As Tuvaluans move to Australia, a radio show keeps their culture alive

With a microphone, a Facebook Live stream and a playlist of traditional fatele, a small broadcasting team in Brisbane is helping keep Tuvaluan culture alive across the globe.

Launched in early May, Te Leo o Tuvalu is a fortnightly radio programme connecting the global Tuvaluan diaspora.

Airing across 11 time zones, the show is quickly becoming a cultural meeting place for a diaspora that is growing faster than ever.

The programme comes at a significant moment for Tuvalu.

Under the Australian-Tuvalu Falepili Union, signed on 28 August 2024, up to 280 Tuvaluans can move to Australia each year through the Falepili Mobility Pathway.

Interest has been strong, with more than 8700 applications lodged in 2025 from a country of just over 10,000 people.

Watch Saele Teaukai's full interview below.

For producer Saele Teaukai, the radio show is about entertainment but also keeping people connected as communities spread across different countries.

“We were very blessed to have been asked to start a Tuvaluan show for our people,” producer Saele Teaukai tells PMN Tuvalu.

Alongside Salepa O’Hanlon and announcer Uofatimatie Peifaga, Teaukai produces the one-hour programme every second Thursday on the Pasifika TV & Radio Facebook and YouTube pages.

The show mixes community news, prayer, interviews and music, creating a space where Tuvaluans can hear familiar voices and stay connected to events at home and abroad.

Teaukai says he is already seeing the effects of migration on the ground.

“I’ve seen it in Brisbane, a lot of new faces around. It’s good to see,” he says, hoping his show will act as a port of call for migrating Tuvaluans.

“Just to have this platform where we can share information is a good thing, I think it helps a lot.”

Te Leo o Tuvalu starts at 5pm local time (NZST 7pm), the lineup features a prayer, celebratory notices, and interviews. Recent airings featured interviews with a local entrepreneur and a digital security expert.

“Just in our last show, a few of our people here received their Australian citizenship,” Teaukai says.

But Teaukai says the programme has a deeper goal: protecting the Tuvaluan language for future generations.

“The main purpose was just to get the stories around, not only to Tuvaluans in Brisbane, but to Tuvaluans anywhere,” he says.

“We just want to keep them updated and also I think one of the most important things is for the language. Just to keep our language alive. Keep it going.

“As I see it now, it’s dying. Even with me, I can barely speak Tuvaluan, I understand perfectly.”

Music has become one of the strongest ways of keeping that connection alive. Traditional fatele songs regularly feature on the programme, prompting messages from listeners worldwide.

“The show we had [recently] we played like six fatele,” he says. “People were messaging me, ‘Thank you for the fatele! We enjoyed it, we danced’.”

Teaukai believes the Tuvaluan youth play a key role in helping “keep the culture alive”, wherever they live.

“Speak your language, speak Tuvaluan, if you don’t know how to speak Tuvaluan, the Bible is there. The best way to learn it is to speak, practice, don’t be shy. Fakamalosi.”

As more Tuvaluans begin new lives overseas, Te Leo o Tuvalu will continue its mission to ensure their heritage isn’t lost in transit.