From Head Girl to House debates: Niue Youth MP champions peers in leadership

A Niuean Youth MP is calling for more Pacific youth to step into leadership spaces and advocate for their communities.

Kenahemana Hekau was selected as the Youth MP for Kelston MP Carmel Sepuloni, after applying through her school and successfully completing an interview. Speaking to Fala Haulangi on PMN Tuvalu, a grateful Hekau says she engaged with “quite a few” Pasifika Youth MPs.

“But we sort of felt as the minority in that group. We weren't really expecting too many of us. We were really happy to find a sense of community within each other when we first got down to Wellington and Parliament,” Hekau says.

“One of my highlights was that we found each other quickly and created a community in Parliament where we felt safe as Pasifika to express our opinions. We were also given support to feel confident in our opinions.”

Hekau considers it a “real privilege” to serve as Avondale College’s first Niuean Head Girl. Her responsibilities include delegating tasks among herself and around 54 other prefects.

During Youth Parliament 2025, which took place earlier this month, 123 representatives, including Hekau, gathered in Wellington, with Hekau being the only Niuean Youth MP present. Before heading to Parliament, she spoke with fellow students to identify issues affecting her community.

Watch Kena Hekau’s full interview below.

The common issues raised during Hekau’s discussions included a lack of access to resources and education, particularly in civics. The need for jobs also emerged, especially for youth wanting to support their families and their education.

“Another thing that we found was an issue with voting and understanding how Parliament works but also how their votes count and matter.” At Youth Parliament, 80 representatives delivered speeches, with 20 granted the opportunity to question ministers.

“The remainder are leaders for their working groups. I was a leader for my working group, which was philanthropic giving, which is giving back to the community. Along with my co-chair, we organised our group, discussed our findings in our different communities and then we created certain recommendations to give back to the ministry.”

Their group’s recommendations centred on a youth perspective, where although contributing financially to communities may not be feasible for many youth, volunteering could bridge that gap. “One of our recommendations was to get philanthropic giving incorporated more in schools.”

“Also to get the word out so that people know what it's about. It was just trying to get our communities to understand what it means and knowing that we can give back in certain ways. A big thing we focused on was accessibility, not just for youth, but also families, and trying to incorporate it in everyday living.”

She also addressed concerns about censorship after reports surfaced that some Youth MPs were restricted from criticising the Government. Hekau feels that the controversy over censorship overshadowed the critical messages Youth MPs sought to convey.

“A lot of that was relevant in the media, but that took away from the meanings and the issues that were discussed in those speeches. The media covered quite a lot about the censorship rather than the messages that were conveyed.”

Some Youth MPs were asked to remove parts of their speeches. Photo/RNZ/Alexander Robertson

Hekau says her main highlight was engaging in discussions with other youth on issues she is passionate about while building connections within a Pasifika community outside of Auckland. “There were quite a lot of Pasifika that had different views and came up with different approaches. We all worked well together despite being in different groups and different areas in Parliament.”

Hekau encourages other Pacific youth, especially Tuvaluan youth, who are interested in becoming Youth MPs, to seize the opportunity. She acknowledges that taking that first step can be uncomfortable, but it ultimately paves the way for future generations.

“For a lot of us, it's just to give everything a try, no matter if you feel that you don't fit that role. I believe that all of us should just give anything and everything a try to sort of get our community out there.”