"Colonized Pasts" Chapter Four - Looking Forward

Chapter Four: Looking Forward

“Life is made to look forward”1

Just as Samoan migrants spent parts of their lives in New

Zealand, ni-Vanuatu working in the orchards and vineyards of

Central Otago traveled to New Zealand to work for parts of

their year, while spending the remaining months in their

home islands. This irregularity was due to the seasonal

nature of harvest work. This chapter highlights the

experience of ni-Vanuatu in Central Otago, where oral

history fieldwork was conducted. It also interrogates how a

labour shortage in Marlborough’s wine growing districts was

stabilized by imported Pacific Island labour. The broader

macro-effects of globalization and regionalism in the

Pacific are considered, including the effects of neo-

liberalism, banking spheres, and foreign aid networks.

Other macro-structures, like the evolution of immigration

policy to fit labour needs, and employer use of work schemes

1 Rampage (Gittoes and Dalton Production, 2006).

135

to fulfill their needs, take on relevance. It is in this

context that I look at the partial integration of

postcolonial Vanuatu with global capitalism, and assess the

relevance of this integration for New Zealand in terms of

its ability to supply income. While the scheme used in

Central Otago does not represent a radical break from

patterns of the past, its novelty for New Zealand lies in

the source of the labour supply, as New Zealand had no

history of labour recruiting in Melanesia apart from Fijian

recruitment.

In North America, the half-open door system similarly allows

foreign workers to migrate from South to North for short

working visits.2 In Canada, a Seasonal Agricultural Workers

Program (SAWP) was established in 2004, to facilitate the

seasonal entry of Mexican migrants for agricultural labour

in tobacco, fruit and vegetables and greenhouses.3 New

Zealand similarly enabled temporary migration in light of 2 See Nigel Harris, The New Untouchables (London: I.B. Taurus, 1995).3 Over 10,000 Mexicans worked in Canada in 2002, producing over $80 million in remittances. Migrants from the Caribbean similarly work in Ontario, Canada (agricultural) and Florida (orchard work). “Embassy of Canada in Mexico,” www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca.

136

labour shortages, its Recognized Seasonal Employer Work

Policy (RSE) providing preferential access to Pacific Island

workers.4 This facilitated their temporary entry for work

in horticulture and viticulture.

Landscapes of Opportunity: Central Otago

Grapes were first planted in Central Otago in the 1860s and

1870s, led by the award winning grower, Jean Desiré Feraud.

Viticulturist Romeo Bragato’s 1895 report praised Central

Otago as a potential wine growing and fruit culture district

with a climate resembling of the Mediterranean.5 Following

his lecture in Dunedin, the Central Otago Vine and Fruit

Growers Association was formed. No major grape plantings

occurred after 1895 due to lack of interest from the

Department of Agriculture and a powerful temperance

4 Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Economic Development, September-October 2007. A 1986 Review of Immigration Policy recognized the need tointegrate Pacific work permit schemes with seasonal needs. See “Pacific Islanders in New Zealand – General - Immigrant Policy,”1984-1989, agencyABJZ, series 869, accession W4644, box / item 252, record 78/1, part 8, National Archives, Wellington.5 Romeo Bragato, “Report on the Prospects of Viticulture in New Zealand”September 1895. See Alexandra Museum – “Vines to Wines” Exhibition, National Film Unit Archives, Fruit Growing in Central Otago (Alexandra Museum) and John McCraw, A Fruitful Land: The story of Fruit Growing and Irrigation in the Alexandra-Clyde District, (Dunedin: Square One Press, 2005).

137

movement. From Feraud’s departure in 1882 to the Second

World War, little interest was taken in grape growing in the

region. The Public Works and Irrigation Department,

established 1936, took water to the fruit-land region.

Frost affected grape growers, who used burning oil pots to

fight it. The district was viewed as too cold for grape

growing in the 1950s by the Department of Agriculture.

Robert Duncan laid the foundations for the present-day wine

industry in Central Otago. Dr. Greta Cone insisted that

grapes from cooler climates like France or Germany should be

tried in the area. German vine cuttings of 19 varieties

were tried in Alexandra in 1972, a number of which could be

grown. Once the viability of commercial vineyards was

proven, a planting boom commenced, and summer fruits were

described as the new gold of the region. Regional histories

have yet to include the role of Pacific Islanders in the

harvest.

