Government to say sorry for tax on Chinese

The Government is to apologise to the Chinese people today for forcing them to pay a poll tax from 1881 until 1944.

Prime Minister Helen Clark will attend celebrations today to mark the Chinese lunar New Year and a spokesman says she will make an announcement then, but he will not comment on its nature.

It is understood from Government sources that her speech will include an apology for what is seen as a historic wrong.

But National MP Pansy Wong is not happy at the way the deal is being done.

In a newspaper article yesterday Mrs Wong, who is Chinese, claimed that the Government was aware of the poll-tax issue but was ignorant of the depth of feelings and divided opinions.

"It has been quietly putting together a package, but there has been scant consultation with those affected because it has been convenient for the Government to keep the issue out of the public eye while trying to stage an announcement for Chinese ears only," Mrs Wong wrote.

She said the issue demanded wider consultation if there was to be genuine reconciliation.

"The majority of the people affected would want their stories told, recorded, understood - and would like their dignity and worth as New Zealanders to be finally acknowledged," Mrs Wong said.

"But it seems they will have as little to say today as they did some 120 years ago when the 1881 Chinese Immigration Act was passed."

Under that legislation, each Chinese immigrant had to pay a £10 ($20) entry tax. Other taxes were imposed on Chinese shipping and cargo tonnages.

The tax was used to force Chinese out of the country and was ended only in 1944.

Mrs Wong claimed the Government was trying to impose a unilateral announcement.

"The Chinese community does not exist to rubber-stamp [the Labour Government's] guilty conscience.

"Labour union leaders of old were among the greatest agitators against the Chinese migrants."

Mrs Wong called for a more considered approach, with a parliamentary select committee receiving oral and written submissions and personal stories.

Around 84,000 ethnic Chinese live in New Zealand.

China, Taiwan and India are New Zealand's biggest sources of migrants today.

- NZPA