List MP SoSaturnistic writes the following Feminist Initiative statement regarding the Government’s line on a recent Feminist Initiative motion.

Friends, when I learned that the current Green-Labour coalition Government has taken the opportunity to cynically amend out the portions of a motion regarding humanitarian assistance I could not have been more disappointed.

For those who are not aware of what’s happened, the current Government backed an amendment to remove portions of the motion which called for a genuine needs-based refugee policy, instead of adhering to the current system which preferences certain countries over others. While we are happy to see broad consensus for the abolition of the ‘family-link’ requirement, without a fair regional allocation system we cannot have a credible humanitarian policy. We need one which puts human lives before political influence in a few Pacific capitals.

The stated reasons for the changes are uncompelling. The Minister cites a ‘climate refugees’ policy, however it was never properly enacted. This should not be legally accounted for in any quota allocation at this time.

Furthermore, the idea that we must base a humanitarian policy upon political concerns, such as developing relations with Pacific states, is flawed. There are certainly good reasons for focusing certain diplomatic initiatives towards our neighbours, but this is not one of those areas. Unlike economic and social development initiatives for example, granting certain refugees preference does not empower the sending countries over the long term. Instead it makes them more dependent on New Zealand and it ultimately perpetuates the same colonial relationships that Minister imnorabbit says this Government supposedly wants to avoid.

The idea that we should have political considerations at heart should be rejected when the real goal of humanitarianism is saving lives. The Government says we must maintain bonds with a certain region and that this ought to be reflected in refugee policy. However, it is the current Government’s line of reasoning which has facilitated biased and racist immigration policies in the past; when this country was closely aligned with the global British Empire, governments gave preference to British immigrants before others. Eventually this was dismantled not only because it was unfair and unjust, but also because it did not work. So when we are trying to minimise loss of life from humanitarian catastrophe, the last thing we need to do is to impose new barriers grounded in national origin. It makes our policy less effective at doing what it is meant to do.

These biased policies also reduce this country’s international standing and credibility when we try to encourage other states to do their part in resolving humanitarian crises. If we want others to take an effective approach to such crises and work with us, we must lead by example and take an unbiased stance ourselves.

The fact of the matter is that Minister imnorabbit has decided to put politics before humanitarian need. It is sad to see the rest of the Government follow, especially a Green-led one. The Green Party has long stood for anti-racist and humanitarian principles and this recent move has revealed the corrosive and toxic influence that the Labour Party has on Government policy. While we commend some of the few true Greens who rebelled, including the Social Development Minister, we in Feminist Initiative are disappointed that the Green Party have largely sold out on important traditional Green values to hold power. We hope that they reconsider their decision.

Ultimately we believe that the Government’s vandalism of the motion was a disappointing act. In light of this, we have petitioned the Speaker of the House of Representatives to withdraw the motion.