“This isn’t immigration” remarked a clerk at Seasonal

Solutions, Alexandra office, referring to the circular

138

labour migration of ni-Vanuatu to Central Otago. Seasonal

Solutions hires temporary workers for picking, pruning,

thinning, packing, sorting, fork lift driving and tractor

driving in New Zealand. The “cutting edge” work scheme

employing men from Vanuatu was not yet a government labour

scheme.6 The highly fluctuating character of seasonal

agricultural work made temporary work schemes suitable and

advantageous for New Zealand growers. In the Otago region,

the number of seasonal workers needed fluctuates from 4,500

to 5000 in January-February to 200 from July to September.7

Hawkes Bay’s labour needs peak in March at 17,700 and drop

in September-October when only 800-900 workers are required,

and the Bay of Plenty requires 12,000 in April-May.8

Migrants from Vanuatu in 2007-8 received $50/week for food,

earning contract rates for orchard work with apples,

nectarines, cherries and apricots and hourly wages for

vineyard work. Some 15 arrived via World Bank sponsorship,

6 According to Project Manager Craig Howard, April 2007.7 “Horticulture New Zealand” (pamphlet). 8 Ibid.

139

producing a total of 45 workers from Vanuatu during the

initial pilot period.

The group was hand-picked from a larger number of

applicants. Accommodation costs were deducted from wages,

and the men paid for necessities like steel-capped boots;

this “formula” worked the previous year for Pacific

Islanders working in Hawkes Bay.9 Vinyard contractor James

Dicey expalained that “backpackers and itinerant workers

worked well for a few days,” then developed “sore backs and

arms,” or were drawn away to the “glittering lights” of

Queenstown, whereas Pacific Islanders could stay to work for

the entire season.10 Overseas travellers are commonly found

in Central Otago orchards, most finding orchard contacts

online.11 Still, their numbers could not provide a stable

workforce.

9 Diane Brown, “Cool change for Vanuatuan workers,” Otago Daily Times, 30 January, 2007. 10 Ibid. 11 Otago Daily Times, January 9, 2008.

140

One leader of the group from Vanuatu, Patrick, related how

the group was “scattered” across the region; this scattering

was noticeable, where workers could be seen walking the

streets or stopping for an ice cream in Cromwell, Roxburgh

or Alexandra during time off work.12 On 27 April, the

Cromwell Bulletin advertised a Vanuatu String Band concert, as

did a hand-made sign at Cromwell’s New World Supermarket:

“The Amazing Vanuatu Vineyard & Orchard Workers String Band

& Vocal Concert…Not to be missed…Your opportunity to

contribute and enjoy with fellow Pacific citizens.”13 The

night featured dramatizations depicting Vanuatu’s history of

contact with traders, missionaries, explorers and black-

birders through mimicry and humour, an Oamaru stone carving

auction, Vanuatu trivia, and string band, choral, and gospel

performances.14 While the men dramatized missionaries’

appropriation of land through trade and the plight of

12 Pseudonyms are used here. See also Appendix 2, Figures 14 and 26.13 The Original Cromwell Bulletin, April 26, 2007, no. 1008, 1. See Appendix 2, Figures 8-13.14 See Video Insert and Video Log, Appendix 5. The Melanesian string band came to be associated with rural areas: it could signify modernity in the rural context, whereas in the urban context it could represent traditionalism. Lecture, “Approaches to Popular Music Research in PNG,” University of Otago Music Department Lecture Series, 28/05/2007.

141

missionaries in the islands, they made no direct links or

parallels between Vanuatu’s history of involvement with the

labour traffic and the current work scheme.

The local community responded enthusiastically, with

auctioned carvings received final selling bids of $65, $110

and $210. This money would go towards home island

communities. The Master of Ceremonies encouraged the

audience to “put that on your agenda…a Vanuatu holiday.”15

The gospel was introduced:

you will hear a lot of songs tonight about Christ…it is

because of where we come from … the white man (brought)

the gospel to Vanuatu…this time, we’d love to bring the

gospel back to New Zealand.16

Pride in Vanuatu’s independent status was evident, as the

Vanuatu flag was waved on stage.

15 Recording 1 – String Band Concert, Presbyterian Auditorium, Cromwell,April 27, 2007.16 Voice recorder, Folder A, 06/07 – Gospel Song with Introduction.

