New Zealand's Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs is keen to hear from the community on how Auckland's new Pacific People's Advisory Panel ought to be constituted.
Submissions on the panel close on August the 6th and before then the Ministry's holding two public Fono so people can put forward their views.
Under local government regulations the mayor of the new so-called Auckland Super city will be required to set up the panel by the end of next March.
The Ministry's northern regional manager, Dean Westerlund, says he expects people will be quite forthright in both their submissions and at the Fono.
"Already we've heard just from people ringing and talking to staff and others in different forums, some very strong thoughts have been raised, ah, some very good suggestions as well but we still need to hear from as many people as possible until the 6th of August."
Dean Westerlund says among the discussion points for the panel's make-up are its gender and ethnicity balance and where in Auckland panel members should come from.
