A prosperous Pacific is a key element of good regional security for New Zealand. It is also an important humanitarian goal in and of itself. Making private remittances easier and cheaper is important as well.

Professor John Gibson of Waikato University has also done some very useful work lately about the high cost of making a remittance from New Zealand to the Pacific. Reasons include the small number of international banks operating in the Pacific, and the lack of ATMs and other means of easily sending and receiving funds via anything other than expensive, fees-laden manual transfer.

The UK Department for International Development maintains a website - www.sendmoneyhome.org, - which allows remitters to compare rates for a variety of banks and financial institutions. This helps people choose the best service provider to suit their needs. A version for families living in New Zealand has recently been set up - www.sendmoneypacific.org.

Of course, this website is only as good as the information it provides. I am in favour of creating a multi-language version of the site, to help users understand in their own language, what is the best deal for them.

Likewise, the New Zealand and Australian Governments need to work with banks and other providers, like Western Union, ANZ and Westpac; licensed to operate in their jurisdictions that are also active in the Pacific, on solutions to these issues, including promoting the proliferation of ATMs and other means of effecting electronic funds transfers, without prohibitive fees attached, in Pacific nations. I am happy to say that at least two, Westpac and Western Union, have made an effort to provide a cheaper solution to consumers.
In tough economic times, remittances become both ever more important and yet more difficult to provide. A May 2009 report by the International Monetary Fund reports that remittances into Tonga are down by about 15% for the 2008-09 financial year. Any decrease in the fees charged will lower barriers to what is a part of pacific culture.