Transcript
The awards are presented in a number of categories including leadership, business and enterprise, science and technology and sports.They've been running since 2010 and this year will award up to $90,000 in tuition or grants. For many recipients, the grants are life-changing and have opened up doors for them to gain work experience within the region. Twenty-five-year-old Mary Tiumalu won the Inspirational award category in 2013 and used her grant to gain experience in the Pacific region.
"So I started in Fiji and I worked for a non-government organisation promoting the rights of children and then I did that same sort of thing in Samoa."
She says the opportunity was life-changing.
"It was definitely eye-opening, like an eye-opener. But it was also, sort of resonated with me because I do come from a very humble family. And so seeing that, being able to go into the Pacific Islands, you just realise the importance of using your skills to really further pacific peoples wherever you're situated, whether this is in Auckland or in the Pacific Islands."
She is now calling other young people in her community to help change Pasifika statistics.
"If you're really willing to you know, try and change the status quo, put yourself out there and try and get involved as much as you possibly can to sort of gain the skills necessary to be an effective citizen, to contribute to changing those statistics."
Last year the awards introduced a new science category in an attempt to encourage more pacific people into the field. The first recipient of the award, Antony Vavia is a Marine Biology student of Cook Islands and Fijian heritage. He says since he won the award, his life has been an adventure.
"I've been able to go to the Solomon Islands to study the coastal ecology there where we did a census on substrate sites there just to assess the coral health. [We were] also looking at parrot fish abundances. I also had the opportunity to join northern crew in Tonga who are doing research on humpback whale behaviour. It was a really good experience to be able to participate in that. I don't - honestly, I can't even think what I'd do without it. I mean, what this year would've been like. I don't even think I want to think about it."
Mr Vavia says that the opportunity to work with locals and researchers in the Pacific region was eye-opening and he wants to go back.
"In the islands there's a lot of marine biodiversity and you know, it's quite abundant there. That's where my interest is - in Pacific Islands and New Zealand, and I really want to promote our Marine waters."
Although recent government figures (Ministry of Education) show a steadily growing number of Pacific people studying at tertiary level, academics have criticised their stagnant achievement rates on social and economic issues. Pacific people continue to be over-represented among the unemployed, lower-skilled workers and low-income earners in New Zealand. Mr Vavia joins Ms Tiumalu in calling for other young Pasifika to help change those statistics.
"Whenever I think of the statistics, I mean, we gotta be real. It is out there and it's pretty sad. But being able to see these difference, like when I went to the awards and seeing these other people, these other awardees, it was actually quite eye-opening because it does show that we do have the capacity and that there are people out there actually breaking that stereotype."
The Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Awards are currently open for nomination.