"Kiribati people are their own failures, they weren't motivated. I couldn't get them to work," was the comment made to the Otago Daily Times [1] by Garry Maxwell-Smith, the Marlborough contractor who crammed 22 people into a three bedroom apartment.
The Department of Labour was reportedly investigating Garry Maxwell-Smith and his company Fore-Vintage Contracting, for treating migrant workers like so much garbage. To top it all off, 60 or so Kiribati workers have been sent home penniless [2] after the promised work has run out.
With the Pacific Forum in Niue next week, alarm bells should be ringing as Australia and New Zealand tighten their grip over the Pacific labour markets and plan to set up more schemes to tap into a vast pool of Pacific labour, which through seasonal work schemes can be mobilised and then dumped back into the labour pool with the ease of turning on a tap. Just 100% pure minimum wage labour. 100% New Zealand.
The future of the Pacific seems to be looking grim with these relevations, which come hot on the heels of leaked details [3] of Australia attempting to bully Pacific nations into a free trade agreement which will no doubt "lead to rising inequality, losses in government revenue, job losses, a reduction in the quality and supply of essential services and the closing off of policy space that governments use to stimulate development."