rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Situational analysis of drug and alcohol issues and responses in the Pacific
130
Samoan ethnicity live in New Zealand, 626
with large populations also living in Australia
(over 17 000) 627 and the United States
(est. 91 000–120 000). 628 The significance of
these large migrant populations is threefold.
Pacific Islanders identifying with Samoan ethnicity
are well studied in relation to drug and
alcohol consumption patterns, particularly in
New Zealand; there is a high rate of funds
remittances to countries of origin; 629 and both
Australia and New Zealand are piloting seasonal
migration schemes with the potential
to impact on drug consumption patterns and
the need for interventions across the Pacific.
Though of significance, the demographic
data from the 2006 Census do not give an
indication of significant non-Polynesian ethnic
groups living in Samoa. 630 This is notable,
not least for the fact that colonial administration
of Samoa had a history of importing
Chinese labourers with the resultant reported
issues of opium addiction and distillation of
alcohol which may have shaped patterns of
use into the 21st century. 631
Government
Samoa has been independent of New Zealand’s
administrative mandate since 1962. 632
It is a relatively stable parliamentary democracy
with only one change in the elected
head of state, occurring in June 2007. 633
Samoa’s government consists of a Head
of State who swears in the Prime Minister
(elected by the Legislative Assembly) and appoints
Cabinet Ministers on the Prime Minister’s
advice. 634 Government stability will be a
key determinant in the Samoan government’s
ability to respond to issues such as drug
trafficking and cultivation, and allows continuing
participation in regional responses.
626 SHORE/Whariki & Massey University, Pacific Research & Development Services (2004), Pacific
Drugs and Alcohol Consumption Survey 2003: final report, vol.1. Auckland, New Zealand: SHORE.
627 Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Samoa Country Brief, available
at: (accessed October 2008).
628 (accessed
October 2008).
629 AusAID, Aid programs in Samoa, available at: (accessed October 2008); it is estimated that remittances as a
source of foreign exchange currently account for 20 per cent of Samoa’s GDP.
630 CIA above, fn.622.
631 B.F. Liua’ana (1997), Dragons in little paradise: Chinese (mis-) fortunes in Samoa, 1900–1950,
The Journal of Pacific History, 32(1): 29–48.
632 CIA above, fn.622.
633 AusAID above, fn. 629; Samoa Country Report to the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network
meeting, 5–10 December 2007.
634 CIA above, fn.622.