Pacific youth and first time voters in Aotearoa New Zealand feel forgotten and ill equipped ahead of the election.

Pasifika are the fastest growing youth population in New Zealand and their main concerns are the cost of living and beating the dire statistics stacked against them.

Although Pasifika have been long established in areas like Timaru and Christchurch, their voices have not always been heard.

“I don’t feel part of the conversation . . . just sitting in the background,” Timaru Boys High Year 13 student Kaluseti Moimoi said.

Moimoi grew up in Oamaru and the upcoming election marks his first time voting. He has enrolled to vote but does not quite know where to start.

“Not really sure who I am going to vote for. Not really sure about the parties or what they are doing. I don’t think there is much education around that.”

More than half of New Zealand’s Pacific population is under 25 years old.

Wanting to feel empowered
The growing group wants to feel empowered to speak up on issues like climate change and creating a better future for their families.

But a lack of civic information has left people in the dark, with less than one month to go until they are expected to make cast their vote.

Rangiora New Life School head girl Avinis Siasau Ma’u also has concerns.

“I don’t get any information about this at school. The only information is on the news or from friends. This is the society we are going to live in so it’s key to know what kind of party is going to lead our country,” Ma’u said.

Although she was still learning the names and values of each party, she plans to vote for a party that prioritised Pacific language weeks and addressed the cost of living.

“Back then $20 could get you a lot, but now $20 can only get you three things,” she said.

She said almost everyone she knew had complained about the cost of food.

Periods of family stress
“Every family will go through periods of time where it’s just stress and paying off debt and asking will we have enough for groceries.”

Kaluseti Moimoi’s family was also feeling the pressure and he hopes a “good education” and gaining a degree at the University of Canterbury to become an accountant would change that.

“That is my main goal; to work for the good of my family. That’s what my mum taught me. I’ve got five siblings at home. My parents work really hard.”

Timaru Tongan Society general manager Sina Latu said her community was often left out of the conversation.

The Electoral Commission told RNZ Pacific it was working alongside Pacific leaders and churches, yet Latu said she had not heard a word from them.

“They haven’t approached our Tongan Society or our churches, I think it really shows how we are not heard because we are down south.

Pasifika aren’t just in South Auckland, “they need to reach out everywhere, not just in the big cities. It’s not good enough,” she said.

Encouraging young ones
“We ourselves are trying to encourage young ones to enroll to vote but if we didn’t do that then the majority of them wouldn’t vote.”

Penieli Latu moved to New Zealand from Tonga in 2000 and has never voted until now.

“I turned 50 this year, I am happy to have finally enrolled to vote. I can’t wait to do two ticks.”

Latu wants the next government to make sure the Ministry for Pacific Peoples stays.

For him their language weeks foster a deep sense of Pacific pride and belonging — especially for Pasifika in the South Island.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

It was an evening of celebration in Manukau, the heart of South Auckland, as Pasifika musicians from around New Zealand were recognised at the 2023 Pacific Music Awards last night.

The awards have been held annually since 2005 highlighting the “essential role Pacific music plays in defining culture and identity”.

This year’s big winners included rapper Melodownz, R’n’B crooner Sam V and Tokelauan singer Olivia Foa’i.

• LISTEN TO RNZ MORNING REPORT: Pasifika musicians recognised at the 2023 Pacific Music Awards

Pacific radio station 531pi were specially acknowledged for 30 years of broadcasting.

The station exclusively plays Pacific music and airs language programmes that cater to first- and second-generation Pacific migrants.

Pacific Media Network board chair Saimoni Lealea said 531pi had come a long way.

“This was a key service in the 1980s and 1990s,” he said.

‘Culture and tradition’
“It wasn’t just an opportunity to air our music, it was also about communicating with our community and communicating with the government.

“Communities in the Pacific don’t do things to be recognised or to be awarded because much of the things that they do are part of everyday life. 531pi is a medium through which the culture and tradition is transmitted, relived, strengthened and enhanced.”

Taking out the Best Pacific Female Artist and Best Pacific Language award, Olivia Foa’i said continuing the legacy of previous winners in the language category was ‘nerve-wracking’.

“You want to get it right,” she said.

“Sometimes as an artist you feel like the weight is on your shoulders and you put out a song and maybe you’re not representing well enough, and people hear it and you’re like, ‘oh what have I done?’.

“I think for me, I always feel that I’m repping the ones who maybe struggle a little to claim their language or who were brought up far from their communities. But it’s a really beautiful thing, there’s so much depth in connecting to the words or the vocabulary of your ancestors.”

‘Love Again’
R’n’B artist Sam V — real name Sam Verlinden — won Best Pacific Soul and RnB Award for his songs “Come Through” and “Love Again”.

Sam V said the Pacific Music Awards promoted Pasifika artists and brought exposure to their music.

He criticised Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown for proposing budget cuts to social, arts and cultural services — a move which prompted an outcry among many artists in South Auckland.

“Why is he trying to cut the funding everywhere?” Verlinden questioned.

“Bro’ should focus less on his tennis and more on looking after the young ones.”

Samoan/Maori rapper Melodownz took out three awards for Best Male Artist, Best Music Video, and Music Album.

Upon receiving the award, Melodownz told the audience that it was a duty for Pasifika artists to give back to their communities.

‘Huge for Hawai’i’
Overseas artists were also acknowledged and this year, Hawai’i’s Josh Tatofi was named as the winner of the Best International Pacific artist award.

Receiving the award on behalf of Tatofi was his manager Tana Tupai, who said that Tatofi was among a bevy of musicians from Hawai’i such as Iam Tongi and George Veikoso aka “Fiji” who have gained fans all over world.

“It’s huge for Hawai’i who have this massive wave of artists being acknowledged at such a global stage and Josh is happy to play his part, inspiring and connecting music from Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands across the globe.”

2023 Pacific Music Awards winners

Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist: Olivia Foa’i – Sunlight

NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist: Melodownz – Lone Wolf

Flava Best Pacific Group: Deceptikonz – In Perpetuity

531pi Best Pacific Gospel Artist: Punialava’a – Tagi Le Atunu’u Pele

Matai Watches Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist: Poetik – Hamofied Tre

Best Pacific Soul/RnB Artist: Sam V – The one, the lonely EP, Come Through, Love Again

Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist: Three Houses Down – The Dream, She Loves Me

Niu FM Best International Pacific Artist: Josh Tatofi – Prisoner of Love, Sweet Loven, Landslide, Still the One, Pua Ahih’I, Good Morning Beautiful, Tomorrow

MPG/SAE Best Producer: Mareko x Ricky Paul – Untitled: ACT 1 (Producer: Ricky Paul Musik)

NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video: Melodownz – Pray For More ft Lisi, Mikey Dam (directed by Connor Pritchard)

APRA Best Pacific Song: Victor J Sefo – 685 (Written by Victor J Sefo, Ventry Parker, Elijah Tovio)

SunPix Best Pacific Language: Olivia Foa’i- Sunlight

Recorded Music NZ Te Pukaemi Toa O Te Moana Nui A Kiwa | Best Pacific Music Album Award: Melodownz – Lone Wolf

NZ On Air Radio Airplay Award: SWIDT ft Lomez Brown – Kelz Garage

NZ On Air Streaming Award: Savage ft Aaradhna – They Don’t Know

SunPix People’s Choice Award – Best Pacific Artist: Wayno

Phillip Fuemana Award – Most Promising Pacific Artist: Teo Glacier

Creative New Zealand Award: Lady Shaka

Ministry for Pacific Peoples Special Recognition Award: 531pi

Ministry for Pacific Peoples Special Recognition Award: Mark Vanilau

Arch Angel Independent Music Award: Victor J Sefo

Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Te Pukenga Achievement Award: Toni Williams

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A ni-Vanuatu and Melanesian advocate in New Zealand says the country’s Pacific ministry has overlooked Melanesian communities in its language strategy.

