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Cook Islanders were keen to earn money, and many signed up for one-year contracts on Makatea Island in French Polynesia during the Second World War. While pay rates were low, they were higher than people could earn on their home islands. Young people working on Makatea would often save their wages to buy a one-way ticket to New Zealand.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: 1/4-021470; F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.