“ China's active role in the Pacific has woken up Australia and NZ. Australia in particular has anti-Tongan and anti-Pacific Islands immigration policies still. Forget sugar coding Australian contributions to Pacific Islands because corrupted governments stuff their own pockets first.
2 years ago I asked her in a Press Conference in Tonga why Australia lacks behind NZ on allowing more permanent residents? At the time I quoted her statistics showing 65,000 Tongans residing in NZ, and U.S. respectively, but only 20,000 Tongans residing in Australia.
Her stupid answer was: "We cannot control where people want to migrate." She was addressing an uneducated Islander who is supposed to be ignorant of why only 20,000 Tongans are permitted to immigrate to Australia. I wrote at the time, "The Madam Minister must have no idea of people's migration trending." Her European ancestors came to Australia for sure on special visas for white people. And Australia still does have "white people preference" immigration laws. ”