STRICTLY 4 THE ISLANDS

Otis Whinney

THE STATE OF THE (PACIFIC) NATION 

For many Kiwis, there is nothing more exciting than the annual 'State of the Nation' addresses delivered by our political parties to lay out their agenda. By many Kiwis, I actually mean none at all. But it does not change the fact that they did recently happen—and as we are in an election year, it could be somewhat important to see what these politicians have to say.

It may, however, be more pertinent to examine the actual state of our nation from the perspective of those who don’t spend their days yelling at each other in the Beehive. For the Pasifika community in Aotearoa, I would argue doing this is significantly more important. What Prime Minister Christpher Luxon says is good for all Kiwis may, in truth, only be good for some.

If you cast your mind back to the terrifying time that was the 2023 election season, you may recall a heavy emphasis on law and order. Images of young teens putting cars through the front of dairies, or the visual prominence of gang members in many people’s day-to-day lives made it an easy issue for National to campaign on—and it appears to have worked. 

Three years on, and Luxon’s laser-guided focus-missiles have struck criminals fast and hard. Measures have included expanded powers to detain people publicly displaying gang insignia, prison expansion, and a clear ideological shift around prisoner-numbers—namely, that more prisoners is seen as a positive outcome. 

Luxon recently fronted cameras to highlight what he says is success in reducing victims of violent crime. And the numbers don’t lie; according to the latest New Zealand Crimes and Victims Survey, violent crime victimisation has indeed fallen for the general population over this parliamentary term.

But numbers like these are never that simple. You don’t have to look further than the exact same survey to see that there has been a 42% increase in Pasifika victims of violent crime between October 2023 and October 2025, a number that paints these stats in a very different light. That represents around an increase of 5,000 victims is a pretty damning number— and one our glorious leader seems keen to leave by the wayside. Obviously, law and order only matters for certain groups of Kiwis cough cough cough. Luxon seems less keen to promote the stats on children living in material hardship, as most ethnic groups have seen an increase in the past few years. Even then, Pacific people have still been hit quite hard, with an increase of 6500 children in this group occurring between 2019 and 2024 according to the Salvation Army’s 2026 State of the Nation’ report. Unemployment—the scourge of countless Wellingtonian students—has also been rising at disproportionately high rates for our Pacific community. 

Taken together, these figures paint a rather grim picture of the state of the Pacific nation in Aotearoa. 

You may be wondering what the point is in highlighting all of these depressing statistics. The answer is simple: the coalition has no interest in addressing them, and frankly neither do most politicians in this country. 

To place all the blame on Luxon would be unfair. Many of these trends began under the previous Labour government. But even then, the solutions proposed by the Coalition have not produced better outcomes for many at-risk communities. 

Pacific people are not alone in this. Many of the same negative indicators are mirrored among Māori communities. The lack of attention paid to the real impacts of policy on these groups allows governments of any stripe to continue largely unchecked.

Whatever strategies this government is implementing to make people safer—whether it be gang-patch laws, new move-on orders, or expanded policing powers—it’s clear that these are not designed to benefit everyone. If they were, the numbers would look different.  

When Winston Peters—the man responsible for representing New Zealand on the global stage—goes on camera and declares his value for the “Pacific family” New Zealand sees itself as a part of, it's hard to take him seriously when the actual Pacific families in this country are doing it pretty bloody tough. 

Combine that with incidents such as Peters’ blatant xenophobia towards Cook Islander MP Teanau Tuiono (who was born in Aotearoa) after Tuiono referred to this country as Aotearoa—something that is neither illegal nor against parliamentary rules. Incidents like this make talk of a “Pacific family” sound more like political pandering than genuine commitment.

New Zealand First has long had this anti-immigrant streak in their platform, although it has often been directed at warning Aucklanders that the city could one day become a new Chinese province in a few years time. These days I guess anyone can be subject to the rhetoric, even people born here. 

It is also important not to forget how similar rhetoric has been used in the past in this country to justify terror campaigns by the Police and the proliferation of racist stereotypes by mainstream media. The most well-known examples came during the 1970s and 1980s under the Muldoon era, particularly during the Dawn Raids. 

The risk of repeating aspects of that period threatens not only Pacific communities but other growing migrant groups as well, including those from South Asia. Many of these communities continue to face levels of xenophobia that sit uneasily with the idea of New Zealand as a progressive nation.

I say all of this to point out simply that this government can say whatever it wants about how much it values the people who live here—their safety, prosperity, and so on—but it doesn’t mean shit if it doesn't apply to everyone. If I could leave you with anything to take home and ponder, it's that these guys can say whatever they want in their ‘State of the Nation’ speech, but if you look around, the actual state of the nation doesn’t lie.