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Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has welcomed back the Pasifika Festival to its spiritual home at Auckland’s Western Springs this year.

The Pasifika Festival, which drew 80,000 people in 2014, had to move to South Auckland last year because of the Queensland fruit fly scare. It is back at Western Springs this weekend.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga today awarded four young people $25,000 scholarships aimed at encouraging more Pacific people into studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

The Toloa Scholarships, funded by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, were awarded at a ceremony at the University of Auckland’s Fale Pasifika.

The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is working with Pacific communities around the country as they rally to provide support for people affected by Cyclone Winston, Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

“As the true extent of the devastation emerges, Many Pacific communities in New Zealand have come to me to ask how they can help those affected in Fiji and Tonga,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

The number of Pacific people not in employment, education or training decreased last year, Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

Latest labour market figures show that for the year to December 2015, the rate of Pacific people not in employment, education or training decreased from 17.9 per cent to 16.2 per cent.

“This signals that government initiatives such as Pasifika Trades Training and Count Me In are working well,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga is urging all Kiwis to learn a few words of another Pacific language this year to keep the use of these languages alive in New Zealand.

“While almost all New Zealanders will understand simple sayings such as ‘talofa lava’ (hello in Samoan), I would really like to see Kiwis connect with our Pacific cultures during one of our Pacific language weeks,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Ethnic Communities Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga will this evening host an event at Parliament to celebrate the 2016 Chinese New Year.

“The Year of the Monkey is said to be a year that will bring opportunities and inspiration,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“What makes New Zealand such a great place to live is the way in which we share and celebrate each other’s cultures and traditions.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has welcomed new figures which show the unemployment rate for Pacific people has fallen to its lowest point since 2008 and employment at its highest level.

The figures for the December 2015 quarter, released by Statistics New Zealand today, show the unemployment rate for Pacific people dropped over 2015 to 9.7 per cent, from 11.4 per cent a year earlier.

This is the lowest rate since December 2008, when the figure was 7.7 per cent.

Ethnic Communities Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says he is looking forward to celebrating Chinese New Year with communities around the country.

“2016 is the Year of the Monkey, the ninth animal on the Chinese zodiac calendar. New Zealand’s Asian communities, and the wider community, look forward to the lunar new year with much excitement,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“It is a time for renewal, for families to come together and for celebration.”

Duty Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga says the New Zealand Government strongly condemns North Korea’s claimed underground nuclear test today.

“New Zealand views North Korea’s actions as highly provocative and irresponsible,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

This is the fourth nuclear test conducted by North Korea since 2006.  North Korea claims the test was a hydrogen device.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has congratulated the Pacific recipients of appointments and awards in the New Year 2016 Honours.

Among those who have been recognised are former All Blacks Keven Mealamu and Ma’a Nonu, both made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“These men are positive role models for young Pacific people and for our wider community,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

More than 1000 people have so far made their voices heard in the development of a new national Health of Older People Strategy, says Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

More than 20 workshops and meetings have been held by the Ministry of Health around the country this year to gather information on what works well for older people and what needs improvement before the strategy is drafted.

“We want to make sure older people live well, stay well and have a dignified end of life when that time comes,” says Mr Lotu-Iiga.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Minister for Pacific Peoples Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga have announced $763,000 funding for the Pasifika Education Centre in South Auckland.

“The Pasifika Education Centre (PEC) did not qualify for the full amount of the contestable Adult and Community Education (ACE) funding which it applied for, but I consider the work the centre does around Pacific languages and cultural education boosts Pasifika skills and is in the national interest to be funded,” Mr Joyce says.

A total of $315,820 in funding has been approved for 48 applicants from not-for-profit organisations working with refugees and migrants, Ethnic Communities Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga announced today.

The money comes from the Office of Ethnic Communities’ Settling In fund, which is available for projects or initiatives that seek to support successful settlement for refugee and migrant communities in New Zealand. 

The government remains committed to introducing legislation that will enable co-operation across councils, Local Government Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

“When councils need to work together to deliver better local services for their ratepayers, it should be easier for them to do so. At present it is difficult for functions and responsibilities to either be shared or transferred across local and regional councils,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says he supports Corrections’ decision not to renew Serco’s contract to manage Mount Eden Corrections Facility.

“The decision is one for the chief executive of Corrections to make. However, I fully support the decision he has made. The contract allowed for non-renewal after six years and I have been briefed on the reasons behind this decision,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Ministers will receive advice from Corrections on options for the future management of MECF early next year.

The achievements of some of the country’s most talented young Pacific people have been recognised at the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards at Parliament this afternoon.

“The Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards celebrate high-achieving young Pacific New Zealanders who have the potential to contribute significantly to the future of our nation,” says Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga hosted a breakfast today for more than 80 employers in a bid to help find jobs for offenders and reduce reoffending.

The employer engagement breakfast in Auckland, which was also attended by Prime Minister John Key, gave some of New Zealand’s biggest employers the chance to hear about the work Corrections is doing to provide offenders with job skills.

Employers who are already onboard with the programme also shared their experiences of hiring offenders.

New scholarships aimed at getting more Pacific people into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics have been announced by Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

The Toloa Scholarships aim to encourage Pacific people to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at tertiary level and ultimately increase the number of Pacific people in those fields.

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry today signed an agreement which will see offenders engaged in conservation work and learning new skills at the same time.

Under the Good to Grow partnership between Corrections and the Department of Conservation (DOC), offenders on community sentences will help look after DOC sites, upgrade and maintain tracks and help to win the War on Weeds across the country.

Corrections is piloting a new programme aimed at stopping repeat drink-drive offending, says Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

Corrections has obtained Justice Sector funding for the pilot programme in which it will fund alcohol interlock devices which immobilise a vehicle if alcohol is detected on the breath of the driver.

“This funding will help offenders keep to their sentences. It means offenders will not be able to drive their vehicle unless they can successfully pass a breath alcohol test,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga today officially opened the new Community Corrections site in Palmerston North.

The new building is part of a $70 million nationwide renewal programme to make Community Corrections sites more secure and better equipped to support offenders to turn their lives around.

Associate Health Minister Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has today announced the publication of new eating and activity guidelines by the Ministry of Health.

Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults combines the ministry’s updated nutrition and physical activity advice into one document for the first time.

Although primarily focused on adults, the advice complements the government’s recently announced package of initiatives aimed at reducing childhood obesity in New Zealand, Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Plant a seed today, for the future generation. That is the theme for Tokelau Language Week which begins today.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says the theme, which translated in Tokelauan is Totō hau tōkiga nei, aua na tupulaga e fāi mai, encourages Pacific communities in New Zealand to lay a strong cultural path for their children to follow.

Tokelau Language Week is the last of seven Pacific language weeks being celebrated this year.

A record high number of offenders serving community sentences have enrolled in Corrections-funded work and living skills interventions.

In the last financial year the number of offenders throughout the country enrolled in work and living skills interventions (WLS) interventions increased to 5152.

In the 2014 financial year the number was about 600.