Pacific Minister vows continued support amid Census overhaul

Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti assures that Pacific communities will remain a focus in upcoming data collection efforts, despite sweeping changes to the national census system.

The decision to eliminate the traditional five-yearly census was announced last week due to high costs and will be replaced by smaller annual surveys starting in 2030.

The new model will primarily use administrative data, supplemented by community participation.

Speaking to Ala Vailala on Pacific Mornings, Reti says that while the conventional door-knocking method has faced challenges in effectively capturing data for Pacific and Māori populations, it will continue to be part of the outreach strategy.

“That doorknocking will still target those communities who are not well represented in census data, like Pasifika,” he says.

“So, my expectation is that, to some degree, Pasifika communities should still expect a census enumerator knocking on the door.”

Languages, science, and Healthy Homes

Reti says the use of Pacific languages is expanding into new government services, including the driver licence learning resources, which are now available in Fijian and other Pacific languages.

But he clarified that the ministry supports these initiatives from an advisory capacity.

“The lead on that is from other agencies. I'm not aware of any active programmes of a similar nature across other agencies, but they reach out to us quickly around those policy settings and how implementation can be successful.”

Watch Dr Shane Reti's full interview below.

Turning to his science and technology portfolio, Reti says increasing Pacific representation in research and innovation is a priority. “We're working on that at the moment. I have been having some discussions with industry, particularly around new initiatives for Pacific people looking to move into science, innovation, and technology.”

He says he wants to maximise the use of the Toloa Fund, which supports STEM education with funding grants of up to $100,000 for Pacific community groups.

Reti also celebrated the success of another project, the Healthy Homes Initiative, designed to improve housing conditions for vulnerable communities.

A one-year review, commissioned through Otago University, is expected to be complete by the end of September, and Reti says it could lead to an extension of the initiative.

“The feedback we’ve been getting is as good as we hoped it would be,” he says. “The number of people who have benefited from draft remediation and mould remediation is actually beyond my expectations.

“We’d want to be informed by the review, but we are pondering while that review is still to be delivered as to what an extension might look like.”

The complete list of Pacific Language Weeks for 2025. Image/MPP

First Bislama Language Week

Reti welcomes the upcoming launch of Aotearoa’s first-ever Bislama Language Week, recognising the significance of Melanesian culture.

When asked why it took so long to officially celebrate Bislama, he says that it was a matter of meeting the necessary criteria.

“I was in Vanuatu about three months ago as part of the Pacific Education Ministers’ programme, and it was a very good meeting. … People I meet from Vanuatu do comment on the Language Week inclusion.

“We thought we had mostly reached the substantive languages that we needed to include, but it turned out that this also met the criteria and so it has been the last to be added.”

Vanuatu Bislama Language Week will be celebrated from 27 July to 2 August.

Looking ahead

Reti reaffirms the government's commitment to supporting Pacific communities, both domestically and across the region.

“Just yesterday, I had a meeting with hierarchy from the Pacific Island Forum, looking at substantively how the forum can be more effective and efficient and reiterating the seniority of that forum as a place where Pacific Islands come together to discuss the issues of the moment.”

The 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is set for September in Honiara, Solomon Islands.