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Hawke’s Bay enslaver and human trafficker Joseph Matamata granted parole

June 20, 2026

By Lucy Xia of RNZ A Hawke’s Bay horticultural labour contractor, who was the first person to be convicted of both human trafficking and slavery in New Zealand, has been granted parole and will be released next month. Seventy-one-year-old Joseph Matamata, who also goes by Viliamu Samu, was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for using