In his speech during the first general debate at Youth Parliament, Youth MP Trinity Kapeli quoted the great Tongan - Fijian Writer and scholar Epeli Hau’ofa.
“Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us. We are the sea, we are the ocean.”
Trinity Kapeli sharing his story among fellow Youth MPs, calling for additional support for Pasifika who sacrifice their education to support their families. July 2022. Photo: Parliament TV
One of the great features of Youth Parliament is its ability to broadcast a myriad of diverse perspectives. Youth Parliament is a triennial event that gives rangatahi from across Aotearoa the opportunity to simulate the work of 120 MPs in Parliament, the Clerk of the House and the Press Gallery.
Each Youth MP is assigned a spot by a corresponding MP in Parliament for an event that enables diverse perspectives to be shared. Of those perspectives, the Pasifika Youth worldview has been on full display at Youth Parliament 2022.
While some of the issues raised by Pasifika Youth MPs were also touchstone issues for all youth regardless of ethnicity and background, there was also a unique Pasifika voice resonating throughout Youth Parliament.
Mental Health
For Youth MP Elijah Mareko, the mental health of Māori and Pasifika youth is one of the foremost issues for young Pasifika people living in Aotearoa.
He describes secondary schools as having a significant role in support and guidance for their students, blaming a lack of diversity for what he says is “ineffective mental health support for Māori and Pasifika high school students.”
He explains that there is a need for targeted support among Pasifika youth, and outlines the reality that there is a lack of Māori and Pasifika mental health workers.
“Mental health has been a major issue for us for many years. Especially in terms of money, there is a need for additional school support and guidance,” Mareko says.
“There is a lack of diversity in youth and secondary school mental health. The people already in that support field are generally older and palagi.
“We need to review the approach in order to equalise the spectrum involving Māori and Pacific already in the field.”
Fellow Youth MP Annafinau Tukuitoga echoes Mareko’s views, and feels that Pasifika mental health is an issue worth addressing.
She says Pasifika “are very humble people, we don't know how to speak out, we don’t know how to ask for help.” She emphasises that “it’s really important that we do speak out because sometimes there are going to be issues that you face where you don’t know what to do and don’t know who to talk to".
Youth MP Elijah Mareko holding the Government accountable for its education reforms and lack of in-school mental health support and lack of diversity in the mental health field. July 2022 Photo: Parliament TV
Tukuitoga, who lives in the small Waikato town of Paeroa, says this is often even harder for Pasifika and Māori like her who live in rural areas where their minority status is intensified.
Being Pasifika in a rural community is “a challenge because there's not a lot of us. We are the minority.”
Both Mareko and Tukuitoga are hopeful that Pasifika youth can help to tackle the issue of mental health, and believe that Youth Parliament has been an opportunity to do this.
They both encourage more young Pasifika people to speak out and ask for help.
Housing
Citing the low homeownership rates among Māori and Pasifika communities in her hometown of Auckland, Youth MP Edna Fonua says it's up to the government to make it “easier” for these communities to enter the housing market.
“The government needs to focus on the housing crisis, by making changes on laws and putting action on proposals to make it easier for our communities and our people to have the security of owning their own home.”
Fonua says low home-ownership among Pasifika and Māori needs to be addressed. She believes the Government needs to be held to account amidst the housing crisis.
She notes the reality that Pasifika in her community work overtime, yet still continue to struggle due to higher costs of living is “saddening.”
“Us Pasifika work very hard for what we have, we always push in order to provide for our family, and it’s so saddening to see Pasifika struggle just to pay the rent,” Fonua says.
According to Stats NZ, home-ownership among Pasifika and Māori is significantly below that of the general population at 64.3 percent. In an effort to solve this, Fonua suggests fast-tracking laws that permit higher-density housing and prefabricated construction to increase affordability for first-home buyers.
Annafinau Tukuitoga Photo: Andre Fa'aoso
The Minister for Pacific Peoples and Associate Minister for Housing, Aupito William Sio, says that the Government is aware of the challenges that Pacific communities face and that initiatives are being constructed to benefit Pasifika.
“Our approach to pacific well-being [and this includes housing, health etc…] is a holistic approach, we are using the ‘Pacific Aotearoa Lalanga Fou Goals’ to guide and direct our work in the direction of economic prosperity.”
Aupito says that there is still work to educate and grow Pasifika communities across Aotearoa.
“We need to recognise the need to empower financial literacy among all Pasifika people, not just in Auckland, this includes knowing the difference between good debt vs bad debt, saving, and loans. We need to help staircase people to home ownership” says Aupito.
Fonua sees her presence at Youth Parliament as setting an example for other Pasifika in her community to engage. “Hopefully it becomes an encouragement for our Pasifika community to keep pushing and to learn more about our Parliament.”
Fonua believes Pasifika should see opportunities like Youth Parliament as a place to “emphasise and talk about the issues that you believe are important to you.”
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Education
Youth MP Trinity Kapeli is a year 13 high school student. He also happens to work forty hours a week. Unfortunately, his story is not uncommon.
Kapeli says “the problem is taking a toll on Māori and Pasifika, both mentally and physically.”
“I am a member of the diaspora,” he says proudly. “My parents and many other Pasifika families migrated to New Zealand for a better future, and were promised prosperity.
“Education in a foreign country was considered a gift for the children. Yet here I am working, because the living expenses are too high for my family and low-income community,” he says.
“I cannot enjoy the cusp of education, and like many other Pacific students have struggled to balance work and education.”
Kapeli says he “had to grow up pretty quickly”. As for the future, he has hope.
He says “it’s an honour to stand alongside the presence of other youth MPs who are passionate about making a change in Aotearoa.”
Trinity assures the Youth Press Gallery the systems that are failing Pasifika youth can be repaired if “we keep pushing in places like this, where our voices can actually be heard and recognised.”
Youth MP Epeli Ole takes a selfie of his colleagues (from left) Trinity Kapeli, Elijah Mareko (obscured), Fano Asiata, Kahurangi Katipa-Maikuku and Edna Fonua. Photo: Phil Smith
Pasifika Youth MPs at this year's Youth Parliament all brought a wide-ranging perspective, highlighting issues that affect rangatahi whilst illustrating which of these issues disproportionately affect Pasifika.
Although still a minority in terms of the numbers of people at Youth Parliament, they each brought diverse perspectives that connected with Youth MP’s regardless of the MP or party they represented.
Calls for more diversity, equity, and an amplified Pacific voice in health, education, and housing were front and centre in the Pasifika Youth MPs general debate speeches. The Youth MPs made it clear that Youth Parliament was as good a place as any to front issues concerning their aiga, their communities, their people.
To Aupito, the growing Pacific youth population is,” more connected with each other, more connected to Māori, more connected to different pacific nations, more connected to Asians more connected to pakeha, that's a beautiful thing, what I saw [in Youth Parliament], it gave me confidence and joy.”
Aupito has a term he likes to use for Pasifika in Aotearoa today; his 6Bs, a concept that travels with him across the country. To him, the Pasifika at Youth Parliament 2022, and the generation they are part of, embody the “bold, brown, beautiful, bilingual, bicultural and brainy” maxim.
*Louis Collins and Andre Fa’aoso are members of the Youth Press Gallery which takes the role of independent media reporting on Youth MPs and Youth Parliament 2022. This article can be republished freely on your platform subject to the following conditions:
- It must be republished as is (this can include visuals credited to VNP or NZ Parliament)
- It must include the following attribution to RNZ as the copyright owner: This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission.
