Tongan Robin Hood, Kennedy Maeakafa Fakan’aana’a-ki-Fualu, who organises deliveries of groceries to Tongan overstayer families.
Thousands of people live in Aotearoa illegally, surviving in a shadow world of cash jobs, without benefits or healthcare. In the first of a three-part series going inside the world of overstayers, National Correspondent Steve Kilgallon reports on the lives of an estimated 2500 Tongan overstayers. During the first coronavirus lockdown, Mary watched Jacinda Ardern’s press conferences every day. Even a year later, the prime minister’s most memorable catchphrase still echoes for her. “It always clicks into my mind,” says Mary. “Be kind on our people.”