Time is running out to apply for funding

The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust is now urging members of the community to apply for funding. Time is limited to apply for this year’s funding round, which closes 31 August 2006.

Administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, the Trust aims to strengthen the unique identity of Chinese New Zealanders and their communities.

It was set up following the Government’s apology for the actions of previous governments, which imposed a poll tax on Chinese persons entering New Zealand, and enacted other discriminatory statutes.

The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust is a recognition of the hardship caused by the poll tax, and a gesture of goodwill to poll tax payers, their descendents, and future generations. The Trust’s goal is to create understanding in the Chinese community and New Zealand as a whole.

The Trust provides grants for projects and activities which promote:

• education and use of the Cantonese language
• awareness and understanding of the history of Chinese New Zealanders
• recording and preservation of Chinese New Zealand history
• greater public understanding of ethnic diversity, with particular emphasis on the contributions of Chinese New Zealanders
• Chinese arts and culture, including Chinese New Zealand creative and cultural expression.

Applicants are not required to be Chinese, or descendants of early settlers, but proposals for funding must support the objectives of the Trust and have support from the Chinese poll tax descendant community.

Trust members will meet in October to consider all applications, and successful grants will be announced in December 2006.

For more information about the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and to obtain an official application form, visit the Department of Internal Affairs website at Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust or call 0800 824 824.

For media enquiries, contact:
Anna Mahoney ph (04) 495 9423 email anna.mahoney@dia.govt.nz