Passport - design fail

The new look passports will be or are being issued by the Internal Affairs Dept. (no info on their website). I like what they've done with it - the silver fern image and the black are excellent... but what's with transposing the positions of the country in the two different languages? It's just very poor design. If you have:

NEW ZEALAND
Passport

Then you must order it:

AOTEAROA
Uruwhenua

Country and then passport - for both. It is misleading to anyone not from this country: they will think the Maori name for New Zealand is Uruwhenua the way they have put it. Grammatically it is correct, but the resulting emphasis is wrong. Regardless of the grammar issue you can't just turn it around like that - people will think Aotearoa means passport.

And speaking of inappropriately worded travel documents:

The leader of a self-styled Maori sovereignty group charging $500 for stamps in "passports" says he isn't ripping anyone off, simply helping desperate people who want to stay in New Zealand.

Gerrard Otimi said about 50 families had each paid him $500 for the documents - and in return he gave them $500 of "Maori barter currency" to cancel out the fee.

Police say they have not had anyone come forward with complaints, possibly because many victims were overstayers.

If this immigration snake oil merchant wants to make some coin legally in this field it seems he should help the Immigration Service turn in the overstayers. He certainly has the ability to attract them:

Hundreds of Islanders turned up at a meeting in Mangere yesterday where immigration adviser Ta'avao Vole warned them it was a scam.

Gerrard Otimi, showed the crowd the documents he was issuing - complete with a statement from the Samoan Head of State, Malietoa Tanumafili II.
[...]
On Wednesday night, up to 1000 people turned up at a marae in Manurewa for a meeting that was later cancelled because of the size of the crowd.

The night before, a meeting in Mangere drew hundreds. Gatherings have also been held in Hamilton.

Otimi is ripping these people off. He can do that because these people are both stupid and illegal + Otimi = exploited.

I had some sympathy towards their plight when I saw their desperate faces on the news last night, but reflecting on how willfully ignorant they are - ignoring the advice of an immigration expert who was there to counsel against it - it isn't going to affect the knowledge economy we're supposedly trying to build if they have to leave - immediately - as they should. One wonders whether Otimi-type characters also duped them into coming here in their home countries with over-blown promises on bullshit pieces of paper in the first place. There's many instances of job offer scams in all sorts of areas. It wouldn't surprise me to see a trans-national cycle of exploitation if we go through the migration story of many of those attending Otimi's meetings.

Rip offs come to light in all migrant sectors too - not just those at the bottom rung of the jobs scale - but Otimi's is just so public. What's the average education level of those that purchase Otimi's products? Surely $500 of Olinda Woodroffe's lawyering fees is going to get you more than a whole boot-load of Otimi's instant Tangata Whenua certificates.

Peter Skelton, chairman of Mangere Community Board, said victims should go to the authorities.
- And say what? The conversation ends when it becomes known to the authorities that the complainant is illegally in the country... unless you're someone like Taito Philip Field (but we'll let the jury figure than one out for themselves). Then again if they can fly back the Thai man to testify against Field then could they do that for all of Otimi's disgruntled and removed "visa" holders and they can get another crack? Hopefully all this adverse publicity will dissuade anyone from dealings with this character, but it's unlikely we've seen the last of Otimi. Will he move to Queensland to continue his exploits/exploitation? It's the next logical stage.