Pacific peoples, New Zealand housing-related political rhetoric and epistemic violence

Abstract

On 1 August 2021, then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a formal apology for the historical violent policing of Pacific people during the 1970s Dawn Raids. The Dawn Raids were state-sanctioned police raids and random street checks targeting solely Pacific Island overstayers primarily in the Auckland area (Ongley & Pearson, 1995). Within the last decade, a nationwide housing crisis has emerged in Aotearoa New Zealand reflecting the impacts of a combination of factors: a sharp decline in homeownership, a shortage of affordable quality homes and an increasing demand for emergency housing (Bourassa & Shi, 2017; White & Nandedkar, 2019). Al Jazeera’s recent investigative documentary New Zealand: A Place to Call Home (2020) explores the housing crisis with a specific focus on the rental market. The documentary opens by exploring the efforts of the advocacy group Auckland Action Against Poversity (AAAP) to house Aucklanders.