” by coming to New Zealand.
The changes to mandatory residency requirements for student loans were “the complete opposite of what should be the case”, he said.
He spoke to the Pacific Media Centre on Pasifika Festival Day at Western Springs Park in Auckland in an interview about two topics of importance to Pacific Islanders – both in New Zealand and in the region.
Asked about the government requiring permanent residents to have lived in New Zealand for two years before they can apply for a student loan, Locke referred to the principle of positive discrimination, also known as affirmative action.
“If you look at the statistics, Pacific Islanders are under-represented when it comes to tertiary education,” Locke said.
“Instead of penalising people for coming to New Zealand, there should be positive reinforcement to encourage them.”
New residents with the hope of enrolling in tertiary study in New Zealand no longer qualify for student loans if they have not lived in the country as an “ordinary” resident for two years, as they will not have met the new requirements brought in by the government on 1 January 2011.
Studylink.govt.nz defines “ordinary resident” as meaning “that you consider New Zealand your home, you normally live here and intend to stay here permanently”.
‘Sharp end’ effort
Asked about climate change in the Pacific and the plight of Tuvalu, Kiribati and other island nations affected by climate change, Locke said New Zealand should take a stand to support its Pacific neighbours.
New Zealand should be committed to working closely with Tuvalu, in particular, to get the world to take climate change more seriously.
“Instead of standing off with other big countries, New Zealand should be working with the people on the sharp end of the stick affected directly by climate change,” he said.
Locke cited international talks hosted recently by the UN in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Cancun, Mexico, as an example of conferences on an issue being ineffectual.
Asked about his position on taking climate change refugees if necessary, he was positive about the idea.
“New Zealand should be planning ahead for climate change refugees – those coming from nations affected by climate change that can no longer support their population sizes,” he said.
“There is already a Pacific access policy, but there should be one that is climate change related”.
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