Massey University Departments

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    New Zealand aid and the development of class in Tonga : an analysis of the banana rehabilitation scheme : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Sociology, Massey University
    (Massey University, 1988) Needs, Andrew P
    This thesis examines the bilateral aid relationship between New Zealand and Tonga. Its central purpose is to examine the impact aid is having in transforming Tongan society. This involves a critique of both development theory and of New Zealand government aid principles. The understanding of development and the application of aid by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains greatly influenced by the modernisation school of thought, which essentially blames certain supposed attributes of Third World peoples for their lack of development. Dependency theorists challenged this view, claiming that Third World poverty was a direct result of First World exploitation through the unequal exchange of commodities. This has had some influence on the use of aid as a developmental tool, but has failed to supercede modernisation theory as the dominant ideology. The theory of articulation of modes of production transcends the problems of both modernisation and dependency schools. Its main thrust is that the capitalist (First World) mode of production does not immediately dominate the non-capitalist (Third World) mode but rather interacts with it. Such a conception takes cognisance of the influence of indigenous modes in creating new social formations. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the New Zealand financed Banana Rehabilitation Scheme of Tonga. In order to understand the effect of New Zealand funded aid projects in Tonga, the Banana Rehabilitation Scheme, the largest project funded at present, was used as a case study. The research method demanded a fieldwork component which entailed three months in Tonga in order to collect both historical and archival data only available there. The main fieldwork component was a series of interviews with a cross section of scheme members and other significant actors related to the scheme. This study of the Banana Rehabilitation Scheme shows that the redistributive aims Of New Zealand aid have been undermined by a greater concern with productivity. Emphasis upon the latter has meant that the project has been reoriented in favour of giving greater assistance to those who can produce bananas most easily, those who already had access to land, capital and labour. This category of growers is as much a product of the indigenous social structure of Tonga as of forces impinging from outside. Although through the banana scheme large amounts of money are being pumped into the Tongan economy, its redistributive effects are minimal. The structure of the scheme is such that many of the major benefits accrue to the already advantaged.
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    Biogeochemical studies on some nickel accumulating plants from New Zealand and New Caledonian serpentine areas : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemistry at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1974) Lee, Julian
    Serpentine areas in New Zealand and New Caledonia are described. A study was made of soil factors controlling the distribution of five species from a serpentine flora in the Dun Mountain area, South Island, New Zealand. Samples of soil were taken from sites of each of the species, and each sample was analysed for calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, magnesium, manganese, nickel, potassium and zinc. On the basis of the species growing on them, the soil samples were divided into five groups: group 1, Pimelea suteri; group 2, Myosotis monroi; group 3, Lebe odora; group 4, Cassinia vauvilliersii; group 5, Leptospermum scoparium. Discriminant analysis was used to characterise each group of soils on the basis of chemical composition. The results showed that the two endemic plants (P. suteri and M. monroi) were much more commonly found in localities of highest magnesium concentration. These two species were strongly differentiated by the potassium and copper levels in their soils. No strong elemental discrimination was found among the non-endemic species. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the relationships between pairs of elements and highly-significant correlations (P 0.001) are reported. A nickel accumulating species from New Caledonia, Homalium kanaliense is compared with the New Zealand nickel accumulator, Pimelea suteri. The very high accumulation of nickel in the New Caledonian species, presents interesting questions in plant physiology. Purification of nickel complexes from an aqueous extract of B. kanaliense leaves was achieved and preliminary identification methods employed. None of the nickel was associated with amino acids and the present evidence suggested possible complexing of the nickel to simple carboxyllic sugars.
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    New Zealand's energy policy from the world system perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1994) Debahasatin, Jutha
    The World-System Theory of Immanuel Wallerstein is a grand-scale theory that is useful as a framework to understand how New Zealand's path of development has been affected by the country's energy policy. The theory is appropriate in application to energy issues because its macro-level of analysis puts emphasis on both exogenous and endogenous factors. Its special emphasis on historical background and context also adds to an understanding of the New Zealand position. The World-System perspective offers three major concepts directly applicable to the case of New Zealand energy policy, namely, the interplay between politics and economics with a particular interest in the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) and the state, the notion of semiperiphery, and the cyclical nature of the world economy. During the period of the 1970s economic downturn marked by two oil crises, New Zealand as well as most other countries and the MNCs suffered a severe setback. However, while most core states, as well as some successful non-core states and the oil majors, could react appropriately to the crises and retain their potential for growth, the semiperipheral New Zealand could not. The country possessed few options because of her intermediate level of industrialisation and less competent state apparatus compared to the MNCs involved. Lacking the intention to promote local industrial capitalists, the New Zealand state chose wrong strategies, first Think Big and then disinvestment, which together have undermined the bargaining position of local entrepreneurs, over-committed the national hydrocarbon resource and disproportionately promoted the interest of the foreign oil corporations. The overall outcome of the energy policy is therefore detrimental to the country's development.