142

The group traveled to Dunedin in May 2007, visiting the

Warehouse in South Dunedin; they could be found purchasing

portable CD players, rechargeable batteries, blankets,

backpacks, suitcases, cell phones and sport bags. Some left

equipment behind in anticipation of return. A second group

from Vanuatu returned in mid-October for a working stay of

seven months, during which time a small group traveled to

Dunedin in early March, 2008, performing at the Saturday

morning farmer’s market and a local venue, and the next day

at their accommodation on the Otago Peninsula.17 These

additional performances raised funds to supplement income

earned in Central Otago.

4.1 Oral Histories: ni-Vanuatu in Central Otago

Interviews were conducted with a sample of workers on April

27-8, 2007 (see Appendix Six). Out-migration from Vanuatu

was in some contexts confined to “the acquisition of wealth

for a single purpose, most frequently, payment of school

17 See Appendix 2, Figures 27-30.

143

fees.”18 This trend was overwhelmingly confirmed by

respondents. Most ni-Vanuatu respondents enjoyed work in

New Zealand. Most were town dwellers and were previously

employed at home. They came from villages like Ranon,

Ranvetlam, Faramzu, Motalava, and Mele, with some having

previously worked in Port Vila. Orchard work was the most

difficult and its pay was not as good, as it depended on the

amount of work carried out by the individual. Vineyard pay

was hourly so the amount earned was the same regardless of

how hard one worked. The “export quality” cherries would

find their way to Taiwan and Malaysia, while bruised or

split cherries went to waste.

Those with family in Vanuatu were eager to return home to

spend time with their families, although some noted that the

contract was “too short” and wanted to extend their visas.

Some had wives that were employed in places like women’s

centres, as teachers and commercial bank tellers, or in

gardening; others had wives that were mainly preoccupied

18 John Connell, Migration, Employment and Development in the Pacific, Country Report: Vanuatu (Noumea: South Pacific Comission, 1985), 47.

144

with childcare. Families were temporarily divided, and

reunification periods were temporary as some would return

for second and third seasonal terms. The highly gendered

work scheme left wives in charge of very young children,

leaving the men to fraternize amongst themselves as a means

for social support. A small number remitted money home in

the mail on select occasions, and others, like Solomon,

James and Nicholas expressed interest in starting fishing or

tourism ventures, shops, or pig and chicken farms in the

islands with income earned in New Zealand.

The colder South Island climate was an adjustment, with one

respondent commenting that he was eager to return home “just

to run away from the winter.”19 Other adjustments included

having to cook without having prior knowledge of cooking.

Other challenges included the costs of goods in New Zealand,

and overcoming language barriers. One worker made comment:

things here are expensive…food and other things…back

home, back on the islands we grow our own food, we

19 Recording 1 – April 27, 2007. Interview with “Henry.”

145

don’t buy things from the shop…(we) fish in the sea,

hunt in the bush…life on the islands is free.20

Linguistic diversity was evident amongst the group, many of

whom spoke Western languages including English and French.

Many of the workers spoke English well while others had a

limited command of it, with many speaking island vernaculars

at work.

On Sundays the migrants made use of local churches.

Differences between New Zealand and home were evident, as

Nicholas, for example, expressed shock at the numbers of

cars and trucks present in New Zealand. The men interacted

with fellow workmates in New Zealand, including Brazilians

and Mexicans also employed in orchards and vineyards. Some

played soccer on their free time, watched television,

frequented the local town shops, rode bicycles, or went for

walks or car rides around the area. Richard, 45, revealed

that, working in Central Otago, he did not have much free

time, normally falling asleep soon after the work day was

20 Voice recorder, Folder B, 07/11 – Interview with “Richard.”

146

over. Many expressed gratitude for their employment in New

Zealand and were eager to return, while others, like Daniel,

missed Vanuatu while working in New Zealand.

Solomon revealed that, upon return for a third working

period in Central Otago, he would be promoted to the

position of vineyard supervisor. Here, upward mobility in

New Zealand could occur, despite the circumscribed nature of

the seasonal migration. Migrants were attracted by higher

wages in New Zealand that could not be earned in the home

islands, and saw migration as an opportunity to fulfill

obligations, like school fees, at home, and effect material

improvements upon their return, like building proper toilets

and improving their homes. Still, it was labour shortages

within New Zealand that articulated the demand for overseas

labour, and the length of working terms.

