The Minister for Pacific Peoples shared his vision and hopes for the Pacific community in Aotearoa for 2018 at an inaugural prayer breakfast in South Auckland over the weekend.
Aupito Su'a William Sio says Pacific people are an integral part of New Zealand and he wants to see them succeed in every area possible.
“What does success mean for us? It’s not just a car and the house, it’s much more than that and we have to be comfortable about that."
“We have a point of difference in how we conduct ourselves and we have to be confident and comfortable in who we are and the basis of that point of difference is our language and culture,” says Aupito.
Members of the Pacific community gathered at the Fale Samoa in Mangere for the event on Saturday morning, alongside members of the Auckland City Council, Pacific Advisory Council and the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board.
As the Labour-led government approaches the end of its first 100 days in office on February 3, Aupito is confident they are on track.
“The government is committed to provide an environment where our people can thrive where our people can feel confident in who they are.”
“Hopefully the rest of New Zealand can feel confident in that diversity and not fear us, not hate us and push us to the side but accept us."