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This Is Home

Posted May 14, 2014

This Is Home: A 2014 update on the state of Pasifika people in New Zealand.

> Download This Is Home (PDF, 1.28MB)

In May 2013, The Salvation Army released the inaugural report More Than Churches, Rugby and Festivals: A Report on the State of Pasifika People in New Zealand. This 68-page report was the first time that the state of social progress for Pacific people in New Zealand was analysed in great detail.

We have titled our follow-up report This Is Home. Firstly, as a play on racist types of phrases and taunts that some Pacific people in New Zealand have been told, particularly during the Dawn Raids period of the 1970s where Pacific people heard such taunts as, ‘Go home!’ ‘Go back to your home in the Islands’. 

Secondly, this title signals the reality that for the majority of Pacific people in New Zealand, this country is indeed their ‘home’ now. The Pacific community is well-established here and is now predominantly a New Zealand-born population. Ties to the Pacific Island nations are still strong, but for many Pacific people, New Zealand is where they were born and have settled. Therefore, this is home now.

We focus on five of the main work areas that The Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit consistently monitors: children and youth, crime and punishment, work and incomes, social hazards, and housing.

We also offering focused discussions on specific critical issues. These include Pacific migrants from the Pacific Islands, Pacific people and housing, and Pacific youth unemployment. These brief focused discussion areas are offered to highlight these areas further, and to present some of the innovative responses, ideas and thinking seen across these areas.