Vineyard Labour in Marlborough: Pacific and non-Pacific

Migrants from Thailand were reportedly lured in by false

promises and exploited in vineyards and orchards; a number

147

entered New Zealand illegally on the pretense of being

tourists, or jumped ship from Lyttelton before heading to

vineyard jobs.21 The explosion of vineyards in Marlborough

necessitated an “army of foreign workers,” and New Zealand

contractors were looking for ways to “clean up the

industry.”22 Some Thais were threatened to be sent home if

they did not agree to work in Cromwell, even though

Marlborough was the region specified on their visas, and one

couple left Marlborough to work a few weeks in Hastings yet

refused to work in Cromwell when asked to. The combined

result of labour shortages, immigration restrictions,

racism, and corruption in Thailand factored in to Thai

migrants’ vulnerability on New Zealand’s vineyards, whereas

similar complaints were not voiced by the ni-Vanuatu

workforce. A recent scheme introduced a small number of

Tongans as seasonal workers in Marlborough.23 In this way,

21 Yvonne Martin, “Bound to the Vines” and “Inquiry into exploited Thai Labour,” The Press (Christchurch), June 2 & 3, 2007, A1, D1-2. 22 Ibid. 23 See Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Economic Development, September-October 2007, 19.

148

Pacific Island labour continued to provide stability for the

industry.

4.2 Contextualizing Globalization

Neoliberalism privileged the marketplace and the

concentration of global and individual wealth, and Pacific

Islands were affected alongside other developing nations.

With globalization, culture became dislocated from

particular locales; globalization further encompasses

economic, political, and ecological circuits of

interdependence and accelerated flows of capital, labour,

goods and images, taking remote parts of the world into

contact with metropolitan life.24 Neoliberal globalization

privileged unrestricted capital flows, an unhindered global

market, and the increasing power of economy over the

state.25 In New Zealand, for example, immigration policy

had to adapt to the needs of orchardists and wine growers

24 See Jonathan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, eds., “A World in Motion,” The Anthropology of Globalization, (Malden, USA: Blackwell, 2002).25 See Heller, The Cold War and the New Imperialism, Chapter 8.

149

requiring of temporary labour. A great surge of capital

integration occurred in the 1980s, as globalization saw

labour-intensive industries employing foreign-born workers

on a large scale .26 This was accompanied by the relocation

of production to lower-waged and tariff-free zones. A

global assembly line of production catered to the

consumption needs of first world nations and the profit

motives of corporations. In the Pacific, globalization

accelerated with colonization, trade, labour mobility and

tourism as foreign interests saw economic opportunities in

the islands. Fiji opened its doors to foreign investment,

with garment operations often re-locating to Fiji from

nearby metropolitan centres like New Zealand. Capital

pulls from more developed economies attracted labour from

satellite regions, with dramatic effects on home island

economies.

The South Pacific remains peripheral vis-à-vis the global

economy, dependant on aid, trade, investment, and

26 See Harris, The New Untouchables.

150

migration.27 In the Pacific, the issue was not absolute

poverty; it was poverty due to “isolation, small size, and

lack of opportunities.”28 Remote island populations were

attracted to larger island urban centres, like Port Vila on

Efate Island in Vanuatu, and Apia on Upolu Island in Samoa,

attracted by market opportunities, goods and prospects for

employment in a wage economy. Cash affluence enabled

mobility for Pacific people, some of whom spent different

phases of their lives in different places, as evident with

the Samoans and ni-Vanuatu interviewed. While ni-Vanuatu

would spend parts of the year abroad and other parts of the

year at home, Samoans would spend larger portions of their

lives in New Zealand, taking on more permanent forms of

employment. Labour mobility was essential to maintaining

living standards in both cases.

Pacific Neo-liberalism, Banking, Regionalism and Foreign Aid

27 See Connell, “Paradise Left?”28 Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Conference on Environment and Development, Korolevu, Fiji (2004), 8.

151

Neo-liberal policy measures were increasingly endorsed by

Pacific Island regional institutions like the South Pacific

Forum (SPF), encouraging foreign investment and reduced

trade barriers. Fiji – Opportunity from Adversity (1988) was the

first neo-liberal economic policy guide proposed to a

Pacific Island state. Global power relations became

entrenched through neoliberal policies, preached by economic

advisors in Pacific Islands, with Pacific Island governments

endorsing their recommendations with few alternatives;

private investments were attracted by freedoms to repatriate

profits, political stability, economic de-regulatation, and

land tenure security.29 The post-colonial Pacific remains

oriented towards export and dominated by private

investments. Light manufacturing in Samoa attracted foreign

investment, and its government remained opposed to unionism.

