More than a crown: Redefining pageantry with identity, culture, leadership and voice

For many people, beauty pageants are about crowns and evening gowns.

But across the diaspora in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, a new generation of pageants is redefining what it means to wear the sash.

For young Pasifika women growing up away from their island homes, these events are becoming a way to reconnect with their heritage while building the confidence to represent their communities.

Miss Niue Australia founder and director Nadine Jackson-Te Maeva says the pageant was created with that purpose in mind.

"It is a pageant, it is a competition.. but we are also very in tune with the heritage side," Jackson-Te Maeva tells PMN Niue.

Launched in 2024, the competition prepares contestants through language workshops and cultural learning so they become ambassadors for the whole of Niue.

“Our ambassador is going to get to know every single village and she is going to represent 14 villages, not just the villages that she hails from,” Jackson-Te Maeva says.

For Jackson-Te Maeva, whose parents ran Miss Niue New Zealand in the 1990s, the pageant is about preparing young women for leadership beyond the stage.

“A pageantry platform taps into leadership, to public speaking, to opportunities to sit with government officials, to have deep conversations [about] things that matter most. It actually allows them to think outside of the norm.

Watch Nadine Jackson-Te Maeva's full interview below.

“This is a growth journey for them. But if they have the heart and the mind to represent Niue…it'll definitely give them the opportunity to express their voice. They can speak more of the things that are important to Niue.”

A similar vision is driving the return of the Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant, first established in Tāmaki Makaurau in 1996 and revived last year after a long break.

Reigning Ms Whakawahine 2025 Glory Haronga says she entered for a deeper purpose.

“I just always wanted to join a pageant - not to feel beautiful, but to let my voice be heard and to communicate with our wider community out there," Haronga tells PMN Cook Islands.

Haronga is now helping organise the 2026 pageant in Wellington and hopes it will inspire more akavaine and whakawahine to step forward as leaders.

Watch Glory Haronga's full interview below:

She says real beauty comes from character and courage.

“Beauty isn't on the outside. It's more on the inside,” Haronga says. “I feel that everyone comes with their own type of beauty and some of it's unseen and some of it is seen.

“You don't have to be the prettiest but you do have to have the voice. A voice of courage, a voice of leadership.Someone to lead us and guide us along the years to come.”

Glory Haronga was crowned Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine (Transgender) 2025. Photo/Facebook

Jackson-Te Maeva says the greatest reward is not winning a title but helping some discover their potential.

“Empowering someone would mean this is what we have offered to you, and let's see what you will do with it.”

As Pacific communities continue to grow across Australia and Aotearoa, these pageants are evolving into something far greater than competitions.

They are becoming places where identity is celebrated, culture protected, and the next generation of Pacific leaders finds its voice.

Registrations for both Miss Niue Australia 2026 and Miss Whakawahine 2026 are open on their respective facebook pages.