Last meeting for Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel term 2017 - 2019...

Yesterday was my last meeting with the awesome 'Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel' for the Auckland Council. We've been together for a three-year term since 2017.

It's been a neat journey in meeting monthly together as a group, getting to know each other and in learning about the new initiatives within Council and also in giving advice from the different Pasifika life experiences that we've had in various sectors of community and society.

Within our group, our Pasifika heritages hail from Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and we formerly had Niuean representation but the individual moved overseas but hopefully, the next panel will have more representation from our various Pasifika communities.

The neat thing though is that despite our different backgrounds of being either born in NZ or overseas, at the heart of the matter was speaking out for issues that mattered for Pasifika people i.e. housing, employment, education, equity and access to Council amenities and ensuring that our Pasifika communities would not disadvantaged through the various initiatives that are at play and particularly housing.

For those of us Pasifika peoples who have received tertiary education, who are civic-minded or have Christian heritages that encourage us to support our fellow neighbours, I believe that it is really important to get involved at different levels of decision making in order to support our local Pasifika communities whether it be in church, education in schools, local/national government bodies, community organisations etc.

In doing so, it enables us to advocate for our Pasifika communities in different spheres. That's why I'm involved in local school Boards of Trustees, an upcoming Elder in a local Pacific Islands church, tertiary education in teaching and encouraging second chance learning with a view to position and encourage students to continue onto their Master's degree studies in order to meet the requirements of engaging Pasifika and Maori people as decision-makers in our society.

I know that the opportunities that have been gifted to me in life experiences have been due to the support of my Christian faith and family, and so it's been important for me to continue to mentor, encourage and support other Pasifika peoples who come in my life's path to do the same.

I'm going to miss this special group of people but looking forward to what the future might bring for the next panel and also for opportunities for Pasifika peoples to continue succeeding and moving forward through Auckland Council initiatives...