This rendered Samoan labour attractive to foreign capital,

which could employ a large number of islanders. Low labour

costs motivated New Zealand, Australian and Japanese

29 See Claire Slatter, “Neo-liberalism and the Disciplining of Pacific Island States” in Pacific Futures, edited by Michael Powles (Canberra: Pandanus, 2006).

152

companies to develop Pacific operations.30 Macro-

structures and external decisions affected the lives of

individual islanders in this way.

A number of regional economic agreements came into

existence: The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement

(PICTA) eliminated trade barriers between members, the

Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER)

protected Australian and New Zealand trading interests in

Pacific Island markets vis-à-vis other developed countries,

and SPARTECA (South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic

Cooperation Agreement) allowed duty-free access of Forum

nation products to New Zealand and Australian markets.31

Structural adjustment in the Pacific reflected a

geopolitical order and regime of free trade framed in the

interests of developed nations and transnational

corporations, with neoliberal marketing conflicting with

Pacific values, emphasizing individualism and private 30 See De Bres, Harris and Campbell, Migrant Labour in the Pacific.31 Wadan Narsey, “PICTA, PACER and EPAs” in Pacific Futures, edited by Michael Powles (Canberra: Pandanus, 2006). Nine Pacific Island countriessigned PICTA in 2001. Samoa also signed with the World Trade Organization and Vanuatu applied to join.

153

accumulation.32 Still, these introduced values did not

fully overcome communal and familial systems of wealth and

reciprocity, only intersecting with them in new ways. For

example, wages earned in New Zealand would be shared with

community members in the islands; in this way, work in an

individualist environment could translate into benefits for

home communities.

Foreign banks entered the Pacific in the nineteenth century,

with spheres of economic influence mirroring patterns of

colonial activity. American, Australian and French banks

came to dominate the region, which has succumbed to

financial globalization. With independence, many Pacific

nations adopted new currencies and opened domestic banks

that were ultimately swallowed by foreign banks.33 In

Independent Samoa, the locally owned National Bank of Samoa

and Samoa Commercial Bank operate alongside ANZ (Samoa) and

32 See Claire Slatter, “Neo-liberalism and the Disciplining of Pacific Island States” in Pacific Futures.33 Adrian E. Tschoegl, “Foreign Banks in the Pacific: A note,” Journal of Pacific History 40, Issue 2 (Sept. 2005): 223.

154

Westpac Bank Samoa.34 In Vanuatu, foreign banks account for

90% of banking assets. Both Samoa and Vanuatu peg their

currencies to “baskets of currencies” relevant to their

external commercial relations with fixed exchange rates

adopted to ensure stability. One ni-Vanuatu interviewed

worked previously at a Westpac bank in Port Vila. Banks

could gather income for migrants, enabling the transfer of

earnings to the home islands.

Post-colonial Pacific regionalism saw small island states

rallying together to voice their interests and concerns.

Regional institutions and advocates promoted labour fluidity

and labour market access. New Zealand provided aid to the

former New Hebrides, funding sawmilling, education, radio-

telecommunications, and an inter-island landing barge.35

Seeking to improve the marketing of New Hebrides produce,

there were attempts to bring outer islands into more

intensive development. Regional and national interests

34 See Appendix 3 for more on foreign banking in Samoa and Vanuatu.35 “Foreign Aid – Foreign Aid Pacific Area Vanuatu New Hebrides, 1974-1986”, agency ABKK, series 889, accession W4357, box / item 642, record 103/2/6, part 1, National Archives, Wellington.

155

often coincided with aid projects. Aid to the Pacific was

dominated by Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United

States, as well as England and France.

Australian and New Zealand aid to the region would continue

as neither wanted slums to develop “in their backyards .”36

Postwar aid to the Pacific also came from the IMF, World

Bank, European Economic Community and Asian Development Bank

on condition that business environments were deregulated.37

Vanuatu, for example, took an IMF loan in 1983 to take its

stake in the Banque Indosuez Vanuatu (BIV). The World Bank

further funded travel costs for fifteen recruits from

Vanuatu to Cromwell in 2007. Vanuatu was structurally

dependant on official aid in the absence of private

transfers via remittances.38 Some recruited to Cromwell,

however, did send home remittances, infusing internal aid to

the home islands. James, for example, remitted $400 home on

36 Bauer, Siwatibau and Kasper, Aid and Development in the South Pacific, vii-ix; 90. 37 Ibid., ix-5. 38 See T.K. Jayaraman and Bert D. Ward, Aid Effectiveness in the South Pacific Island Countries: A study case of Vanuatu, (Canterbury: Lincoln University, Commerce Division, July 2006).

