Wednesday 20 November 2024 will go down in history as the day when 3,600 Samoans were given justice for an unlawful act 42 years ago.

A large number of people who deserve this justice are no longer among us. Once the bill is signed by the New Zealand Governor General, it will become law and Samoans aged between 76 and 100 years can apply to become citizens of Aotearoa.

The unanimous passing of the Citizenship Western Samoa Restoration Amendment Bill marks a small but significant victory. Appreciation should be given to New Zealand’s Green Party member of parliament Teanau Tuiono for championing this bill.

Tuiono, a Cook Islander did what many Samoans have tried over the years. If anything, this man deserves a matai title. Samoa needs to recognise a fellow Pacific islander by honouring with a title bestowment befitting what he has done for its people.

Aupito William Sio agrees and believes this would be a fantastic gesture. Let us wait and see who will be the first one to make the move.

Anae Arthur Anae who started pushing for the injustice to be corrected in 2003, admitted that he should have taken the path Tuiono did. Nonetheless, Anae and people like Aupito have backed the bill after it was selected to be put before the parliament.

Special thanks should be given to Samoans all over the world who supported the bill by writing submissions to the New Zealand Parliamentary Select Committee. More than 10,000 were from here and they were urged by the Mau a Samoa i le Siteseni 2024 committee.

People have waited decades for this justice. Many of the stalwarts believe this is not a complete victory. The bill was passed after amendments to it, so it won't apply to the descendants of those who were impacted by this racist law. This is the part that is considered a loss.

Those who were descendants will miss out, and so, therefore, it's a bittersweet victory. If the bill was passed in its unaltered form, 15,600 people would have become eligible for it.

The battle has been won but the war wages on. There will be a push to make amendments to the existing bill to include the descendants. This will require a lot of support but if anything the victory on Wednesday shows that we have a chance to right many of the wrongs done to Samoans at the hands of their colonisers. These lessons should become part of the school curriculum so our children never forget them and keep on striving for justice.

There should be a national celebration to mark this victory as well. But will that happen is a big question because the government from the very start has not supported the bill. It is scared that by declaring support for the bill, they would miss out on aid money. This needs to change. Put people before money.

Present and future Samoan governments must learn to operationalise the unique Treaty of Friendship with New Zealand. It almost feels that it's one-sided with New Zealand continuing to dictate to Samoa, especially around immigration matters, and Samoa allowing New Zealand to get away with making immigration visas expensive and difficult. Present and future Samoan governments need to toughen up and speak up against New Zealand being mean-spirited in their immigration rules.

Samoans have the right to move freely back and forth to visit families, attend funerals, celebrate birthday celebrations, weddings, the birth of children and many other functions, even watch a Super Rugby game.

Teanau Tuiono, Anae, Aupito and others you have done an amazing job of bringing justice to people who deserve it. We thank you. Hopefully, the government can learn from this action and stand up for its people when needed.