In an opinion piece in E-Tagata, Leina Isno said from the consultation to the launch the 10-year Pacific Languages Strategy was a “major cultural blunder’.

The government’s Pacific Languages Strategy, launched in September, has lacked input from other Melanesian groups except Fiji.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC: Leino Isno on Melanesian languages
• Other Melanesian language and culture reports

Isno said she understood that bigger Pacific groups such as Tonga and Samoa had been the pioneers of language revitalisation in New Zealand, but said the ministry needed to be across all Pacific groups.

“I feel that despite the strategy being comprehensive and really well laid out, I felt that it was lacking in diversity,” she said.

“When you talk about the Pacific, you talk about the real true representation of what the sub-regions mean and so in a document as such you need to include the other sub-regions so that it’s a true representation of the document.”

There are nine Pacific languages identified in the strategy with three key objectives, one of them being to recognise the value of Pacific languages across Aotearoa.

However, West Papuan advocate and student Laurens Ikinia said the strategy only seemed to value the Pacific languages that were most spoken.

“One of the arguments is that it focuses on the numbers of speakers of the language who are currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand but as a Pacific islander you cannot ignore other fanau,” he said.

Government supports Melanesian communities, says minister
However, Minister Aupito William Sio said the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) had given more than NZ$260,000 to the Melanesian communities to support their language initiatives.

He added that it was the first time the government had delivered such a strategy and that all Pacific communities should refer to it to determine what actions they needed to take before they approached the ministry.

“It’s no good standing outside the tent and throwing stones – you’ve got to engage and now with the Pacific languages strategy you have the opportunity, develop your actions, engage with the Ministry for Pacific Peoples so that the ministry can continue to fund the initiatives that they see as important for their communities.”

Isno said it was the ministry’s responsibility to understand the communities needs.

“The minister had mentioned that the communities need to organise ourselves better,” she said.

“There has been the lack of the ministry recognising the needs of smaller communities to work better with them by providing key focus people so we can better our relationship.”

• The nine Pacific languages recognised in New Zealand are Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, Kiribati, Niuean, Rotuman, Samoan, Tokelauan, Tongan and Tuvaluan.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Concerns are being raised about the future survival of the iTaukei (Fijian) language as a threat of extinction looms despite its everyday use among its people.

A language and culture scholar in Fiji, Dr Paul Geraghty, said a growing generational gap within the iTaukei language had been detected and caused concern.

Dr Geraghty said the extent of knowledge of iTaukei vocabulary and its diversity through the different dialects had reduced significantly over the years.

• READ MORE:  The origins of the Fijian language – Dr Paul Geraghty
• Other Pacific language reports

“Young people of today, especially in urban areas, do not speak as well as their parents or grandparents. They don’t have the same vocabulary knowledge, so that is something to be concerned about,” he said.

“People are losing their distinctiveness. The language is becoming what I would call standard Fijian or Fijian of the urban centres.”

Dr Geraghty added that the loss of richness within the iTaukei language was rooted in Fiji’s long colonial history.

“The peculiar colonial history that we have is to a large extent to blame not only for the loss of indigenous languages in Fiji or the reduction of the knowledge of Fijian language but also perceptions are an essential thing.”

New Zealand’s influence on Fijian education
Dr Geraghty explained that until 1930 all education was in the vernacular, either iTaukei, Hindi (Fiji’s second largest spoken language) or Rotuman, until it was no longer sustainable and colonial law makers began to look to the region for assistance.

“The New Zealand government began teaching in Fiji, and its education system was not inclusive towards teaching Māori, which is not the case today. But that culture was brought across to Fiji and children were punished for speaking in their native languages.”

The lasting impacts of this event were still actively practised in Fiji, added Dr Geraghty.

“We look up to English as a superior language and make jokes about people who don’t speak English well. That is not funny — English people don’t make jokes about people who can’t speak French. The most important thing in a child’s education is learning to speak their language well.”

Dr Geraghty has advocated the importance of incorporating native language into the education system as a scholar of language.

History has always been a leading guide to the future, and learning not to repeat the past, is what linguists advise.

Importance of sustaining iTaukei language
Dr Geraghty said that multilingualism was vital for a child’s education as it stimulated the mind and opened many other possibilities.

“Bilingualism and multilingualism — speaking two or more languages should be encouraged as it will increase the beauty of diversity in the world and our knowledge of this world and our position in it.”

A call for the Fijian Ministry of Education to act now and implement the compulsory learning of iTaukei and Hindi in schools was paramount.

Dr Geraghty added while the Fijian government and universities had started incorporating vernacular into the curriculum, more needed to be done.

Fijian Language Week celebration

The Fijian community has launched a week-long celebration of the Fijian language, traditions and culture with events across Aotearoa.

The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio, marked Macawa ni Vosa Vakaviti — Fijian Language Week, welcoming this year’s theme of nurture, preserve and sustain the Fijian language.

Aupito acknowledged the enduring strength and sustainability of Vosa Vakaviti and its importance as the Fijian community navigated its recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

“Fiji has been hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic and climate change’s ever-increasing impacts,” he said.

“Yet, while it faces a road to recovery, the Fijian people can always rely on their language, traditions and values to sustain them.

“Now more than ever, the Fiji language, culture, and identity is important to uphold both in Aotearoa and Fiji.”

Aupito said the Fijian community in Aotearoa, New Zealand, should be applauded for their tireless efforts in advocating for and strengthening Vosa Vakaviti.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga, or Tongan Language Week, is under way with schools and community groups organising events throughout the country.

According to Statistics New Zealand, there are more than 82,000 people of Tongan heritage living in New Zealand, and there are concerns about younger generations of Kiwi-Tongans losing their mother tongue.

“A lot of our kids unfortunately don’t grow up in households where Tongan is spoken as a first language, and this is one of the goals of language week is to encourage our young people to learn about our language, to learn about our culture”, said Jenny Salesa, a Labour MP of Tongan heritage.

• READ MORE: Other reports on Pacific language weeks

“The majority of our Tongan people here in Aotearoa now, are born and raised here. I think over 60 or 70 percent.”

