Uesifili Unasa: Mayor's plans for future ignore role of Pacific peoples

Pacific peoples can compete with the best minds and ideas, and be successful at it. Photo / Dean Purcell

Turning Auckland into the world's most liveable Pacific city is crucial, writes Uesifili Unasa, chairman of the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel of the Auckland Council.

It's night-time out in suburban Auckland-Pasifika. The consultations on the future of Auckland are being led by the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel. As expected, those there are familiarly Pasifika - mostly brown, mostly warehouse-ed, eating lots, talking fast and praying loud, for a vision of the city: "turning Auckland into the world's most liveable Pacific city."

In mid-March, on a gloriously sunny Auckland day, Mayor Len Brown unleashed his vision for the city - "turning Auckland into the world's most liveable city".

It too, had a familiar look - mostly white, mostly suited, eating lots, laughing long, talking fast, interspersed between a Maori karakia beginning and a Polynesian smile ending.

While the mayor's vision buzzed with energy and excellence, Pasifika's is solemn and serious. But one vision is redundant, the other indispensable.

There can be no talk of Auckland and its future without Pacific peoples. But they get a passing mention in the Auckland Unleashed document, as linkages to other Pacific countries. Interesting too, there is no mention of Pacific peoples in the predictions of what Auckland will look like in 2040.

Perhaps the visionaries know chronic ill health, overcrowded housing, unemployment, poor education and violence in the home would have dealt a mortal blow. Better still, they would have all left and gone back home.

The vision of turning Auckland into the world's most liveable Pacific city is critical to the city's future and success. It's not playing with words. Seriously. The point for 177,933 Pacific Aucklanders who call the city home is not just to temporarily turn the factory floor wheels of profiteering industrialists as of old. The point is to firmly etch into Auckland's social, political, economic and cultural fabric an unmistakably distinctive Pacific flavour that will linger long after the planners and visionaries are gone. The point, in short, is economics. There are two dimensions to this.

First, Pacific peoples look bad. Most of the men and women are in low-paid work. The young are poorly educated.

Economically, these are inseparable. In its 2006 report, the Education Review Office found that Pacific people's overall literacy and numeracy competency was lower than other ethnic groups. Only 14 per cent of schools were effective for Pacific students. And Pacific students were the least likely to enter tertiary education.

Of tertiary education, the 2006 Census indicated Pacific women were better educated than the men. But both were below average in the proportions that had post-school vocational qualifications or undergraduate degrees.

Tellingly, 6 per cent of Pacific women had an undergraduate or postgraduate degree compared to 16 per cent of all women and 16 per cent of all New Zealand residents.

The real economic impact of this can be seen elsewhere. The Ministry of Health website summarises Pacific health like this: "Pacific peoples experience poorer health outcomes than other New Zealanders. They die young and have higher rates of chronic diseases. Pacific men have higher rates of lung cancer and primary liver cancer and women have higher rates of breast and cervical cancer than other New Zealand women."

But this is not the whole story. The wider effects are not only the low-income-earning capacity of Pacific peoples, but on intergenerational disadvantages in terms of education, health and employment outcomes.

Pacific peoples know this is no future. Sooner or later Auckland city will too.

Secondly Auckland's future is Pacific. At the recent University of Auckland Pacific Graduation Dinner, a large cohort of its alumni gathered to recognise new graduates. Many of them are already showcasing the Pacific vision. Addressing the evening, the vice-chancellor noted some 412 Pacific students were capped from the faculties of medicine and health, law, business, science, theology, architecture, arts, and engineering.

Pacific participation is now right across university disciplines (and industries) which will service Auckland city's future.

Of course, Pacific graduate numbers will grow. Auckland's Pacific population has been estimated at 19 per cent by 2030.

And, inevitably, education providers like the University of Auckland will have to put more of its resources into the recruitment and support for its Pacific students.

Underscoring these is the fact that Pacific peoples can compete with the best minds and ideas, and be successful at it. The acknowledgment at the dinner of an award- winning writer, an outstanding young scientist and a celebrated Rhodes Scholar was a timely reminder that Pacific success on the sports field can also be emulated in any field, anywhere in the world.

Pacific peoples can envision participation as equals in an internationally competitive city, in technology, design, production and marketing. It will require, however, their participation in the leading of the vision. It is after all, the promise of an egalitarian Auckland and world-class Pacific city.

Over 30 years? It's some vision. The negative statistics are enough to dishearten any aspiration-wearied Pacific person and distance the vote-wary politician. But there are positives, too - in night-time suburban Auckland-Pasifika. The Auckland Plan could be used to bring them to the light of day. It might not only turn Auckland into a world class city, but also into the world's most liveable city.