Sponsors withdraw from PM's Pacific youth awards

The Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards (PMPYA) faces an uncertain future with significant sponsors withdrawing support.

The awards have honoured exceptional contributions in leadership, arts, and community service to young Pacific people since being established in 2010 under the National government.

The awards were launched in Porirua and designed to celebrate the endeavours of young Pacific people across a range of disciplines, as well as provide a platform for further achievement and leadership.

It helped young Pacific people develop leadership potential and opened up career or study options for recipients.

Dr Shane Reti, Minister for Pacific Peoples, confirmed that two major sponsors pulled out last year due to budgetary constraints.

Speaking on Pacific Mornings, Reti couldn’t confirm whether or not the awards would be cut but reassured that efforts were underway to bring other sponsors to fill those gaps.

“That's now being reviewed and looked at as to what can be done," Reti said.

“So that was the trigger for this is going to need to be looked at differently what happened last year.

“And so what I can tell you is that that's under active consideration now.”

Watch Dr Shane Reti's full interview here

The awards were last held in 2022 at Parliament where nine young Pacific leaders were recognised for their contributions.

Sponsors included Deloitte, who sponsored the ‘Commercial and Corporate Award’, and Pacific Business Trust, who sponsored the ‘Business and Entrepreneurship Award’.

Chief executive of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, confirmed on Pacific Mornings that Air New Zealand was one of the sponsors that pulled out.

“We're just doing the work now to see where they [PMPYA] might stand going forward.

“I think the main thing is, you know, in a fiscally constrained environment, having good sponsors is really important.”

Watch Gerardine's full interview here

While the government deals with fiscal constraints, there’s a sense of urgency to preserve these awards.

With last year’s awards being cancelled and nothing in sight for this year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon agreed that support should be directed towards it.

“I want to find out what has happened there but I understand there were two serious sponsors of the events that had pulled out last year, and that might have been under the previous administration. But I'll look into it.”

The next few months will be key in deciding the future of the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards, as talks continue on the fate of these awards, which remains uncertain.

Luxon expressed the need to support PMPYA. Photo/Ala Vailala