Salesa, who helps organise the annual event, said she haD heard during her public consultations that many young Kiwi-Tongans complainED of an identity crisis, and said language weeks were a temporary relief for many young Pasifika who felt culturally marginalised.

“Some of them say they would just like to be acknowledged as a Tongan and not just during language weeks where we encourage and acknowledge Tongan in their school,” she said.

“They would like their identity and their language to be acknowledged throughout the whole year and not just within one week.”

The theme for this year’s Tongan Language Week is Ke Tu’uloa ‘a e lea faka-Tonga ‘i Aotearoa or “Sustaining the Tonga Language in Aotearoa”.

It’s unpoetic compared to highly metaphorical themes in previous years, but the message reflects the primary purpose behind the event.

“Sadly, only 12 percent of Tongans under 15 speak the language in New Zealand. That’s a decline of 9 percent since 2006,” said the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio, who officially launched the week at Otahuhu College, Auckland.

“Language week is the ideal time to revitalise lea fakatonga, and embrace our Tongan brothers and sister culture, values and traditions,” he said.

Annual Pasifika language weeks have been in place in New Zealand since 2010, and have been promoted aggressively by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.

‘Speaking the language of your heritage strengthens self confidence’
Singing and dancing have been key components of Tongan Language Week. Traditional Tongan dances have been performed by Tongan and non-Tongan students in school assemblies throughout the country.

Otahuhu College Tongan language teacher Tina Otunuku said traditional dances were performed by students at their school assembly on Tuesday. She said the cultural performances brought out the “mafana” or warmth of spirit.

“The highlight of the day was a performance from disabled and special needs children, and they did well. All the students joined in. We didn’t expect that to happen, it was incredible”, said Otunuku.

“Maintaining your lea fakatonga (Tongan) or Pacific language here in Aotearoa, helps you to value your culture and heritage which contributes to a positive self conscious. Knowing how to speak the language of your heritage, strengthens your self confidence.”

Otunuku said a common mistake made by immigrant parents in New Zealand was to discourage their immigrant children from speaking their native tongue in the belief it would improve their schooling.

“When students who are not yet fluent in English, switch to using English only, they are functioning at an intellectual level below their age. In this manner, it is likely to result in academic failure and this is what happens to a lot of Tongan students here.”

“You know students who learn English and continue to develop their mother tongue, have higher economic achievement in later years, than students who learn English at the expense of their native language.”

Tongan princess launching learning app
As part of the week, a Tongan language learning app is being launched at Parliament in Wellington on Saturday by Tongan Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka.

Wellington Tongan Leaders Council President Taetuna’ula Tuinukuafe said the app is dedicated to teaching the Tongan language which will be made accessible worldwide.

Tuinukuafe said that while the app is intended for Tongan children who live overseas, it can be used by anyone who has an interest in learning the Tongan language.

“Our young people who are growing up here are not connected to our community and our culture. For the Tongan statistics more than half or 53 percent or so that are born here in New Zealand and they need to understand and learn the language and communicate with their fanau.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Marjorie Tua’inekore Crocombe (née Hosking) was born in 1930 in Rarotonga, the youngest of 11 children of Dr Rupert and Vaevae Hosking of Titikaveka.

Marjorie was educated at Titikaveka Primary School (1936-44) and in 1944 won a Maui Pomare scholarship to finish her secondary schooling in New Zealand, initially at Epsom Girls Grammar School (1945-6) and later at Whanganui Girls College where she became the first Polynesian head prefect (1947-50).

It wasn’t until many years later that she realised that her time at the school had been instrumental in allowing more New Zealand Māori girls to complete their secondary schooling at Whanganui Girls’.

In an interview with Katrina Lintonbon (Cook Islands News, 13 June, 2020), Marjorie recalled that: “When she thinks about it now, there were only three students that weren’t European when she was at the college. She used to wonder why “Miss Baker” would come to see her every night to see how her studies were going.

“All those years later I finally realised what she was doing, she had been fighting with the school’s board of governors to allow Māori girls to attend the school,” she says.

“There was so much racism back then.”

Trained as teacher
In 1951, Marjorie trained as a teacher at Ardmore Teachers Training College, graduating in 1952. After a year’s teaching at Henderson Primary School, Auckland (1953-4), she returned to Rarotonga to begin work for the Cook Islands Department of Education, and in 1955 became the first Cook Islands female lecturer at Nikao Teachers College.

During this time, she also worked on developing primary school readers in the Cook Islands Māori language.

At a dance in 1955 she met her future partner, Ron Crocombe. Ron had come to Rarotonga initially as Clerk of Works in the Public Works Department and was then appointed as Resident Agent on Atiu.

As Marjorie recalled to journalist Katrina Lintonbon, Ron was on his way back to New Zealand from Atiu and asked if she would join him.

“I said to him, ‘No way! For a start I don’t even know you.’”

“He replied, ‘We can get to know one another on our way back to New Zealand.’”

They were married in 1959 in Masterton, NZ, and a 50-year partnership began.

That same year, Marjorie accompanied Ron to Canberra where he had been offered a PhD scholarship in Pacific history. She was initially barred from entering Australia under the racist “White Australia” policy, but finally, under protest, was allowed entry.

Ethnohistory works
While Ron worked on his thesis, Marjorie commenced work on The Works of Ta’unga; Records of a Polynesian Traveller in the Southern Seas, 1833–1896 (ANU Press, 1968). This work (co-edited with Ron) “combined the two strands of ethnohistory and an Islands-focused historiography” to become one of the foundational texts of Pacific history (Lal and Munro, 2006).

In 1962, Ron and Marjorie and their family moved to live and work in Papua New Guinea following Ron’s appointment as executive officer, and from 1965, director of ANU’s New Guinea Research Unit. In Port Moresby, Marjorie became a lecturer at the Teachers College and the Administrative College, as well as conducting a regular ABC radio broadcast “Malanga Moana” covering Pacific music and current affairs (1966-9).

In 1965 during sabbatical, she undertook a part-time anthropology degree at the University of California (Los Angeles) and in 1968, studies in Pacific history at the University of Hawai’i.

In 1967, she began a degree at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), studying creative writing under Ulli and Georgina Beier and publishing her research into the work of the influential Mangaian missionaries to Papua, Ruatoka and his wife Tungane. All this was achieved in addition to bringing up two children without added help, for Ron and Marjorie refused on principle to employ domestic servants.

In Port Moresby, Marjorie was again forced to confront racial discrimination as Ron later recalled.

“The first time she went to buy meat at the main Burns Philp shop in Port Moresby she was refused service. She came home in tears after being told that natives can only be served through the outside hatch. She had been in many countries but never treated like that. She never went back, but it was a small part of the accepted code of the Australian system in Papua New Guinea.”

In 1969 the family moved to Suva, following Ron’s appointment as foundation professor of Pacific studies at the newly established University of the South Pacific. At USP, Marjorie completed her Arts degree majoring in history and education. Influenced by her creative writing teachers at UPNG, she helped establish and became first president of the South Pacific Creative Arts Society (SPACS), a post she retained for 23 years (1977-2000).