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    Aspects of Maukean population migration : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1974) Gordon, Graeme David James
    The increasing dissatisfaction and rising aspirations of many Pacific peoples has prompted an increased amount of outmigration to larger metropolitan countries where it is perceived that these desires can be fulfilled. Migration of Cook Islanders to New Zealand is no new phenomenon. In recent years, however, for a great diversity of reasons, the flow has reached alarming proportions. The repercussions of such a displacement of population are significant both for donor and recipient areas. Although several studies have focused attention on migrant groups in New Zealand, literature linking the whole migratory process from the island of origin is not quite so readily available. It is becoming apparent that more attention must be directed at the causal factors which induce would-be migrants to forfeit a familiar way of life for one which can be initially bewildering.
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    Tongans in Auckland : a preliminary investigation of the Tongan community in the Central Auckland urban area : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in geography at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1974) Whitehead, David Warwick
    The minority Polynesian community examined in this thesis required more than those research techniques familiar to students of migrant groups. Specific interviewing difficulties and solutions to these are proposed for interviewing Tongans. Suggestions to overcome the suspicions of respondents and the dangers of ethnocentrisim on the part of the researcher are also suggested. A questionnaire is included and its design, to include internal checks and ease in tabulation are noted. Chapter Two deals with migration motives, both real and stated. These motives are confined in the main, to those acting at the source, Tonga, and include population pressures on land, housing, employment and capital. Data is provided from recent surveys in Tonga, together with the results of a survey of Tongans residing in the Central Auckland Urban Area, 1974. An examination of data provided by the Department of Statistics, concerning arrivals and departures, is included in Chapter Three. This is supplemented with data on airfares and the manner in which the migrant raised sufficient capital to purchase his passage, from the survey. Special attention is paid to permits and the reason why some Tongans have overstayed their legally permitted stay. Chapter Four compares the demographic and social characteristics of Tongans with other Polynesians in New Zealand. Age, marital status, dependents, sex, religion, birthplace and educational qualifications of migrants in the survey are recorded. The results of an investigation into the occupational and residential characteristics of Tongan migrants are recorded in Chapters Five and Six. Comparison is drawn between the unskilled occupations of Tongans and other Polynesians and the location of place of work and residence is noted. The method of securing initial employment revealed the social and psychological pressures impinging on the recent migrant and reasons and results suggested. Using data supplied by the Department of Statistics the spatial distribution of Tongans in New Zealand, and in particular each statistical subdivision of Auckland is recorded. Movement over time within the Central Auckland Urban Area is discussed using indices of segregation and a Lorenz Curve.
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    Aspects of the ecology of feral goats (Capra hircus L.) in the Mahoenui giant weta reserve : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Ecology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1993) Stronge, Dean Charles
    A field study of feral goats (Capra hircus) was carried out in the Mahoenui giant weta reserve, southern King Country, New Zealand, from March 1992 to February 1993. The reserve supports the main population of the undescribed Mahoenui giant weta (Deinacrida sp.). The dominant woody browse plant in the reserve, gorse (Ulex europaeus), provides protection, shelter and food for weta. The study aimed to provide information on aspects of the ecology of feral goats to better understand their role in the reserve, and to assess any possible effects on weta survival. The activities, foraging behaviour and broad diet of feral goats within the reserve were studied by means of direct observation and autopsies. Gorse was adequate for goat growth only during late spring/summer, and became a maintenance feed at other times of the year. Goat browsing has probably slowed down the rate of succession from gorse to native forest cover but not prevented it. Successional changes may be detrimental to weta survival. Ranges of male and female herds overlapped at all times of the year and animals from several ranges occupied common bedding sites during the year. Feeding (grazing and browsing) was the dominant activity of adult feral goats in the reserve. Females spent more time feeding than males. Grazing and browsing changed seasonally for both sexes, with grazing generally decreasing from autumn to summer, and browsing increasing from summer to spring. In every season females spent more time grazing than males, but males browsed more than females. Greater use of browse by the bucks may be an affect of the presence of the does. Overall goats appear to have little direct influence on weta. A possible reduction in the rate of successional change is probably the most important effect of goats in the reserve. However, in the absence of direct manipulation of the gorse, goats can not prevent succession from occurring. Monitoring systems for the feral goat population and the vegetation community structure are recommended.
