Governance and Business Ethics Report: Pacific Islander Discrimination

This report examines governance and business ethics, focusing on the historical and ongoing discrimination faced by Pacific Islanders in Australia. It explores the origins of their labor in the 1850s, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, and the subsequent forced deportations. The report highlights the ethical issues of exploitation, racial discrimination, and unequal access to housing, education, and employment. It discusses the role of organizations like Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) in addressing these issues, while also critiquing the effectiveness of government policies. The report presents arguments on the need for stronger ethical frameworks, including the application of utilitarian and deontological ethical approaches. It emphasizes the importance of fairness, justice, and equal opportunities for Pacific Islanders, recommending policy changes and organizational practices to combat discrimination and promote social responsibility. The report concludes by advocating for a more inclusive and equitable society where the rights and well-being of Pacific Islanders are respected and protected.

Running head: GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS
Governance and business ethics
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive summary
Australia is a land of many different cultures. The South Pacific Islanders are one among such
communities. They have been kept under slavery and oppression for several centuries. However,
efforts are being made to bring them out from the margins to the center. There are many
organizations like Pacific Trade Invest or PTI that is working for developing the condition of the
Pacific Islanders., However, there are still discriminations that the Pacific Islanders have to face
in different fields like education, employment and acquiring housing facilities. Thus stronger
efforts have to be made so that the Government can bring some significant improvement for the
Pacific Islanders.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
History of Organization...................................................................................................................4
Existence of issue............................................................................................................................5
Importance.......................................................................................................................................5
History of the organization..............................................................................................................5
Discussion of issue..........................................................................................................................6
Argument.........................................................................................................................................6
Ethical decision approaches.............................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Ethical conduct is one of the most crucial aspects that must be followed by organizations.
However, it has to be ensured that there is proper awareness about the ethical conduct among all
the different stakeholders of the organization (Globaleducation.edu.au. 2019). It is the joint duty
of the Government, the policy makers and the society to make sure that the ethical code of
conduct is set in such a way that it will benefit all the people belonging from different sections of
the society. One of the major ethical issues that are existing at the Global level is the issue of the
Pacific Islander. There are many hardships and discriminations done against the people of the
South Pacific Island. The Pacific Island is a group of minority section who become the victims of
racial discrimination, harassment, and bullying by the upper sections of society. However, it
must be ensured that efforts are being made for solving the issue at the local, societal and the
Global or International level (Garcia, David and Mapaye, 2018).
History of Organization
South Pacific Islanders have a very old history of origin. They were mainly brought as
laborers or the workers to work on farmlands in Australia. The history of their origin dates back
to the 1850s. Larbi, Bounif, and Bouzit (2018) have stated that prior to this Australia used to get
the workers from Britain. It was Britain that deported the prisoners to Australia and made them
work on the sugarcane lands or other farmlands. However, as Britain stopped doing this, there
was a scarcity in the number of workers. Thus the Australian Government started shifting their
attention onto the people of the Pacific Island. Pacific Islanders 'Kanakas', a Polynesian word for
'people' or 'boy' was the main source of labor that was used by Australia. Thus it is proved that

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right from the beginning the Pacific Islanders have been subjected to slavery and captivity
(Globaleducation.edu.au. 2019).
Existence of the issue
Australian Government needed the Pacific Islanders only for fulfilling their own needs
and demands. Thus they ignored the welfare and the interests of the South Pacific Islanders for
increasing their agricultural yield. Chacón and Davis (2018) have also agreed to this fact,
forwarding his opinion where he said as soon as the personal interest of the Australian economy
was over, they no longer wanted the Pacific Islanders and deported them back to their lands. The
Immigration Restriction Act passed in the year 1901 which was mainly directed to deport the
Pacific Islander from Australia to their native lands so that they can free their motherland from
the domination of the black skinned people. However, Ong (2016) argued saying that this was
perhaps a positive and helpful move that was being taken by the Government of Australia where
they wanted to free the Pacific Islanders and give them a chance of reuniting with their family
members. However, Thompson (2016) counter-argued saying that this was not an attempt to help
the Pacific islander but the Australians only wanted to force them out of their land. Following the
passage of the Act, Pacific Islanders were being forced out of Australia. No one ever bothered to
care about respecting the feelings or the desires of the people of the South Pacific Island.
Burton et al. (2017) stated in this context that the Pacific Islanders did not want to go
back as they had already set up their families and their employment in Australia. Many of them
became followers of the Christian faith and also started adapting to the Australian way of life.
They had their wives and children as many of them married the natives of Australia. However,