Battling established thinking
Once again she was required to battle established thinking, this time within a university that, at the time, placed greater emphasis on economic and social development than on the creative arts.

SPACS provided a platform for a “New wave of Pacific writers” through its journal Mana with Marjorie as editor. Many of the early writers published in Mana, including Albert Wendt, Konai Thaman, the late Alistair Te Ariki Campbell and the late Grace Molisa, were or became internationally famous writers and scholars, leading the Cook Islands academic Emily Powell to wonder, would there have been a Pacific literature at all if Marjorie and her colleagues had not established SPACS and sustained Mana with their own tireless work?

“Writers and publishers from the wider region,” writes Dr Linda Crowl, “owe a deep debt to Marjorie’s foresight and generosity.”

In 1974, Marjorie completed her Master of Arts degree at UPNG with a dissertation entitled – “Maretu’s Narrative of Cook Islands History” – later published as Cannibals and Converts: Radical Change in the Cook Islands (USP Press, 1983).

At USP, both Ron and Marjorie were indefatigable advocates of a decentralised university with Ron writing and teaching the first ever degree level correspondence course offered by USP Extension, An Introduction to Pacific Land Tenure in 1974.

At the same time, Marjorie worked as director of the Fiji Extension Centre, then at the Solomon Islands Extension Service, and finally as director of USP Extension Studies (1983-88), with responsibility for delivering extension studies to the university’s 12 member countries.

In September 1987, Marjorie was sitting in her office at USP’s Laucala campus when soldiers arrived with orders to “off the (satellite) machines” as Fiji’s September coup was under-way.

Uncowed by threats
Uncowed by threats of violence, Marjorie spent a brief afternoon in detention, guarded by a young and apparently respectful armed soldier, musing how she might overpower him and “pin him to the ground in one helpless pile of jungle greens”.

For their 20 plus years in Suva, Ron and Marjorie’s home at 6 Mariko Street, was a refuge for Pacific students — in John Herrmann’s words — “a marae, in essence ‘a home away from home’ for many students and staff members from across the region … (providing) a homely outing, a quiet exchange, some informal counselling, and above all else, some island songs from home”.

Following her retirement from USP in 1988, Marjorie was appointed senior lecturer and foundation director at the Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland (1990-1993).

Returning to the Cook Islands she was appointed deputy chair of the Cook Islands Media Council, a member of the Biodiversity Committee, and of the Education Sector Review, the Higher Appointments Committee, the Cultural and Historic Places Trust, and the Cook Islands Research Association while also supporting innumerable NGOs and lecturing at USP Cook Islands.

Following Ron’s death in 2009, she co-edited (with Rod Dixon and Linda Crowl) a book on his life and work, entitled Ron Crocombe: E Toa: Pacific Writings to Celebrate His Life and Work.

Despite advancing age, Marjorie continued to champion poetry and literature, and, as Rachel Reeves noted, remained “outspoken about encouraging Pacific writers to analyse contemporary life through poetry, art and stories”.

This bore added fruit in 2003 with the publication of the 400-page Akono’anga Māori – Cook Islands Culture featuring 25 local authors writing on aspects of Cook Islands culture, economy and society, followed in 2016 by Art and Architecture of the Cook Islands (co-edited again with Rod Dixon and Linda Crowl).

Woman of the Year
Among her honours, Marjorie was named by Islands Business their 1990 Pacific Islands Woman of the Year, and in 2000 the Cook Islands Business and Professional Women’s Association as their Woman of the Year. In the 2009 New Year Honours List, Marjorie was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Cook Islands, the Pacific, education, literature and the community

In 2011, her alma mater honoured her with the award of a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in recognition of “her exceptional academic, literary and community achievements”. The citation included 6 full pages recording all of Marjorie’s published works covering subject areas including Pacific History, Pacific Literature, Education, Current Affairs, Information Technology, and Pacific Women as well as 22 edited publications.

The following year, USP Cook Islands campus commissioned a full-length portrait from the Pacific artist Nanette Lela’ulu. The artist pictured Marjorie in doctoral robes with bare feet on a woven mat emphasising her “groundedness” in the Pacific.

Ron’s empty chair standing beside her in the portrait depicted the now absent “other half” of a 50-year partnership.

On the university’s 50th Anniversary in 2018, USP Cook Islands celebrated Marjorie’s pivotal role in the development of Pacific Literature with publication of the book Mana – 50 Years of Cook Islands Writing, a tribute to Marjorie Crocombe.

In the same year, Marjorie fulfilled another goal by successfully lobbying the university to develop a full degree programme in her much-loved Cook Islands Māori language. Attending the opening of the Confucius Classroom at USP Cook Islands, Marjorie took the opportunity to question the vice-chancellor as to why the university taught Chinese but not Pacific languages.

As the university approached its 50th Anniversary, she argued, that the teaching of Pacific vernacular language programmes would help affirm the university’s commitment to regionalism. The then Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna had been recently installed in the largely ceremonial, yet influential, role of chancellor of the university and Marjorie was quick to lobby him for a degree in Cook Islands Māori.

Pacific language degrees
The degree was introduced in 2018 and once established, was followed by Tongan and Niuafo’ou, Vagahau Niue, and Rotuman. The first students with a Diploma in Cook Islands Māori graduated in 2021.

Anyone who has borrowed books from the Crocombe’s extensive library will have noticed an ex-libris plate on the inside front cover of each book containing the words of the French-American Quaker missionary Stephen Grellet, which reads: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show, to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”

In living a fulfilling life, not deferring nor neglecting but actively seizing opportunities to do good, helping innumerable lives along the way, Marjorie and Ron lived up to their exacting life motto.

Their combined efforts have impacted and inspired uncountable others. We were privileged to know them.

Marjorie is survived by by four children, 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Rod Dixon is a former University of the South Pacific centre director. This article was first published in the Cook islands News and is republished with permission.

References
Gray, Geoffrey and Doug Munro (2018). “Ron & Marjorie Crocombe and Harry Maude: Partnerships, Ethnohistory and Publishing”, in Bérose – Encyclopédie internationale des histoires de l’anthropologie, Paris.

Lintonbon, Katrina (2020, June 13). Pages from the book of Marjorie Crocombe’s life, Cook Islands News.

Reeves, Rachel (2016, June 6). Marjorie Crocombe honoured and described as a beacon of light, Cook Islands News.

The number and quality of Pacific journalists are expected to rise in a never before seen collaboration between four major New Zealand media organisations.

NZ on Air has approved $2.4 million to fund 25 fully-paid journalism cadetships, with a minimum of five Pacific trainees and 10 Māori.

The Te Rito Journalism Project is fronted by Pacific Media Network (PMN), Māori Television, NZME and Newshub.

