Abolition of the Poll Tax, The Apology, The Future?

[kiwese]

Hi everybody,

My name is Kristen, I run the NZ-China arts/culture blog www.kiwese.co.nz, which focuses on topics from cultural identity, alternate histories, to independent music and art. I am planning to write a piece about the abolition of the Poll Tax and the impacts today, hopefully providing a fresh, modern take on an old, sad tale.

I have previously covered the Sino-Jap War refugee allowance on Kiwese in my interview with Helen Wong last year: kiwese.co.nz/2014/10/10/the-75th-anniversary-of-chinese-war-refugees-in-new-zealand/ 

For this piece, the key areas I am interested in are as follows.

- The 'rationale' for the Poll Tax at the time? A white NZ stemming from the original colonial dreams of a "Britain in the south," and how those same values are still perpetuated today vis a vis the "Chinese are depriving hard working Kiwis of their dream homes" debacle (see: kiwese.co.nz/2015/07/13/year-of-the-scapegoat-responding-to-phil-twyford-on-chinese-sounding-names/ for a piece I wrote earlier this year).

- Why was it abolished? Was there some political/economic incentive at the time to allow more migrants after the war?

- Maori views on the Poll Tax, considering the enormous hypocrisy of a colonising empire that subjugated the indigenous people of the land, then complaining of a so called 'invasion' by the Chinese.

- Personal family stories. The abolition of legislation did not automatically lead to acceptance of Chinese, much like the end of apartheid in South Africa did not end racism. Primary sources of people who experienced NZ before and after the Poll Tax.

- The Helen Clark apology in 2002, the reaction, the implications of it today. How it fits into a greater string of apologies for NZ's cruel colonial practices against Chinese people, Maori, Samoa, the Pacific... Why have Canada and Australia not apologised for similar taxes?

- The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust - the goals, the future.

- Education. I know there are members of the community who are working to see Poll Tax history incorporated into the national curriculum. I would like to hear from them about this. The way NZ teaches history needs to change - it impacts the way mainstream NZ views itself, it's values, who belongs and who does not. Unfortunately the Poll Tax is only one grey area of history to be excluded from the curriculum. History needs to be taught, no matter how unflattering it is! The history will inform the future!

WANTED: Digital resources!

- I am looking for are the commissioned reports into the Poll Tax by Nigel Murphy in the mid-90s. I am in Chengdu and cannot get down to the archives to look at the hard copy. Anyone got a digital copy?

- If there are related excerpts of Turning Stone Into Jade? Windows on a Chinese Past?

- Any academic essays, research papers or articles related to these matters.

Ideally I would like to publish the article for 15 December, to mark the date of the abolition, however if research and interviews are not completed by then, I could publish next year to mark the date of the apology in 2002.

If you have any comments to contribute, or even just to discuss these ideas further, I'd love to hear from you here, or at [e-mail]. I would like to speak with those knowledgable in these areas, people involved with the apology and process, Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust, NZCA, NZ historians, as well as other PT descendants that were not necessarily involved in the apology.

Thanks all

Kristen
www.kiwese.co.nz

[NZBC]

Time to reflect on historic poll tax apology
Raymond Huo | 14 Feb 2014

This year marks the twelfth anniversary of the historic poll tax apology by the Labour Government which healed many wounds for the Kiwi Chinese community and strengthened New Zealand’s legacy as an inclusive and welcoming multicultural society.

It was during the last Year of the Horse celebrations in 2002 that the then Prime Minister Helen Clark made the official apology to the Chinese community on behalf of all previous New Zealand governments for the racially discriminatory legislation.

While celebrating the Chinese New Year, which culminates today with the Lantern Festival in Auckland, Kiwi Chinese people nationwide are remembering the historic apology and celebrating New Zealand’s diverse and inclusive society.

Labour’s first Chinese-born MP Raymond Huo says the turn of the 12-year Chinese lunar calendar is a poignant time for the community to reflect on the history of the poll tax as well as the continued growth of our Kiwi Chinese community in New Zealand.

