Transcript
As it announced the blacklisting of ten workers on Monday, Samoa's government said it would set a precedent against future incidents.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi called the group a handful of ungrateful and irresponsible Samoans.
But he said the Recognised Seasonal Employer, or RSE scheme in New Zealand, would be unaffected.
Samoa's New Zealand liaison officer for the scheme, Lemalu Nele Leilua, agrees.
"It won't be an ongoing challenge because the boys here, they behave very well and it seems one off incidents like that. But no, no, no, no. The boys here they are very well behaved."
Samoa has about 2500 workers on the programme making it the third largest participating nation.
Its government has taken a tough approach to rule-breakers and blacklisted entire villages of workers sent back.
Eight villages were suspended from the scheme as part of the action announced on Monday.
The secretary of the Amalgamated Workers Union in New Zealand, Maurice Davis, says the move is disappointing but not surprising.
"It means so much to the people in the economy of Samoa, that the government and the village leaders have chosen to take a very hard line on it, to say that that type of behavior, if it is true, and I don't doubt that it's not true, will not be tolerated."
Some of the expelled workers will face further consequences even when they return home.
Two men banned for smoking marijuana were also banished from their village, a traditional form of severe punishment.
Paramount chief Asi Tuiataga James Fa'afili Blakelock says they will face other traditional punishments too.
"They will be banned from Moataa and the village will never allow those who smoke marijuana to live there, and if they want to return, they have to pay a huge amount of money which is their punishment."
Maurice Davis says in an industry where exploitation is rife, New Zealand employers are partly responsible for the Samoan workers' fates.
Experts say the black listings also highlight discriminatory treatment of Pacific workers, who can also face severe punishments for drinking.
Pacific researcher Scott Hamilton says New Zealand citizens would never tolerate the same working conditions.
"Prescriptions on consuming alcohol, often curfews, sometimes restrictions on sexual relationships, quite draconian things and these are being applied to adults."
An Immigration New Zealand spokesperson says the Samoa action is unlikely to affect RSE numbers because applications are oversubscribed.
In November, the government announced a boost of nearly 2000 workers to the RSE cap, bringing it to nearly 13,000.
This is Mackenzie Smith.