• READ MORE: Pacific journalists respond to new programme to get more Pasifika in the newsroom​

PMN chief executive Don Mann said this collaboration aligned with his organisation’s mandate to help train a pipeline of excellent Pacific broadcasters and multimedia journalists.

“Te Rito provides sustainability to PMN in provision of best-practice Pasifika multilingual journalism but, more importantly, it allows the network to play our part in rectifying the significant under-representation and imbalance within the journalism sector on behalf of the Pasifika community.”​

Māori Television head of news and current affairs Wena Harawira shares the same sentiment, hoping the partnership will address the critical shortage of reo Māori speaking journalists.

“It’s incredibly important that New Zealand’s journalism landscape is rich with Māori stories created by Māori, in te reo Māori, for everyone,” she said.

‘Ability to tell stories’
“The ability to tell stories and share perspectives is fundamentally shaped by language.”​

Emphasising how critical it is for journalists to bring their culture into newsrooms is the view of NZME head of cultural partnerships Lois Turei, who says: “Weaving aspects of their culture into their work will result in stories that are rich and multi-layered – that’s a powerful gift to newsrooms.”

The cadets will work across all four newsrooms for one year developing their skills in digital, audio, radio, video, television and print journalism. However, ​10 cadets will be based with Māori Television, and 15 with NZME.​

Newshub director of news Sarah Bristow said: “This will break down some of the barriers that are preventing young, diverse voices from being part of our media landscape.”

Te Rito will soon begin advertising for a kaihautū (programme manager) to begin the development phase of the project.

Four other trainers and an administrator will also be recruited and applications for cadets will open later this year with the training programme to run for one year from February 2022.​

NZ On Air head of journalism Raewyn Rasch (Ngāi Tahu/Kai Tahu) said: “Training is a vital part of the media landscape that has suffered through increasing financial pressures and by injecting resources back into this area, the Public Interest Journalism Fund will have a positive and long-lasting impact.”

“Pacific Studies” has been included in a raft of new proposed NCEA achievement standard subjects in New Zealand, now up for public consultation. It is proposed with Vagahau Niue and Gagana Tokelau as part of the government’s NCEA upcoming reforms — the biggest shakeup of the qualification.

The option of learning Pasifika histories has provided hope to students like i-Kiribati Naumi Teinabo (Maiana, Nikunau), who has never learnt a Pacific strand once in her social studies classes.

The Mahurangi College Year 13 who only this year started learning about New Zealand histories, said the social studies curriculum has not served Pasifika learners.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES: Pacific Studies proposed to be taught in NZ high schools (duration 3′:46″)

Auckland University Pacific studies scholar Hollyanna Ainea said: “It comes into a loss, sort of like identity, in like our place as Pasifika in New Zealand. So we’re focusing on more European history and stuff instead of what’s actually important to us.”

She said learning about the Mau movement in Year 12 helped form her identity as a tama’ita’i Samoa – that would later challenge an older, white male-dominated space in academia.

But she said should Pacific studies be offered in New Zealand schools, that teachers must be culturally competent.

“It also comes down to the different resources that teachers are offered as well because you know, they’re already time restricted and they’re also having to find different ways to educate students on different topics,” she said.

Willingness to research
“But it also comes down to their willingness to research and know how to handle these different conversations regarding Pasifika history, Māori history.

“There’s this massive disconnection between understanding how we as tagata o le moana or tagata o le whenua, perceive our oral histories, our connections with the land, connections with the sea and that also kind of contributes to our ignorance to how these different inequities have come about over time because even though these are events that have happened in the past, they still affect us today.”

Ainea said all students who enrolled in Pacific studies would use the learning everywhere they go, with everyone, every day.

She said Pasifika students would especially benefit from a subject that helped them grow in their identity.

Ben Curtis is a history teacher at De La Salle College with a predominantly Pasifika school roll.

He admitted as a Palagi man, his teaching was not founded in lived experience. However, he had only ever taught Māori and Pasifika topics, which he said was received better by his predominantly Pasifika students.

He said topics like the Dawn Raids and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, had been important in reminding students of where and who they come from.

Engagement of young people
“The engagement of young people when they learn about Māori history through a Māori context and worldview is a lot more powerful than learning history that’s really disconnected with any cultural identity that you know, New Zealanders have, and particularly Māori and Pacific students.”

With the help of some teachers, Teinabo recently began lunchtime tutorials for Pasifika students with a yearning to learn about their heritage.

The tutorials have proved a hit with small Pasifika student community. So far, they’ve discussed the destruction of Banaba and the Mau.

Teinabo said she would tell her Year 9-self that being i-Kiribati was nothing short of beautiful and was something to share with her classmates.

“Just remember myself as I am is enough… I should be able to appreciate and want to want to show my culture and be strong in my culture’.”

Pacific studies along with Vagahau Niue and Gagana Tokelau, are a number of proposed new subjects which form the government’s NCEA reform, the biggest shakeup of the qualification since it began in 2002.

Ākonga, kaiako and extended whānau can provide feedback through an online survey, which closes on August 11.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

In Samoan Language Week, The New Zealand Herald’s Vaimoana Tapaleao welcomes the revival of all things fa’asamoa.

Anyone with an ethnic name will tell you it can be anything from a conversation starter to a lesson on pronunciation, or just a struggle.

For me, it’s a story that belongs to my aiga (family) – one of migration, cultural differences and new beginnings.

Named after my dad’s only sister, aunty Moana got her name from my great uncle Tapaleao Moega Anisi — the first person on that side of the aiga to arrive in New Zealand in the 1950s.

• READ MORE: Pacific Language Weeks

He left Samoa on the MV Tofua bound for Fiji; before getting on a flight headed to Whenuapai in Auckland.

When he arrived, he found everything to be different. The palm trees, humidity and the scorching sun he was so familiar with were nowhere to be seen.

It’s this part of the story I tend to explain by putting both hands out, palms facing up like some kind of human balance scale — one side being Samoa and the other Aotearoa.

“Everything and everyone he knew and loved was now va i moana — separated by the sea.”

Gagana Samoa or fa’asamoa has always been an integral part of my life; not just in my name.

One of the earliest memories I have is of our grandpa Paleao teaching me and a few cousins the Lord’s prayer in Samoan, as we sat cross-legged on the sitting room floor.

I could never properly say the word “fa’aosoosoga” — temptation.

My parents only spoke to me in Samoan as a young child, so when I started primary school, the only language this New Zealand-born kid knew was gagana Samoa.

For some reason it was at times seen as embarrassing if your mum or dad rocked up to school speaking to you in Samoan, or any other language for that matter that wasn’t English.

I had friends who would anglify their very Samoan name to fit in or to make it easier for the teacher to pronounce.

That shame, for want of a better word, has resulted in the now adults who are unable to hold a simple conversation in their mother tongue.

The bright side is that there has been a resurgence for all things fa’asamoa among Samoans growing up away from the islands.

There are language classes that start from the very basic “Talofa” to the more advanced lessons teaching the intricate dialect used by matai (chiefs).