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Australian wanted to drive them away as they felt all the job opportunities of their country were
being occupied by the people of Pacific Island.
Importance
Chen and Schonger (2019) have stated that this issue is really important as it sheds light
upon one of the popular social evil that is discrimination and exploitation. The issue of
exploitation is prominent not only in the local strata of society but it has now emerged in the
Global context as well. It was the Australian who brought these people into Australia and now
they were sending the Pacific Islanders away from their country. There was a large scale racial
discrimination that the Pacific Islanders had to face.
History of the organization
The Government of Australia took many initiatives in order to safeguard the interest of
all sections of people (Globaleducation.edu.au. 2019). There are also some agencies that look
after the welfare of the people belonging from the minority sections like the people from the
South Pacific Islander. One such organization is PTI or the Pacific Trade Invest. The main motif
of this company is to take care of the people belonging from the Pacific Island. They work for
providing training and development facilities to the Pacific Islanders so that they can develop in
the course of their lives. However, there are some or other kinds of issues like corruption existing
in the channels by which these agencies are trying to help the people from the Pacific Island.
Discussion of the issue
Davy (2019) has stated that the Pacific Islanders have always been subjected to immense
pain and torture since their arrival in Australia. They were always subjected to ill-treatment,

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discrimination and pain. The period between the years 1842 and 1904 witnessed the forced
expulsion of than 60,000 men and boys from the South Pacific islands. There were also a number
of women and girls were kidnapped and brought to Australia to work as slaves. They are the
Pacific Islanders who were brought to Australia for being exploited and work on the farmlands
(Globaleducation.edu.au. 2019). They were made to overwork and paid a very little or negligible
amount of money as their wage. Thompson (2016) has hated that some of the people had
knowledge about their family members or their identity. The South Pacific islanders suffered
from exploitation and unfair unequal treatment at the hands of Australians.
One of the basic issues that were faced by the South Pacific islander was proper access to
good housing. As per the report of Globaleducation.edu.au. (2019), Asian and Pacific Islander
homebuyers face huge discrimination when they are seeking for proper housing facilities. They
are always denied the proper opportunities for getting houses. As per the statistics it is seen that
the Pacific Islanders are subjected to 20.4% times of immense discrimination on grounds of their
socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Thus it is evident that the South Pacific Islanders are
denied the opportunities of the basic social needs of life. They are not only subjected to
discrimination in the fields of education and employment but also in the path of acquiring houses
for getting a minimum acceptable standard of living. Larmour (2017 ) has argued saying that
organizations like PTI are putting forward their best efforts for the purpose of developing the
condition of Pacific Islanders. David and Mapaye (2018) counter-argued saying that no policy
can be carried on properly if there are no proper methods of evaluation, monitoring, and
feedbacks. Government officials failed to take any kinds of follow-ups or feedback sessions from
the people.

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There are many agencies like PTI who are trying to uplift the Pacific Islanders by proving
them educational and employment opportunities (Pacifictradeinvest.com. 2019). However,
Hagiwara (2016 ) has argued that many of the Pacific Islanders living the remote regions are
unaware of these facilities. Even if they are trained it is restricted to agriculture and farmland.
They are often denied the opportunities of getting enrolled in good schools and colleges. Apart
from this they also have to face discriminations while appearing for any job interviews based on
their ethnic backgrounds.
Argument
Trieu and Vang (2015) is of the opinion that there has been a significant development in
the condition of the Pacific Islanders from in the present times. Though they have been subjected
to huge torture and pressure in the earlier times, there are now efforts being made to bring them
from the margins to the center. Pacific Trade Invest or PTI Company works in collaboration or
partnership with the Promotion Authorities in the Pacific. They have also started collaborating
with the Government of Australia in order to acquire funds for the overall training and
development of the people of South Pacific Island. Doppelt (2017) counter-argued saying that in
order to make some real and significant improvement in the condition of the Pacific Islanders
there has to be a proper connection between all the involved stakeholders like Government,
Business and the society as a whole. There must be diversification in the range of development
and training facilities that are scheduled for the development of the Pacific Islanders.
Ethical decision approaches
As per the opinion of Kagan (2018), Utilitarian theory of ethics believes that it is
justified to overlook the interest of the minority section of society for the benefit of the

