The organisers of Auckland's Polyfest have backed down on a decision to bar Red Cross from collecting donations for Vanuatu, Radio New Zealand reports.
The charity had asked to have collection buckets at the four-day event but organisers told them they never allowed collectors in the past, and they did not want people at the event to feel compelled or uncomfortable about handing over money.
They have now agreed to give Red Cross a free stall where they could have a fundraising bucket.
Festival director Theresa Howard denied the backdown was due to media pressure.
“It not necessarily changed our minds. When we first got approached, it was on Wednesday and that was our first day of events we were getting quite an aggressive approach and we just wanted to make sure that the checks were carried out and the process was followed.”
Melino Maka, who is part of the Red Cross' Pacific team in New Zealand, thought the organisation and their collection buckets would be welcomed with open arms by festival organisers.
He said it was very disappointing, as he would have thought a Pasifika event would be keen to help a Pacific country in its time of need.
Consul General of Vanuatu in Auckland McKenzie Kalotiti said he was not surprised by the decision as Ni Vanuatu are reserved in New Zealand and with just under 500 citizens here they are in the minority.
He suspected that if there were a similar disaster in Samoa, Tonga or Fiji, the decision might have been different.