“The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 imposed a poll-tax of ten pounds per Chinese person and limited the amount of Chinese people who were able to enter New Zealand, something no other ethnic group was subjected to. The racially discriminatory legislation caused Chinese people in New Zealand to feel a sense of grievance.

“Celebrations of the Year of the Horse are also an important opportunity to remember and pay tribute to those early pioneers who paved the way for future Chinese migrants to make a life of opportunity in New Zealand.

“On this occasion it is timely for us to remember and mourn respected Chinese academic Emeritus Professor Kuan Meng Goh who sadly passed away in January this year.

“Professor Goh was instrumental in initiating the historic apology to the Chinese community for the poll tax, as well as offering invaluable service to the Chinese communities both in Christchurch and across New Zealand.

“While celebrating Chinese New Year with local communities across New Zealand, I’ve had people sharing with me the Chinese saying that urges us to remember when drinking water, don't forget those who dug the well.

“Over the Spring Festival Labour is paying tribute to those early settlers and offering a vision of a diverse society that offers fairness and opportunity for all,” Raymond Huo said.


www.labour.org.nz/media/time-reflect-historic-poll-tax-apology

[NZBC]

Certificates of Registration and Poll Tax Registrations

Topic

These files held at Auckland Archives date from 1886 to 1917. Most files contain two formal photographs, two copies of the Certificate of Registration, and a hand ruled sheet filled in on return to New Zealand with the Chinese and English signatures (if possible), thumb prints, name of ship and date of arrival. There are also photos and other miscellaneous documents. They were all collected by Customs, Auckland. Information gathered from Auckland Archives by Beverly Lowe and Helen Wong.



In 1881 the Chinese Immigrants Act was introduced where Chinese paid a Poll Tax of £10. In 1896 it was amended to increase the Poll Tax to £100. Chinese returning to China and intending to return to New Zealand were required to obtain an “Exemption Certificate” from having to pay the Poll Tax again on their return. From 1896, a photo was left with a European of standing who would meet the person returning and sign a certificate of identification for Customs. Friendly respectable Europeans were at a premium for illiterate Chinese and some had to resort to using a lawyer. Fearing cases of fraud, from 1887, details of personal appearance such as height, build, and other particulars to aid identification were added to the certificate.

Persons applying for exemption had to apply in person, give proof of previous Poll Tax payment and corroborative evidence from shipping records which checked the payment, name, ship, date of arrival and names of fellow passengers. From 1900, “Provisional Exemption Certificates” enabled the person to return to China while records were searched but abolished two years later because of the difficulties in searching for shipping papers. Fingerprints of both hands were added onto the back of the Exemption Certificate from 1904 plus Chinese and English signatures, photos and four fingerprints of each hand.

The Chinese Immigrants Amendment Act 1907 required Chinese to read to a customs officer an English passage of 100 words at Standard 4 level. From 1920, the thumbprints and the reading test were considered unnecessary.

In 1908 the Exemption Certificate was renamed the Certificate of Registration and persons were granted an absence of four years with extensions obtainable. If the person returned to New Zealand within four years, he was not liable to sit the reading test if he satisfied the Collector of Customs his identity. On return to New Zealand, the Tax was paid as a deposit which was returned once identified. From 1911 thumbprints were reintroduced instead of fingerprints. This certificate was produced in duplicate with one copy taken away by the applicant and matched with the other kept by customs on his return.

Bibliography

Ng, James. Windows On A Chinese Past. Vol 3. Otago Heritage Books 1999.


chinesecommunity.org.nz/site/topics/show/361-certificates-of-registration-and-poll-tax-registrations

[NZBC]

Monday, May 27, 2013
The Poll Tax in New Zealand
I became curious about the poll tax when a customer requested a book by Nigel Murphy called 'The Poll Tax in New Zealand' (1994). The research and writing of this book was commissioned by the New Zealand Chinese Association. The book highlights the NZ government's involvement in discrimination against Chinese settlers and the hardships they suffered as a result of the steep poll tax they had to pay when moving to NZ (see post on 19 March 2013)..