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    Gender, culture and business assistance in Western Samoa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Shadrake, Andrew
    This thesis examines the question: How far did the planning and implementation of the Small Business Enterprise Centre of Western Samoa take into account the gender and culture perspectives of development, and to what degree are those perspectives reflected in its outcomes? It does so by reviewing the gender and culture perspectives of development, and concluding that each can be divided into two approaches. The gender perspective comprises the market approach, which aims to use women's effort to achieve economic growth, and the empowerment approach, which aims to increase the ability of women to alter the gender balance of women and men, in favour of women. The culture perspective comprises both the utilitarian approach, which advocates adapting development projects to local culture to make them more likely to succeed, and the moral approach, the purpose of which is to reduce the harmful effects of development on indigenous culture. The thesis identifies indicators of the different approaches in a development project, and then uses a four-stage analytical model to discover whether they were present in the Small Business Enterprise Centre of Western Samoa. The thesis concludes that the planning and implementation of the Small Business Enterprise Centre showed a limited application of the market and utilitarian approaches, but did not show any application of the empowerment or moral approaches, though the outcomes of the SBEC included some empowerment of women, and few harmful effects on Samoan culture. The thesis shows the primacy of neo-liberal thinking in New Zealand's overseas small-business development practice during the period 1990-1995, despite its stated concern for women and, to a lesser extent, for culture. The thesis reached three conclusions which concern wider issues: • While the nature of Western Samoan culture, and gender relations, is changing, there is no fundamental inconsistency between them and small business development. • Neo-liberalism can adopt perspectives of development which appear to spring from a concern for social welfare, and turn them to its own ends. • The combination of indicators of different perspectives and the four-stage analytical model used in the thesis can be used, very effectively, for detailed assessment of the planning, implementation and outcomes of a development project.
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    Sustainable land use on the East Coast : a case study of land use change in the Upper-Hikuwai catchment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Zwart, Peter
    This thesis explores the principles of sustainability and applies them to the issue of land use on severely erosion-prone hill country in the East Coast region of the North Island of New Zealand. Sustainability is found to require a biophysical bottom line, implying a need for planning to establish threshold levels of protection for particular classes of land. The study uses a locally developed system of land classification which takes into account the physical causes and remedies of soil erosion as the basis for such a plan. This sets the biophysical bottom line to which land use and management must seek to conform, but above which, remain flexible, according to other societal objectives such as equity or efficiency. The history of land use change, and the policy response to the issue is reviewed for the region, and compared with this plan. The plan is then applied to one catchment subject to severe soil erosion, and where changes in land use are in process and the changes assessed and compared with the attitudes of the landowners and the context in which they have made their decisions. It was found that considerable progress had been made recently towards greater compliance with this plan and toward a pattern of land use more diverse and more consistent with the varying physical capacity of the area. This has been particularly facilitated by assistance from central and local government between 1988 and 1993. The study concludes, however, by highlighting the degree of favour shown to forestry interests over those of farming interests in current method of public support for erosion control. The study anticipates the eventual blanket afforestation of the catchment under this scheme.
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    Banking on foodbanks for poverty alleviation? : a critical appraisal of Palmerston North foodbanks' development practices : a thesis presented in (partial) fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Leslie, Helen Margaret
    Foodbanks entered New Zealand's voluntary welfare sector in the early 1980s when structural adjustment programmes, introduced by the fourth Labour Government, resulted in an increase in poverty amongst certain groups in New Zealand society and concurrently placed greater responsibility on the voluntary sector for the provision of welfare services. While previous foodbank research has focused on examining the issues related to the utilisation, development and growth of this voluntary welfare provider throughout New Zealand, this thesis aims to take such enquiry a step further by analysing the effectiveness of Palmerston North foodbanks' development practice in the alleviation of poverty in New Zealand society. It achieves this task through the application of a theoretical model utilising contemporary development theories and approaches to the data obtained through fieldwork with four Palmerston North Foodbanks. These are: the Salvation Army Foodbank, the Palmerston North Foodbank, the Saint Vincent de Paul Foodbank and the Saint Mary's Foodbank. The conclusions deduced from this process will show firstly, that development theory (traditionally reserved for the analysis of development practice in developing countries) is appropriate to the analysis of Palmerston North foodbanks' development practice and secondly, that although the majority of these foodbanks display some features of the community development mode of development practice referenced in the theoretical model, the mode of development practice most dominantly used is a relief mode. This relief mode of development practice is ineffectual in the long term relief of poverty. The challenge issued is for foodbanks to move towards the articulation of an alternative development mode of development practice which seeks not only to effectively alleviate the very real poverty experienced by foodbank clients, but also to sustain this alleviation.
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    An evaluation of the role and effects of tourism policies on the development and growth of the tourist industry in New Zealand and in Fiji : a comparative study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1982) Taal, Alieu Badara Saja
    [Please note: this is a shortened version of the abstract which is very long.] This thesis is an examination of the proposition that tourism development is to a great extent dependent upon the effectiveness of government tourism policies and government tourism organisations. Put another way, the greater the degree of effectiveness of tourism policies and organisations. the greater the degree of tourist industry development. Tourism policies and organisations are seen here as playing functional roles towards the development of the tourist industry. There are two basic hypotheses to be tested in the thesis, namely: (a) There are causal relations between tourism organisations and policies, and tourist industry development. (b) There are evaluable functions that tourism policies and organisations play in the development of the tourist industry. To test the validity of the above propositions, government tourism policies and organisations in New Zealand and Fiji are researched. analysed and evaluated.