That love for Samoana also extends to a heightened interest in learning cultural siva (dance), getting tatau (traditional tattoos) or creating tusi (books), poetry, pese (song) and even rap in Samoan.

Even the palagi-est of palagi is likely to know what “uso” – the Samoan word for brother – means now; as it’s widely used on social media and on the sports field.

In my own life, speaking Samoan fluently was just a given. Most of my cousins speak fluently and so too do the tupulaga (youth) at church.

However, the value of being able to speak Samoan was only shown to me when I started working as a reporter and realised I had a special way of connecting with people on a different level.

It is one of my greatest assets to have as a journalist; especially when speaking with older Samoans, who breathe a sigh of relief when they hear the familiar words of home.

In some cases, their eyes fill with tears when they realise they can talk to me.

There have also been the low-key jabs, of course, like when a woman I interviewed jokingly mixed up the word tusitala (journalist) with faitatala — gossip.

Jokes aside, fa’asamoa is not just about one’s linguistic abilities.

Every child is taught the old proverb: “E iloa le Samoa i lana tu, tautala ma lana savali.” You can tell a Samoan by the way they stand, speak and walk.

It’s a reminder that fa’asamoa and being Samoan is about service, action, respect and much more than words.

Vaimoana Tapaleao is a journalist with The New Zealand Herald. This Samoan Language Week article is republished with permission.

“No matter how we come to be in Fiji, or how long we have been here …we all part of the land. It is the land of our birth or land of our adoption, the land to which we belong” – The late archbishop Petero Mataca.

When a New Zealand youth, an eighth generation Indo-Fijian, recently spoke out against education policies that exclude some Pacific Island people from Pasifika programmes and scholarships as unfair, he did not realise he was opening a thorny debate that goes back to 1879.

That was the year Indian indentured labourers were introduced to the Pacific with the first forebearers being brought aboard the Leonidas and their descendants have become part of the diaspora, or in the case of Aotearoa New Zealand become part of the double diaspora.

• READ MORE: 141st anniversary of the Girmityas arriving in Fiji
• Fiji Day – birth of a magazine and reflections of the past 50 years

Between 1879 and 1916, 87 voyages were made by 40 ships by the British bringing in the Girmityas or the people of the ”Agreement”.

As the venerable Professor Vijay Naidu of the University of the South Pacific in Suva attests to that: “Indo-Fijians or Fiji Indians or Fijians of Indian descent are descendants of the 60,500 British Indian indentured labourers who were transported between 1879 and 1916 to establish and work on the plantations of sugar, coconut, banana, tea, and rubber and sugar mills owned the Australian Colonial Sugar Refining Company”.

As he says these Girmityas lived in “lines” comprising of single rooms and worked in atrocious conditions in which has been called a new system of slavery, and “narak” or hell.

“In Fiji their roots lay in cultivating the land as small holder tenant farmers in mainly indigenous Fijian owned land. There has been more than a century of this relationship with i’Taukei, mostly cooperative and beneficial, and occasionally conflictual,” as Professor Naidu points out.

Reinforcing their culture
Through the 100 years and more they managed to reinforce their culture and religions while doing away with the caste system and gone too were dhowry for marriages.

Indo-Fijians have migrated to other countries such as Aotearoa NZ, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States all for a better life.

However, so too have the indigenous i’Taukei, all in search of new opportunities using both military service and rugby as a means to settle abroad.

But it is the better of two pursuits that makes for a good Fijian – i’Taukei or Indo-Fijian.

As children’s book author Ryan Gounder believes, all young people need role models to look up to.

Gounder, who was born and raised in Fiji and now lives in Aotearoa NZ, is writing a new series, starting with Rugby Superheroes Volume One, published in Fijian with English translations this year.

In Fiji, rugby players are like superheroes for many children and the lessons they teach us can strongly impact children in the community, Gounder says.

Developing ‘tangible resources’
“We need to develop more tangible resources for our young Pacific people that resonates with their identity as Pasifika people, and which will empower them and help develop resilience to be the ‘best versions of themselves’ – a famous phrase often using within the Rugby Sevens circles in Fiji,” says Gounder, whose first name resonates with Ben Ryan, the coach of the winning Rugby sevens team in Brazil in 2016.

The irony of Ryan Gounder is that he is a recipient aof the Languages Innovation Fund set up by the Ministry of Pacific People, despite being an Indo-Fijian. I will come back to that later in this article.

However, the i’Taukei, in the process of seeking better opportunities for their children and themselves too have lost their identity as they pursue the dollar.

While language remains one of the strongest senses of identity, so to are culture and religion that makes a person know where his or her Turangewaewae (standing place) is.

“In the Fijian community, it is often discussed at our annual gatherings how language is being lost,” Gounder says of the more serious discussion around the kava bowl.

It is not just the loss of language but traditional culture that displaces the I’Taukei and the Indo-Fijian, who has had to adopt new ways to cope with being in a new environment.

While the proponent of the coups in Fiji in 1987, which caused thousands of Indo-Fijians to emigrate, making them a minority in Fiji once more, Sitiveni Rabuka tried to reconcile with a democratic constitution review with joint sponsorship of the bill with Opposition Leader Jai Ram Reddy in 1997.

Constitution ‘unfortunately unilaterally revoked’
“It was unfortunate that the 1997 constitution was unilaterally revoked in July 2009 by the [Voreqe] Bainimarama-led military regime,” Rabuka wrote in a column in The Fiji Times in the lead up to the 2018 election.

“For me personally I have three reservations about the adoption of the 2013 constitution of “Fijian” as our common name.

“Firstly, the people were never consulted. It was imposed just like the Bainimarama regime’s repudiation of the 1997 constitution and the abolition of the Great Council Chiefs (GGC) – the Bose Levu Vakaturaga – in 2012.”

His second reservation was the allowing of dual nationality which he said diluted patriotism even if it paved the way for the reversing of the brain drain which took place after his 1987 coups.

The third reservation was most concerning for him was that which ignored the group rights of the indigenous I’Taukei and Rotuman people.

To him it was unacceptable that the 2013 constitution presumed there was no differentiation between the people.

“For an indigenous i’Taukei to be called a Fijian means more than being a Fijian citizen. It means being registered in the i’Taukei Vola ni Kawa Bula (VKB) as a member of a customary landowning Mataqali. (Traditionally, each Fijian villager is born into a certain role in the family unit or Tokatoka. Various heads of the family will administer and lead the family unit within the village community. Each chief of the village will in turn lead the people to fulfill their role to the Vanua.)

Mataqali and land rights
Each village will have several family units/Tokatoka  which are part of one clan or Mataqali. Several Mataqali will make up the larger tribe or Yavusa. Several Yavusa will belong to a certain land mass and comprise thereby the Vanua (confederation of Yavusa)..

Fiji social scientist Dr Asesela Ravuvu described the Vanua as:”The living soul or human manifestation of the physical environment which the members have since claimed to belong to them and to which they also belong. The land is the physical or geographical entity of the people, upon which their survival…as a group depends. Land is thus an extension of the self. Likewise, the people are an extension of the land. Land becomes lifeless and useless without the people, and likewise the people are helpless and insecure without land to thrive upon.”