The NZ government introduced the poll tax in 1881. Under the Chinese Immigrants Act only Chinese immigrants had to pay the poll tax. The tax was a response to anti-Chinese attitudes in European settler society after an economic slump and increasing competition for jobs.

Ref: 31-60218, Mr Going, 1910, Sir George Grey Special Collections
Initially the poll tax was £10 per head. In 1896 the Act was amendment and the tax raised to £100 per head. This was an astronomical cost then - £10 is the equivalent of $1560 today and £100 equates to around $17600.

A 1908 article in the Dominion newspaper describes the process Chinese settlers had to endure when paying the poll tax. Name, origin, occupation, destination and fingerprints of both hands were all recorded as evidence of payment.

Ref: AWNS-19330301-34-3, hostilities between Japan and China, 1933, Sir George Grey Special Collections
The poll tax was collected until 1934 when Japan invaded Manchuria (reported in The Auckland Weekly News). It was finally repealed in 1944 - NZ was the last country in the world to do so. Research such as Murphy's book finally brought the poll tax under public scrutiny in the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually, in 2002, the NZ government made a formal apology to the Chinese community and The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust was set up to assist descendants of people who had to pay this debilitating and expensive tax.

Back to the customer who requested the book – her grandfather, who had paid the poll tax, appeared in the book. She was literally on her way to China and had arrived at the Central Auckland Research Centre just before closing and was thrilled to see the book.

Ref: 4-2212, looking north west along Cook St from Hobson St, showing the Chinese Mission Centre (on left), 1928, Sir George Grey Special Collections
For more information, Auckland Libraries has a number of heritage resources relating to the poll tax. Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o Kāwanatanga also holds some poll tax records, and has an online exhibition. Other Chinese related resources include The Chinese Digital Community, which is a collaboration between Auckland Libraries and the New Zealand Chinese Association and the Chinese in New Zealand website.

Author: Emma Chapman, Central Auckland Research Centre

heritageetal.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/the-poll-tax-in-new-zealand.html

[NZBC]

Footprints of the Dragon examines immigration from China and Taiwan, through interviews with three families: the Kwoks, already into their fifth generation down under; and two families from Taiwan, who are far more recent arrivals. One woman is forced to return frequently to Taiwan, to earn money for the family. The documentary also examines discrimination against early Chinese migrants in the late 1800s, who were required to pay a 100 pound poll tax. The episode is directed by Listener film critic Helene Wong, herself a third-generation Chinese-New Zealander.

www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-footprints-of-the-dragon-1994

[NZBC]

Some problems that chinese people overcame

Legislation, policies and politics

Happenings from:

1895 – 1900

The Chinese Immigration Act: letting Chinese in to New Zealand to work.

Tonnage restriction for Chinese raised to one to 100 tonnes: for every 100 tonnes of cargo a ship brought to New Zealand from China, only one Chinese person was allowed to enter New Zealand. This restriction was only placed on Chinese immigrants.

Old age pension introduced: Chinese not included even if naturalised citizens. Older people don't have to pay a higher poll tax. Old Chinese still had to pay when returning to New Zealand even if they were born in New Zealand.

1901 – 1947

Opium prohibition act: opium was a very important drug to the Chinese. It stopped them from getting hungry so they could work longer. When the law was put in against the Chinese people opium was the only illegal drug in New Zealand.

New Zealand police allowed to go into Chinese houses without a search warrant: police cannot go into other peoples houses without asking.

Lionel Terry murders Joe Kum Yung: Lionel killed Joe because he didn't like him because he was Chinese.

Wellington highlights the "yellow peril": Wellington (New Zealand's capital) made the Chinese most unpopular.

Abolition of the poll tax: the poll tax was something that the Chinese had to pay to get into New Zealand but since it has been abolished (made no more) the Chinese don't have to pay to get in to New Zealand.

