Polynesian Panther Party lapel badge

This lapel badge was worn by the Reverend Alec Toleafoa when he spoke at the official New Zealand Government apology for the Dawn Raids, held on Sunday 1 August 2021 at the Auckland Town Hall.

The badge commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) which was founded on 16 June 1971 by young urban Pacific and Māori activists, inspired by the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in the United States (founded in 1966). The Polynesian Panthers adapted the iconography of the American movement with military-style berets, black clothing and leather jackets, clenched fists, and the leaping panther symbol. Alec Toleafoa joined the PPP when still at high school.

The aims of the Polynesian Panthers were to highlight the needs of New Zealand’s growing Pacific communities, the racism and discrimination they experienced, including harassment by police. The Polynesian Panthers informed people of their legal rights, advocated for tenants (leading to the establishment of the Tenancy Tribunal), ran food co-ops and homework centres, helped with prison visits, promoted Pacific languages, held concerts, and supported Māori protests.

The Dawn Raids were the Government’s promise to ‘get tough’ on law and order and immigration in the 1970s. Raids took place in the early hours of the morning or late at night when police would enter homes to convict and deport so-called ‘over-stayers’. ‘Dragged out of their homes and sometimes schools, individuals and families were routinely demeaned and physically abused by police’ (Low, 2021). Police also stopped people in the street to ask for evidence of their right to be in the country, but the majority of people targeted in this way were Pacific people, despite Pacific people making up only one third of those overstaying their visas. The majority of over-stayers – British, Australians and South Africans – were not subjected to the same treatment. The Polynesian Panthers provided legal advice to victims.

Polynesian Panthers made submissions to the government for a state apology for the damage and hurt inflicted by the Dawn Raids of 1973-76. The strict criteria of apologies was met by the Dawn Raids – that a human injustice was committed and well documented, victims were from a distinct group, and continue to suffer harm as a result of the past injustice. (Two previous government apologies met this criteria, both delivered in 2002: the Chinese poll tax apology, and the apology to Samoa for the injustices arising from New Zealand’s administration of it.)

In the lead up to the apology, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated: ‘To this day, Pacific communities face prejudices and stereotypes established during and perpetuated by the Dawn Raids period. An apology can never reverse what happened or undo the decades of disadvantage experienced as a result, but it can contribute to healing the Pacific peoples in Aotearoa’ (RNZ, 14 June 2021).

In her apology speech on 1 August 2021, Ardern noted that ‘Many groups, such as the Citizens Association for Racial Equality, Ngā Tamatoa, Amnesty Aroha, and the Federation of Labour, took to the streets in protest of these actions. A prominent youth group was the Polynesian Panthers, a social justice movement that was founded in inner-city Auckland in June 1971. This movement operated to bring awareness to the treatment of Pacific peoples and to protest Crown actions and immigration policies. These protests, coupled with the increasingly negative public reaction, led to the end of the Dawn Raids in 1976.’

In his speech, Alec Toleafoa noted that ‘a frequent response from students is ‘disbelief’ that anything like the ‘Dawn Raids’ could happen and are appalled that it did happen in Aotearoa New Zealand…. The Panthers could see and feel that the greatest need for our people is not petitions to the leadership, pay back, or loud angry protest. We need healing and we need it now!

What we have done here today [cultural rituals of forgiveness] puts the relationship between Pacific Communities and the New Zealand Government on a new footing and moves us into another phase of relationship where beautiful things like restoration of broken trusts can begin and our common humanity honoured, and our dignity restored…. We are grateful to students and teachers many of whom are present here, who have wanted to learn about the Dawn Raids and asked the hard questions about the future of race relations and their own agency for change….

When it became known an apology would be given, survivor stories percolated to the surface, stories silenced by layers of guilt and shame… the act of sharing these stories is liberating, burdens shared, relationships deepened, and invisible walls dissolve, the healing has begun.’

References:
Ardern, J. (1 Aug 2021). Speech to Dawn Raids Apology. New Zealand Government. Speech to Dawn Raids Apology | Beehive.govt.nz
Low, A. (2021). At the break of dawn - Blog - Auckland War Memorial Museum (aucklandmuseum.com)
Toleafoa. A. (1 August 2021). Polynesian Panther Party Legacy Trust Response to the Government’s Apology for its Treatment of Pasifika People During the Period Known As the ‘Dawn Raids’, delivered at the Apology Ceremony, Auckland Town Hall (unpublished extracts).