Therein lies the dilemma for the I’Taukei who no longer recognises the Mataqali he or she belongs to in Aotearoa NZ, having been away from the family clan.

With that comes the loss of identity and a reversion and accession to the Western World and hence that brings its own problems.

As Niuean Dr Collin Tukuitonga, who left Fiji after the 1987 coup, assesses: “People feel disconnected from their social norms and traditional values, family connections are disturbed and of course that is almost an inevitable consequence that young people in particular would turn to drugs and crime. That is why I see languages as a protective element for our people.”

The impacts of the loss identity can be devastating, but HOPE party leader Roko Tupou Draunidalo, stepdaughter of the 1987 Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, has a different take on the subject.

“I am otherwise of the view that every Fijian born in Fiji or anywhere in the Pacific or with Fijian ancestry that lived in the Pacific with Pacific cultures and interactions is Fijian and therefore a Pacific Islander,” she says with conviction.

Culture alive and well
“I’Taukei have not lost their culture, it is alive and well and you need to go any village or I’Taukei home to realise that.”

However, that is not case in Aotearoa NZ. That Ryan Gounder was recognised for his work by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples despite being Indo-Fijian is a rarity rather than the norm.

The Search for the Indo-Fijian identity will require an act of Parliament so that they are differentiated from Southeast Asian Indians.

Currently they have to tick the Indian box in the census and are not recognised by some universities as Pasifika Peoples.

As Professor Vijay Naidu explains: “In response to a letter from Lorraine Pillay in early 2000 which inquired whether Indo-Fijians were ‘Pasifika’, the then PM Helen Clark’s office responded strongly in the affirmative.”

Pillay raised this identity question when she was told in a Wellington workshop for senior teachers and principals of secondary schools that Indo-Fijians were not eligible for scholarships as they were not considered to be “Pasifika”.

In sharp contrast to this standpoint, when I joined Victoria University of Wellington, Pasifika staff and students, and the wider community welcomed me as a “Pasifika” person.

As Professor Brij Lal has stated, generations of living in Fiji have changed our identity and outlook. We are indeed children of the ‘Pacific’!”

This article was first published in Fiji Dynamics, the new magazine for the Fiji diaspora in Aotearoa New Zealand, and has been republished with permission.

It is Fijian Language Week in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to celebrate, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has launched the Fiji episode in its Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures”.

Narrated in Fijian (with English subtitles) by an 18-year-old-girl speaking to her grandparents, the video puts the spotlight on the older Pacific population and the collaborative research being carried out through the Healthy Pacific Grandparents’ project, as part of AUT’s Pacific Islands Families Study (PIFS).

PIFS director Associate Professor El-Shadan Tautolo said it was critical Pacific grandparents had the resources they needed to ensure they were well looked after.

• WATCH: Other AUT Pacific language videos

“Our older Pacific adult population, aged 65 years and over, is growing faster than our younger population, and they’re living longer too,” said Dr Tautolo.

“There are huge challenges to face with ageing, and this project was about working with 100 of our elderly population to find out about their experiences, health and wellbeing, in order to help them develop solutions that make their lives easier as they get older.”

Key study findings:

• Working with older people as co-researchers supported them to identify challenges and develop their own strategies to address them.
• Prioritising foot care screening and maintenance for older people led to improved mobility, independence, and reduced likelihood of going to hospital, and
• There is a need to improve digital literacy of older people and identify digital tools that are helpful for them as they age.

Future video release dates:

•Niue – Sunday, 18 October 18

•Tokelau – Sunday, October 25

To watch each video as it is launched, follow the AUT Pacific on YouTube.

The Healthy Pacific Grandparents’ project is funded by the Ageing Well National Science Challenge.

The Pacific Media Centre collaborates with other AUT news sources.

By AUT News

The Tonga episode in Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific language video series – Adapting to a Changing World, Shaping Resilient Futures – has been released.

The video is narrated in Tongan (with English subtitles) from the viewpoint of a 15-year-old girl, to acknowledge the language being celebrated in Aotearoa New Zealand this week.

It looks at the issue of food security among our Pacific families in Aotearoa, based on significant findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study (PIFS).

PIFS director Associate Professor El-Shadan Tautolo said the availability and cost of healthy food options was a significant issue faced by many communities across Aotearoa, including Pacific families.

“Our research found that around 40 percent of the 1300 families interviewed, could not afford to buy healthy food, and as a result, they would often skip important meals and go hungry, or they would buy food that was less nutritious, but cheaper,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

“Much more needs to be done for our communities when it comes to this issue.

“There are some resources available, including AUT’s Certificate of Proficiency in Pacific Nutrition, which supports our communities to utilise healthy eating options or alternatives, at a low cost, to avoid diet-related health diseases.

“However, at a policy level, governments need to do more to close the gap between food availability, choice and cost, particularly in light of the recent covid-19 situation and the impact on household incomes and the ability to buy nutritious healthy food.

“The upcoming elections provide an opportunity to see this issue highlighted – we need urgent regulatory changes to ensure healthy food options are prioritised.”

• Tongan language Week: September 7-11, 2020

Release dates for upcoming videos:

• Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) – Sunday September 13 2020
• Tuvalu – Sunday 27 September
• Fiji – Sunday 4 October
• Niue – Sunday 18 October
• Tokelau – Sunday 25 October

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

The Cook Islands episode in AUT’s Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures” – is out now.

The video is narrated in Cook Islands Māori (with English subtitles) to acknowledge the language being celebrated in Aotearoa this week.

Pacific Islands Families Study (PIFS) data in 2002, and then again in 2011, indicated that Pacific children in the study, were three times more likely to suffer hearing problems from ear diseases compared to other children.

Associate Professor El-Shadan Tautolo, director of the Pacific Islands Families Study,  said that alongside the need to understand what was driving these concerning patterns, the findings also drew attention to the importance of screening children early on for any hearing issues.

“We can’t underestimate the importance of screening,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

“It enables us to uncover and identify a range of developmental issues that, if detected early, can be addressed and enable our Pacific children to reach their full potential.”

Release dates for future videos
To watch each video as it is launched, follow the Pacific at AUT Facebook page or follow on YouTube.

• Tonga– Sunday, September 6
• Tuvalu – Sunday, September 27
• Fiji – Sunday, October 4
• Niue – Sunday, October 18
• Tokelau – Sunday, October 25

By Simon Smith of AUT News

The Kiribati instalment in the AUT Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures” – has been released.

The video, produced by Auckland University of Technology, is narrated in I-Kiribati, (with English subtitles) to acknowledge the inaugural Kiribati Language Week in Aotearoa.

It looks at the impact of the involvement of fathers on early childhood behaviour outcomes in Pacific communities, from findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study in 2006.

