Pacific voice strengthens with Kiingitanga engagement - ex-Pacific Peoples' minister

There are efforts to give Pacific communities in New Zealand a stronger diplomatic voice, along with strengthening ties with tangata whenua.

This comes as government decisions on indigenous issues have strained relationships with Māori, prompting nationwide hui and demonstrations.

Former minister for Pacific peoples, Aupito William Sio, told Pacific Mornings the movement has heightened feelings of unity and common ground between Māori and Pasifika.

“This government might have been the catalyst that brought these things together, but this isn't about them, this is about us, Māori and Pacific peoples.

“Governments come and go, but we the people remain and we the people will continue to face our struggle, our challenges.”

Aupito said there wasn’t a strong Pacific voice to participate in high-level advocacy and discussions, prompting the formation of the Pacific General Assembly.

“It was a desire by some of the elders and Pacific Business Trust businesses and other leaders who, for quite some time, have been thinking, how do we better engage with Māori?

“Lots of lots of organizations have these individual relationships, but at a high level, at the leadership level, there was no formal engagement, no structure to enable that to happen.”

Aupito said the inspiration for the assembly was sparked at the Māori King’s unity meeting in January.

“When I was at the hui aa motu, I was asked by the Kiingitanga to light a fire, that fire was a symbol of the word going out into the Pacific, as well as to the four corners of Aotearoa, and I really felt a spiritual feeling, a strong emotional feeling that somebody needed to do this.”

Māori and Pacific peoples, walking in unity

Te Pāti Māori have announced nationwide activations and protest marches to coincide with the government’s Budget announcement on Thursday.

Aupito said the aim of the Pacific General assembly was not to tell people what to do but to provide perspective on why it was important to support these things.

“We've got to be able to make the arguments to people that it's okay to do these things peacefully.

“It's okay to back the call for kotahitanga and the call for self-determination, and if it involves protesting and highlighting the wrongs of this government, then so be it.”

Community advocates in Auckland such as Michel Mulipola will be picketing on Māngere Bridge, and Dave Letele will be leading the rally in Aotea Square.

Looking to the past, and to the future

The establishment of the assembly has personal meaning for Aupito.

“It’s a work of love. I have in my own family nieces and nephews who whakapapa to Tainui.

“We have a growing Pacific population, more than 20 per cent who whakapapa directly to Māori.”

The Pacific General Assembly has established an Interim Council of Chiefs, with Aupito as chair, to set out key dates for Pacific leaders to engage with Māori, honouring the historic relationship.

"Let's focus on establishing a very simple annual calendar of Pacific events where we're engaging with Māori. And we start off with the Kiingitanga because we have these long-standing traditional ties.

“It was the members of the Kiingitanga in the past that supported the mau leaders of Samoa when the colonial administrators back in those days banished them to Mount Eden prison, stripped them of title of land, it was Sir Maui Pōmare that came and visited them and gave them comfort.”

Aupito says while there are common themes and aspirations for both peoples, Pacific people do not fully understand and appreciate the suffering that Māori have undergone under the hands of the Crown. The Assembly’s potential work could include Te Tiriti o Waitangi workshops in Pacific languages and regular updates as a collective Pacific voice.

“On an annual basis, what's wrong with us saying, ‘Here's the mood of the Pacific towards government agencies and how they are treating us’, in the same way that the boardrooms provide a regular mood of the government.”

• The interim Council of Chiefs held an inaugural talanoa fono in May at the Māngere Arts Centre.

• Upcoming engagement with Kiingitanga include 20 August 2024, and Waitangi 4-6 February 2025.

Watch the full interview with Aupito William Sio on Pacific Mornings: