Pacific Postgraduate Symposium Opening

Opening of Pacific Postgraduate Symposium, University of Otago, Dr Marjorie Barclay Theatre, Dunedin

Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni sa bula vinaka, Namaste, Kia orana, Ia Orana, Gud de tru olgeta, Taloha ni, Talofa, Kia ora tatou and Warm Pacific Greetings to you all this morning.

I bring Warm Pacific greetings from Prime Minister Helen Clark and Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson.

Thank you for asking me to join you for the opening of your Pacific Postgraduate Symposium - it is absolutely wonderful to be able to join you.

As I flew south from Wellington this morning and turned my thoughts to this event, I was taken with the depth and the breadth of the papers being presented today, and how we are increasingly hearing Pacific Voices in this country of ours.

Events like Pacific Voices Five are very important. They build our sense of identity as Pasifika people in New Zealand, fitting into, growing up in and contributing to this country. 

New Zealand is a Pacific nation, we are part of a fabulous region and oceania.  There are three unique parts to us, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.  The ocean in the Pacific, she is woman, she binds, connects and sustains us.

When you present your papers today - be they on health, education, economics, eco-tourism or information management - you are actively broadening the Pasifika presence in New Zealand and our connections as family and people of the Pacific.  You are giving resonance to the Pacific voice.

You, as Pacific scholars and researchers, are deepening our collective knowledge from a Pacific perspective. That is so important to shaping our Pacific communities and wider New Zealand.  I thank you and congratulate you for it.

Today, I am bringing a voice to you too.

It's a Pacific voice from a member of the Labour-led government about where we are now and where we need to go as a people. My message is one that says: we are increasingly doing well, our people are making enormous gains - but we know that we can do even better and build on these foundations.

There are some very positive trends. Pasifika educational achievement is on the rise.

Since 2001, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the participation of Pasifika students in tertiary education - and this growth has outstripped that of every other ethnic group.

Overall, Pasifika peoples in New Zealand with a tertiary qualification have doubled over about the past decade.

Understand then why my voice, my message is one of great hope - a hope grounded in growing Pacific achievement in New Zealand.  

Our Labour-led government is committed to working with Pasifika peoples to improve their participation and achievement in education, from early childhood right through to tertiary education. 

Last month we launched the Pasifika Education Plan 2008-2012. This plan will step up the government's commitment to ensuring that even more Pasifika students achieve their full academic potential.

The reality is that, while heading in the right direction, Pasifika students' achievement rates are still behind the overall student average. The Plan is about addressing that, and reflects the government's determination to do so.

It's about having a more concentrated focus on what it will take to continue to lift Pasifika students' participation and achievement. It's about the collaboration and working together that will be required to achieve those goals.

We want more Pasifika students moving on to higher and higher levels of study, and having every opportunity to excel in tertiary education. 

You Otago University are the role models.  The example you set, are part of shaping that future.  The actions of the present are the actions of the future.  Malo lava Otago University!

As Pacific scholars, you are the visible face and voice of that goal. You are the inspiration to our families, our young people, friends and communities that we can and will achieve more in the future. 

The growing number of Pasifika people in tertiary education is just a starting point. Yes, we take heart from the upward trend, but the government wants more and Pasifika communities want more.  The Labour-led government shares your hunger for greater and greater Pasifika success.

The new way of managing tertiary education gives Pasifika peoples more of a say in what our tertiary education organisations offer. We need to make the most of the opportunity this change represents, to ensure that our voice is being heard.

It is about our people doing better, the system helping them to do better and building on the momentum that is being developed.

Part of doing that is about owning this process. It is Pasifika people saying what they need from tertiary education, and ensuring that our voice is being listened to and heard.

Government wants to see more and more tertiary education organisations focusing on increasing Pasifika student success so they can enjoy the full benefits of tertiary education. 

We have the Tertiary Education Commission working with tertiary education organisations to ensure they are listening to what Pasifika peoples say needs to happen to break down barriers to Pasifika students' success at tertiary level. 

Many tertiary education organisations are already doing very good things for Pasifika students. 

Otago University is one of those institutions. This event is organised by Otago University's Pacific Islands Centre, which brings together the university and the Pasifika community with a view to getting more Pasifika students into tertiary education and achieving excellence.

This university's commitment is delivering results. In 1997, there were just 11 Master's Degree students at Otago. Last year there were thirty-four. In 1997, there were just four Pasifika doctoral students. Last year, there were nineteen.

Our government understands how important tertiary education is to promoting success for all New Zealanders, and creating opportunity and fulfilment for Pasifika people in this country.

Good things are happening now, but the future is brighter. In the words of the Pasifika Education Plan, it is all about going from good to great.

Pacific Voices Five - and you, the people who are making it happen - give me every confidence that our future as Pasifika peoples in New Zealand is bright indeed.

Thank you, good luck and enjoy this important occasion.