READ MORE: Pacific father involvement and early childhood behaviour – Research

The research, led by the director of the Pacific Islands Families Study, Associate Professor El-Shadan Tautolo, explored the experiences of 825 Pacific fathers – which was then cross-analysed with quantitative data obtained from their children, who were also part of the study.

A Pacific father himself, of Cook Islands and Samoan heritage, Associate Professor Tautolo, says the paternal impact in a child’s upbringing cannot be underestimated.

“The research provided strong evidence that the more involved Pacific fathers are in raising their children, the more likely their children would exhibit positive behaviour.

The study also observed that where the fathers’ influence was absent or limited, around 30 per cent of Pacific children in the study had significant problem behavioural issues

Highlighted need for fathers
“Often a father’s role in a child’s upbringing may be overlooked, but these findings really highlighted the need for fathers to prioritise their involvement with their kids,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

“In fact, by encouraging fathers to talk about and share their experiences, we can glean important insight into the factors that impact on their relationships with their children, and find ways to address issues, collectively.”

“It is reassuring that the majority of the fathers who took part in this research had strong involvement with their young ones, and over the years, since the research took place, we have seen these children do well throughout their development.”

This research, which gathers more and more data each year, is critical, as it provides the robust evidence needed to develop targeted support services for Pacific fathers in Aotearoa.

“It shows us that having clear strategies that promote and enable increased father involvement have a high chance of reducing negative child outcomes among our Pacific families.

“Supporting positive fatherhood will help contribute to solutions that provide the best outcomes for Pacific families and for their children,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

Release dates for the upcoming videos

A range of initiatives for Pacific people was announced in the New Zealand Budget last week.

This Wellbeing Budget included increases in funding for Pacific health, education, language and economic development.

While the Ministry of Pacific Peoples has hailed it as an unprecedented support package for Pacific people, there is concern that it does not go far enough to address issues in the community.

LISTEN: Mixed reactions to NZ Budget initiatives for Pacific people

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Porirua community leader John Fiso says considering Pacific people figure in the lowest end of health and housing statistics, and have the lowest median income in New Zealand, the budget is disappointing.

He says the government talked about providing an equity model, but it should have focused on a needs model.

“What do we mean by equity? Because if it’s based on needs [for] Pacific it falls well short. I think we’ve got to come back to the key requirements for Pasifika – it is health, it is education, it is economic development. We can talk about it all we want, but there doesn’t seem to be any resources following it.”

Fiso says while the budget is known as the Wellbeing Budget, he believes it should focus on specific issues.

“What we don’t have, is we don’t have houses, we have pay that’s $12,000 – the lowest in the country, we have the highest health statistics in terms of needs. Those are the things you can measure if you are improving on. How happy you feel – disregarding those factors and to Pacific people, are you happy? It’s a redundant question for me.”

He says there should have been an emphasis on targets that are measurable and achievable.

“If I was telling a third form group to set their goals for the future, two of those things would be measurable and achievable. I’m not sure you can achieve or measure happiness – and I’m not sure you can achieve a whole lot of these other things that are on the table. If it’s not measurable for me, then it’s almost a negative for Pacific or under-served communities because you’ve got no way of holding anybody to account.”

The Wellbeing Budget included a particular focus on improving mental health in New Zealand.

The chief executive of the Pasifika mental health organisation Le Va is Monique Faleafa. She says that from her perspective the budget’s holistic approach to Pasifika wellbeing was encouraging.

“So it’s a budget, not with just an economic and fiscal outlook, but it’s included health and welfare and even the environment. So that holistic approach we know will benefit Pasifika communities.”

But Dr Faleafa says that access to support services is the biggest issue for Pasifika people in New Zealand and this needs to be further supported by the community, alongside the funding boost.

“Now the trick is in how do we get Pacific leadership to co-design and communities, and people with lived experience, these services that are going to be more accessible. Because they’re still not going to be accessible no matter how much funding they’ve got.”

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the budget was unprecedented in what it provided for Pacific people in New Zealand.

He says there is NZ$13.2 million specifically tagged for Pacific people, but additional funding will also be provided through a number of government initiatives.

He says that he sees it as a package that addresses issues that Pacific have faced for a long time in New Zealand.

“The package that we’ve put together is the first package ever, that in my view lays the foundation of tackling the long-term issues that Pacific peoples have always faced.”

Aupitoa says the budget aims acknowledge that well-being Pacific people is more than just in economic terms, but also is also centred around language, culture and spiritually.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• More Pacific stories

The well-being of Pacific people in New Zealand has been recognised in this year’s Budget with increases in funding for the community in education, languages, health and business.

The government said the initiatives announced in the Budget would provide Pacific peoples with more scope to lift their own well-being.

It also said that by embracing Pacific values and co-designing initiatives with Pacific peoples, equality can start to be a reality.

READ MORE: NZ’s 2019 ‘Wellbeing’ Budget – ‘Building the blocks’

Boost for Pacific education
The Budget provides NZ$27.4 million over four years to ensure Pacific students and their families have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to pursue education.

This includes Pacific PowerUP, an educational programme that aimed at actively supporting Pacific parents, families and communities to support their children’s learning.

The Budget will also provide $NZ14.5 million to the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to grow opportunities for young people not in employment, education or training.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio said the the funding will grow opportunities with education providers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to place up to 2220 Pasifika young people into employment, education or training though the Pacific Employment Support Service.

Pacific Language Unit to be established
A major boost for Pacific Languages was also announced in the Budget.

It allocated NZ$20 million over four years so the Ministry for Pacific Peoples can establish a new Pacific Language Unit, with a set of language support functions to help ensure their survival.

New Zealand currently holds Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Fijian, Niuean and Tokelauan language weeks every year.

Many Pacific languages are struggling to survive within their communities in New Zealand and Aupito said that without action Pasifika risk losing their wisdom, culture, and sense of belonging.

Funding for Pacific peoples’ health and well-being
An important part of delivering improved health outcomes for Pacific peoples will be to increase their health workforce.

This will be done with funding of NZ$14.3 million over four years for a strengthened training pathway, from secondary school to tertiary study, work experience and work placements including increasing the number of Pacific people who are nurses and midwives.

There will also be increased investment of NZ$9.8 million over four years in developing innovative Pacific community initiatives, including some aimed at sharing evidence-based Pacific models of care.

The Budget also provides NZ$12 million in funding for rheumatic fever programmes to reduce the incidence rate among Māori and Pacific peoples and support better management of the illness.

In addition it invests $NZ1 million to research how a whānau-centred approach to primary healthcare can improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples.

There was a focus on mental health in the Budget and there has been provision to fund up to eight programmes for Māori and Pacific people designed to strengthen personal identity and connection to the community.

Transforming the Pacific economy
The Budget provides NZ$11 million over four years to boost the Pacific Business Trust.

This funding will expand the delivery of business services, and support industry and community economic development activities focused on growing Pacific businesses and job opportunities.

It will also include research, monitoring and evaluation of Pacific peoples’ contribution to New Zealand’s economy.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• More Pacific stories