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developed and the majority sections. The same is seen taking place in the issue of the Pacific
Islanders. The higher and the educated sections of the Australian society have been dominating
and exploiting the Pacific Islanders in multiple ways as they belong from a reserved,
undeveloped and minor section. Yazdani and Murad (2015) have argued many organizations
recruit the majority of their workforce from the educated and the non-indigenous section of the
society as they feel that they are more advanced and educated for fulfilling the job
responsibilities. This must not be the attitude exhibited by Australian society. They must be
compassionate and supportive of the minor sections of the society.
\Ray (2018) has argued that in order to bring some changes in the existing condition the
Deontological theory must be brought to use. As per the principles of the Deontological ethical
theory, all the people must be treated with equal respect and opportunities irrespective of their
ethnicity and their socio-cultural backgrounds. Government of Australia must collaborate with
some of the NGOs or other agencies that work for social causes like helping the backward
sections of society. Government has to impose strict orders on the organizations so that they
open special provisions for recruiting the job candidates from backward sections of the society.
There must be special relaxations on the recruitment terms and conditions for the Pacific
Islanders.
The similar policies have to be implemented in the housing and real estate organizations
as well. There must be no discriminations made between the South Pacific islands due to their
racial and ethnic background. They must be given proper opportunities for buying lands or
acquiring the housing facilities.

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Chalmers (2016) has stated that in order to implement the ethical codes, there must be proper
approaches followed by the Government. In order to do that the Fairness/Justice Approach
must be implemented. As per this ethical approach, all the individuals are to be treated with
justice and equality.
 For example, the education or the employment opportunities will be given to the Pacific
Islanders irrespective of their racial, financial, cultural or social status. They will be given
the right to apply for all employment opportunities.
 The organizations and recruiters have to be instructed that the entire recruitment process
will take place on the merit and performance and not on any other grounds.
 There must be proper and strict implementation of laws like the Anti Discrimination Act,
Fair Works act and others for safeguarding the interest of the Pacific Islanders.
Common Good Approach must also be initiated. This will be very helpful as it will teach
the organizations and the officials to question themselves regarding the validity of their actions
(Ryan 2018). They will be able to asses if the ongoing approaches are capable of promoting an
overall benefit and welfare for the people of the organization. Organizations like PTI have to
enter into proper collaboration with Government and other associations that will help them to
take regular feedbacks. None of the policies will be successful unless proper feedback or follow-
ups are being taken.
Conclusion
This it can be concluded that PTI or other such welfare organizations have to undertake a
regular evaluation and monitoring system in order to check the viability of the welfare
approaches. They have to arrange for some awareness campaigns that will help in gathering

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additional funds from investors, NGOs and other organizations for the overall increase in the
standard of living of the Pacific Islanders.

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References
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considerations in artificial intelligence courses. AI magazine, 38(2), pp.22-34.
Chacón, J.A. and Davis, M., 2018. No One is Illegal (Updated Edition): Fighting Racism and
State Violence on the US-Mexico Border. Haymarket Books.
Chalmers, S., 2016. Ethical fairness in financial services complaint handling. International
Journal of Bank Marketing, 34(4), pp.570-586.
Chen, D.L. and Schonger, M., 2019. Social preferences or sacred values? theory and evidence of
deontological motivations.
Davy, D., 2019. Professional Communication and Network Interaction: A Rhetorical and Ethical
Approach.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Fok, L.Y., Payne, D.M. and Corey, C.M., 2016. Cultural values, utilitarian orientation, and
ethical decision making: A comparison of US and Puerto Rican professionals. Journal of
Business Ethics, 134(2), pp.263-279.
Garcia, G.M., David, E.J.R. and Mapaye, J.C., 2018. Internalized racial oppression as a
moderator of the relationship between experiences of racial discrimination and mental distress
among Asians and Pacific Islanders. Asian American Journal of Psychology.