156

two occasions, supplying his family with a form of direct

aid. At its worst, government aid transfers fuelled Pacific

Island urbanization and bureaucratization, unevenly

distributed amongst a government-employed elite slow to meet

popular demands.39 While postcolonial indigenous governance

could include and empower, it also enabled corruption.

For Foreign Minister Winston Peters, “even spending 100% of

[New Zealand’s] aid in the region would not solve its

problems.”40 Metropolitan paternalisms were evident with

aid patterns. Still, reliance on the goodwill of more

powerful neighbours was a tempting path for small island

nations with few resources.41 In 1988, Vanuatu received $29

million in foreign aid, and Western Samoa received $19

million; per capita, Vanuatu received $195 and Western Samoa

$113.42 Small islands with few resources opted for special

39 Ibid., 92-4. 40 Dominion Post, “New Zealand Aid builds a better Pacific,” 11 June 2007.41 Savenaca Siwatibau, “Some Aspects of Development in the South Pacific,” in Aid and Development in the South Pacific. 42 In 2002, aid per capita to Vanuatu was US $133. See T.K. Jaramayan, Financial sector development and private investment in Vanuatu, (Christchurch: Macmillan Brown Center for Pacific Studies, and University of the South Pacific Institute of Pacific Studies, 2003).

157

relationships with regional or world powers, the “dutch

disease,” or tendency to live off aid and remittances,

proving “logical and even optimal” for many island

countries.43 Two studies (2003 and 2004) were highly

critical of foreign aid’s effectiveness in Vanuatu, and

Australia threatened to reduce its aid to Vanuatu if it did

not prioritize good governance.44 Still, the postcolonial

era was characterized by increased regional integration and

interdependence.

Aid to the Pacific is predicted to come increasingly from

Asian sources; China and Taiwan, for example, provide aid

without the requirement of good governance. In this way,

Pacific Island nations are not solely dependant on the West

for aid. Japan provided aid for the National University of

Samoa in 1997 when Western donors wanted Samoa to confine

its secondary education to the University of the South

43 Poirine, Two Essays on Aid and Remittances, 74-6.44 See T.K. Jayaraman, “Foreign Aid and Economic Growth in Pacific Islands,” Pacific Island Forum Report, University of the South Pacific, February 2007 (www.forumsec.org) and Vijay Naidu, “Development Assistance Challenges” in Pacific Futures.

158

Pacific.45 Australia and New Zealand were providers of much

of the “hardware and software” for the region’s development,

while Japan had interests in the Western Pacific and growing

interests in other Pacific Island affairs.46 Australia and

New Zealand each pay a third of Pacific Island Forum

operation costs.47 New Zealand and Australia persist as

regional powers.

Vanuatu in a Globalizing Context

“Everyday, I have nothing to do…I hit the road, I am an S.P.R. man…

We are the S.P.R.s, we don’t have work to do….” 48

For Bernard Mullu Narokobi, Melanesia was invaded by a tidal

wave of Western colonization and Christianization that

45 See Ron Crocombe “Regionalism above and below the Forum” in Pacific Futures and Appendix 2, Figure 24. Japan also engaged in milling and timber production in Samoa, with a joint Japanese-Western Samoan companyemploying Samoans at Alaoa and Leufisa in 1968. See Samoa Times, 5 January, 1968, 3.46 See Thomas Adams, Western Interests in the Pacific Realm, (New York: Random House, 1967).47 See Mary Boyd, “The Record in Western Samoa Since 1945” in New Zealand’sRecord in the Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century.48 Unicef and Aus Aid, Kilim Taem (1988).

159

destroyed Melanesian treasures while leaving “much

rubbish.”49 Indeed, former colonial powers are held

accountable for problems affecting postcolonial states.

