petition

=Pacific Languages and Literacy Petition=


 * REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION April.2011 KEEP THE PETITIONS COMMING IN- IT IS STILL OPEN WHILE WE ARRANGE THE PRESENTATION CEREMONIES IN LATE JULY EARLY AUGUST**

Kia ora! Fakaaue atu! meitaki maata! Vinaka! malo aupito! fa'afetai! malo lava to all of you for awesome help with the petition - to date we have collected about 3,000 signatures, and let's keep collecting signatures until presentation to Parliament .RETURN these copies ASAP See below for arrangements then -

I know this is a busy time but this is the opportune time when we see our students and their families a lot of our whanau and friends at home, at church,...- so it's a great time to have the petition handy in your bag or on the kai table. Sign before you eat... :)

T**ertiary Institutions get the students out there to collect signatures-Volunteers needed for Pasifika Festival Petition collection -Contact** - Feeonaa Wall wharewaka@hotmail.com asap. We can make a difference NOW

IGNORE THE 1 APRIL DATE ON THE PETITION
 * You can find a copy of the petition form by clicking here. PRINT OFF- COLLECT- SIGNATURES- RETURN these copies ASAP**

Why this Campaign is so Important
Thus this campaign has very far-reaching implications. It will decide what if any language and cultural rights and freedom from discrimination on the basis of language, NZ Pacific peoples have in New Zealand. In doing so it will address the wider issue of defining the future place of Pacific peoples in NZ society as part of the essential / central fabric of NZ society, or simply one among many immigrant groups who have migrated here.

It will be the first languages test of the Bill of Rights and the revised HR Act and NZ's international commitments to Human Rights conventions and provisions. As such it deserves to be supported by all Pacific communities, The legal -Constitutional, Human Rights. Child's rights, Indigenous rights, organisations and lawyers. Contact us if you can assist.

Kia Manuia & ofa atu Judy & John.


 * SEE also fuller statement on this site by Makarifi**


 * PPTA MInd Your Language Report on Pasifika Languages and What Needs to be Done Now**

Congratulations to the PPTA Team A wonderful report and an inspiration to us all

@http://www.ppta.org.nz/index.php/annual-conference/annconf-papers10/1357-annconf10-mindyourlanguagepaper

**The basis for the special status of Pacific Peoples including our languages and cultures in NZ**
http://www.justice.govt.nz.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/publications/publications-archived/2000/pacific-peoples-constitution-report-september-2000/publication

New 2010 Dec NZ Parliamentary Report on the Pacific
In December 20100 the NZ Government released a major Parliamentary Report from the Foreign Affairs and Trade Select Committee on the legal and constitutional relationship between NZ and the Pacific It confirms Leo Pacific's central argument that NZ has a special legal and constitutional relationship and responsibilities with and to Pacific peoples in NZ and in the Islands that is different from the relationship with other minority groups and migrants. While there are many ideas we do not agree with, the across Political parties agreed position is to support the legal findings of the 2000 Pacific Peoples Constitution Report (on MPIA website). **The report recommends for example that all NZ citizens in any part of the Realm ( Niue Cook Is ,Tokelau) are also entitled to equal access to facilities of an equal standard in education and health as citizens on the mainland Aotearoa. Our claims then that NZ has responsibilities to support and maintain the languages and cultures of NZ citizens in these countries takes a major legal and political step forward.( ask Judy for a copy of the report).**

Kia Manuia & ofa atu Judy & John.