Good morning,

On behalf of Hon Nathan Guy, thank you for your email.

The Minister is considering your request in accordance with the Official Information Act and will reply to you in due course.

Kind regards,

Millie Carr
Private Secretary | Office of Hon Nathan Guy
MP for Otaki | Minister for Primary Industries| Minister for Racing
Parliament Buildings | Private Bag 18888 | Wellington 6160
DDI: (04) 817 9139

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill [mailto:[FYI request #4784 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 October 2016 10:37 a.m.
To: N Guy (MIN)
Subject: Official Information request - Stop the Traffik Aotearoa - it's odd disappearance after great Parliamentary promotion

Dear Minister for Primary Industries,

On the 19th of June 2012 you gave a speech announcing an anti-trafficking initiative called "Stop the Traffik Aotearoa".

Here is a link to a speech that you gave at the organization's inauguration:

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/speec...

It was set up under the Salvation Army. I joined as a board member, migrant labour abuse being a personal and moral issue for me having lived in South East Asia or some time. I also brought onto the board a very effective Indonesian activist, and was in the process of bring on a representative of the Filipinos community shortly before the organization was shut down - all communication infrastructure dismantled, and its Facebook page deleted (https://www.facebook.com/sttnz), with all the - effective - board members let loose.

i would like to know from you why an organization set up with such great fanfare at Parliament as a primary anti-trafficking group was shut down, just as board members were starting to be quite effective in investigating labour or slavery abuses at sea as well as in the viticulture and other industries in which foreign migrant labourers on temporary visas - not to mention students - are routinely exploited. Were they too effective, perhaps? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude at all and suggest that it was meant to be an astroturf organization that got a little bit, well, out of control, in that it started to actually be somewhat effective.

Here's a link to the last newsletter that I and other board members produced before the organization mysteriously disappeared, a newsletter that has otherwise disappeared from the former STT Aotearoa website as well as the website of the Salvation army website: https://www.scribd.com/doc/212170060/STO...

So what happened to STT Aotearoa exactly? Is it still operating in some capacity that I am not aware of, and are there any other organizations of a similar nature that you are currently supporting that aim to stem labour abuse of migrant workers?

Yours faithfully,

Bill

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #4784 email]

Is [Minister for Primary Industries request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Minister for Primary Industries? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

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________________________________

hide quoted sections

Good afternoon,

Your request has been transferred to the Minister of Immigration, Hon Michael Woodhouse under section 14 of the Official Information Act 1982.

Any further correspondence to you on your request will come from the Minister of Immigration.

Kind regards,

Millie Carr
Private Secretary | Office of Hon Nathan Guy
MP for Otaki | Minister for Primary Industries| Minister for Racing
Parliament Buildings | Private Bag 18888 | Wellington 6160
DDI: (04) 817 9139

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill [mailto:[FOI #4784 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 October 2016 10:37 a.m.
To: N Guy (MIN)
Subject: Official Information request - Stop the Traffik Aotearoa - it's odd disappearance after great Parliamentary promotion

Dear Minister for Primary Industries,

On the 19th of June 2012 you gave a speech announcing an anti-trafficking initiative called "Stop the Traffik Aotearoa".

Here is a link to a speech that you gave at the organization's inauguration:

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/speec...

It was set up under the Salvation Army. I joined as a board member, migrant labour abuse being a personal and moral issue for me having lived in South East Asia or some time. I also brought onto the board a very effective Indonesian activist, and was in the process of bring on a representative of the Filipinos community shortly before the organization was shut down - all communication infrastructure dismantled, and its Facebook page deleted (https://www.facebook.com/sttnz), with all the - effective - board members let loose.

i would like to know from you why an organization set up with such great fanfare at Parliament as a primary anti-trafficking group was shut down, just as board members were starting to be quite effective in investigating labour or slavery abuses at sea as well as in the viticulture and other industries in which foreign migrant labourers on temporary visas - not to mention students - are routinely exploited. Were they too effective, perhaps? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude at all and suggest that it was meant to be an astroturf organization that got a little bit, well, out of control, in that it started to actually be somewhat effective.

Here's a link to the last newsletter that I and other board members produced before the organization mysteriously disappeared, a newsletter that has otherwise disappeared from the former STT Aotearoa website as well as the website of the Salvation army website: https://www.scribd.com/doc/212170060/STO...

So what happened to STT Aotearoa exactly? Is it still operating in some capacity that I am not aware of, and are there any other organizations of a similar nature that you are currently supporting that aim to stem labour abuse of migrant workers?

Yours faithfully,

Bill

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #4784 email]

Is [Minister for Primary Industries request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Minister for Primary Industries? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

________________________________

hide quoted sections

Dear Bill

 

On behalf of Hon Michael Woodhouse, Minister of Immigration, thank you for
your Official Information Act request received on 25 October 2016 . 

 

Please find attached the response to your request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Office of Hon Michael Woodhouse
Minister of Immigration

Parliament Buildings

Wellington

 

 

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