Indeed, at independence, Vanuatu went from rich to poor and

in the period following “from poor to poorer.”50

Unemployment was a dire issue in 1980s Port Vila, where

youth became “SPRs” (sperem public rod – spearing the public

road) or those who “hit the road.” Town life proved

expensive and money-dependant and urbanization contributed

to social instability and crime. Traditional ways were

sometimes hard to follow: one could “walk straight” by

following custom, whereas probflems were encountered in

town.51 School fees were an issue for many and young city-

goers often suffered from alcoholism. By 1989, some 90% of

the population had no education or only primary school

education.52 Wan Smolbag Theatre’s Kasis Road uses drama on

film to depict how school fees, alcoholism, overpopulation

49 Bernard Mullu Narokobi, “The Melanesian Way” in Renaissance in the Pacific, Ethnies: Human Rights and Tribal Peoples 4, no.8-10 (1989): 97-8.50 Ephraim Kalsakau, “The Labour Movement” in Melanesian politics, 412. 51 Unicef and Aus Aid, Kilim Taem. 52 Connell, Migration, Employment and Development (Vanuatu), 107.

160

and impoverishment affected a suburb outside of Port Vila.53

One ni-Vanuatu confessed going to town to shop and explore

the goods available even though he had no money.54 While

the cash economy was limited in remote and rural island

areas, it infiltrated Vanuatu’s import economy, medicine,

schooling, churches and community obligations.55 Still, one

could live a good life subsisting on gardens.

Some respondents in Cromwell engaged in garden work at home,

growing crops like yams, bananas, taro, cabbage, manioc and

kumara. Many were urban dwellers, previously employed in

town. The attractiveness of the New Hebrides as a tourist

destination was increasingly emphasized in printed media of

the 1970s. Vanuatu’s women increasingly entered the labour

force through the hotel industry.56 Private investments in

Vanuatu were focused on hotel accommodation; they

accompanied a regional increase in investor interest in

tourism. Tourism brought in increasing numbers of foreign

53 Kasis Road (Port Vila, Vanuatu: Wan Smolbag Theatre, 1997).54 Unicef and Aus Aid, Kilim Taem. 55 Jaramayan, Financial sector development and private investment in Vanuatu, 17.56 Weightman and Lini, eds., Vanuatu, 261-7.

161

visitors, accelerated by improved air access. Tourism grew

dramatically in 1989-90, with 39,000 visiting Vanuatu by air

in 1991.57 Cruise ships frequented the islands, having a

lesser impact on the economy. Tourism’s earnings rose to

5093 (in VT million) by 1995.58 It could generate

individual income, yet was often linked to environmental

destruction.59 Tourism employed ni-Vanuatu while serving

foreigners, with performances carried out in Port Vila

hotels offering income for some. Oral histories suggested

interest in developing tourist facilities with overseas

earnings. James, for example, while working at a hotel in

Vanuatu, was “not making much money, like $80 for a week,”

so he planned to come to New Zealand “to earn some money to

go back and (start) my own resort in the island in the

northern part of the country.” Hotel income in Vanuatu was

not as good as that offered by seasonal wage work in New

Zealand.

57 Jaramayan, Financial sector development, 13-92. More than half of visitors were Australian.58 Ibid.59 See John Fallon, The Vanuatu economy (Canberra: Australian InternationalDevelopment Assistance Bureau, 1994).

162

Port Vila became a destination for offshore finance, acting

as a tax haven since 1971. Sea wealth, pigs and poultry,

and rural crops were essential to the new economy.60

Vanuatu offered comparatively high wages for employment in

manufacturing. Cash collected in New Zealand would be

funneled towards development at home and family obligations.

The communalization of income and wealth persisted amidst

structural changes. Arnold, for example, distributed sea

wealth to village families rather than selling it on the

market.

Interdependencies with New Zealand

As a regional power and former colonial power, New Zealand

retains deep connections to the Pacific Islands. Relations

with former dependencies proved stronger, yet economic

imperatives took other island groups into closer contact

with New Zealand as employers looked to fulfill labour

needs. Structurally, New Zealand retained a position as

employer, educator, industrial producer and consumer,

60 See Weightman and Lini, eds. Vanuatu and Connell, Migration, Employment and Development (Vanuatu).

163

maintaining friendly links with neighbouring islands.

Vanuatu’s integration with capitalism benefited New Zealand,

where labour could commute to host nation to earn wages in

compensation for labour. While the voices of migrants may

convey the ways in which structural forces or circumstances

are negotiated and mediated, they can never fully impart the

broader picture. Still, oral histories prioritize personal

voices and as such, help construct a people’s Pacific

history.

164