Pension granted to old naturalised Chinese citizens: the Chinese were allowed to not pay all the taxes.



www.livingheritage.org.nz/schools/primary/wakari/chinese-people/some_problems.htm

[NZBC]

Asian Report for 15 October 2013 - poll tax research

Updated at 4:38 pm on 15 October 2013

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Professor Manying Ip is an academic of great standing in New Zealand, and one of the first researchers to help uncover a buried history concerning our Chinese New Zealand community - to discourage "alien immigration", Chinese had to pay one hundred pounds each to enter the country. The Poll Tax was finally abolished in 1944 and in 2002 New Zealand became the first country in the world to issue a formal Poll Tax Apology. There are currently around 20,000 poll tax descendants living in our country.



From Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm

This story was broadcast on Tuesday 15 October 2013
Recent stories from Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm


www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2572877/asian-report-for-15-october-2013-poll-tax-research

[NZBC]

Dr Manying Ip PDF Print E-mail
Written by Lachlan
Sunday, 22 July 2007

THE POLL TAX APOLOGY/THE PRIME MINISTERIAL APOLOGY FOR THE CHINESE POLL-TAX

The Year of the Horse (which started on 12 February 2002) should be an auspicious year for New Zealand’s Chinese community. On Chinese New Year’s Day, the Prime Minister hosted a celebratory party in Parliament House for community representatives around the nation, and made a surprise apology for the historic wrong inflicted on the Chinese by the poll-tax and other racially discriminatory restrictions.

When Helen Clark gave that formal acknowledgement of past legislative injustices, she put New Zealand ahead of the United States, Canada, and Australia in its admission of similar anti-Chinese historic wrongs. In doing so, she paved the way for the nation to come to terms with an integral part of its history, thereby getting it more ready to move forward to the future with one particular shackle shaken free.

www.stevenyoung.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=36

[NZBC]

History of Chinese People in New Zealand – Helen Wong & Bill Willmott
Published: 23 March 2014
Ken Chan (hands clasped) arrived in 1939. Behind him, his aunt points at his father whom ken is about to meet for the first time. To the left are his grandmother and mother. Image: NZ Herald

Ken Chan (hands clasped) arrived in 1939. Behind him, his aunt points at his father whom ken is about to meet for the first time. To the left are his grandmother and mother. Image: NZ Herald

In the NZ Herald recently there was a story about a Chinese man who arrived as a refugee from war-torn China in 1939. The story is a heart-warming tale of how refugee, Ken Chan, and some of his family fled Canton [Guangzhou] as the Japanese were taking over that part of China. He was only 7 years old at the time (see the accompanying image, and, for why they were so smartly dressed, read the NZ Herald article!) but he settled well into the Kiwi way and made a life for himself and his family here.

But Ken was only one of many Chinese people who, since the 1800s, have travelled to New Zealand. They were often harshly treated with the intolerant poll tax being levied (1881-1934) and living unforgiving lives – but finally made a go of it.

nzchinasociety.org.nz/15916/helen-wong-and-the-history-of-chinese-people-in-new-zealand/

[David Wong Hop,]

more information etc from many families ...
....
The Chinese NZ Oral History Foundation has recorded the voices of:
1: >40 Chinese poll tax descendants etc, [ founding-families, Professors, gold miners' son, teachers, businessmen, 'Chinese association executives' [Also includes interviews with the 2 Ministers of Ethnic Affairs as they were very involved with the Apology process] in a series of projects.
2: interview of Helen Clark [2013, in New York, USA]
Each record is archival material ie audio recordings, summarised into a document ie "abstract" with copies of family-photos, and contained as project 1, 2 etc
The projects are stored at the National Library in Wellington and the Sir G Grey Collection at Auckland Council central library. Some projects are stored in the Takapuna library. each location has an oral history section with a senior librarian
...
Agreement with interviewee inline with National Oral History Association of New Zealand's protocol:
Records: stored at the Oral History section at one of the libraries, request access to a specific interview and the record can be read and listened in the library
D Wong Hop, Chairman, Jan 2017