Pacific Aucklanders missing out on council support, opportunities

Auckland Council is being challenged to close the gap between opportunities available to Pacific Aucklanders and their ability to see and access them.

The Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel is calling for better access to council grants and procurement, support for Pacific businesses and greater participation in local democracy.

Co-chairs Mariner Fagaiava and Seimoana Nasali presented the priorities to councillors at Tuesday's Policy, Planning and Development Committee meeting, alongside Auckland's five other demographic advisory panels.

The Panel has made economic prosperity and civic participation its two major priorities for the 2025-2028 council term.

Nasali said the challenge was connecting Pacific communities with opportunities that already existed.

"We want to focus on where council can help create tangible outcomes for Pacific communities by connecting our people with the opportunities, resources and pathways that exist within council's remit."

Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel co-chairs Seimoana Nasali and Mariner Fagaiava present the panel’s priorities to Auckland councillors. Photo/screengrab.

Councillor Christine Fletcher asked about the impact of unemployment on Pacific youth.

Fagaiava said she could speak to the topic as a Pasifika young person who is currently unemployed.

"I've been out of work for three months now, and that came after my contract with my previous employer wasn't renewed."

She said she was qualified, about to complete her third degree and had represented Aotearoa earlier this year on the Ship for World Youth exchange programme.

"I look at my credentials, and I'm like, why am I still not getting work?"

She said some peers from what she described as a decile 1 South Auckland high school had never been able to get into "proper, fulfilling employment".

"I think we're failing to connect with our rangatahi early on in that pipeline, and this goes back to high school and encouraging and emboldening our Pasifika youth to feel like they can aspire towards more," Fagaiava said.

The panel wants Pacific communities to have greater access to council grants and procurement, financial education and opportunities flowing from major developments such as the City Rail Link.

Councillor Josephine Bartley asked how Pacific Aucklanders could move beyond being seen primarily as a workforce.

"There is a boom of Pacific small business, and there is an opportunity to support the rise of Pacific business owners, small business owners particularly," Fagaiava said.

"Our people are natural traders."

Nasali raised night-market stalls, home baking and food sales as examples of Pacific enterprise and questioned how those ventures could grow beyond supplementary income.

Amotai co-founders Anna-Jane Edwards and Tania Pouwhare. Photo/Amotai.

"Why don't you aim for something bigger, more sustainable to be able to, instead of it being a side hustle, actually transitioning it to being a main source of income for our Pacific people?"

Nasali said Auckland's growing Pacific population should be viewed as an economic opportunity.

Councillor Lotu Fuli encouraged the panel to engage with Amotai, an initiative supporting Māori and Pacific-owned businesses.

The panel's priorities identified limited awareness of how council works, difficulties navigating council processes, accessibility and language as barriers to civic participation.

Fagaiava said early engagement with the advisory panels could bring perspectives into council decisions that might otherwise be missed.

She spoke about her grandparents, who migrated to Auckland 52 years ago.

"They have no idea what any of this means, but if we can get at least a glimmer of our lived experience and perspectives within the decisions being made at a council level, then I'm sure people like my grandparents would appreciate it."

She also said council needed to change how it engaged with Pacific communities.

"This means going to the people without expecting them to come to you, leveraging trusted connectors and relationship builders who live and breathe what it means to be Pacific in Auckland and truly connecting in."

The Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel is one of six demographic advisory panels that provide strategic advice to elected members and council staff but do not make council decisions themselves.

The Policy, Planning and Development Committee endorsed the strategic priorities of all six panels.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.