Pasifika New Zealanders

Ethnic group in New Zealand

Ethnic group

Pasifika New Zealanders

* Tagata Pasefika-Niu Sila
* Fakatangata Pasifiki-Nuʻu Sila

Mary Ama and the Pacifica Mamas celebrating the Matairangi Mahi Toi arts residency at Government House

Total population
442,632[1] (2023)
Regions with significant populations
Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Christchurch
Languages
New Zealand English, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, Rotuman, Tokelauan, Niuean, Tuvaluan
Related ethnic groups
Tuvaluan New Zealander, Tongan New Zealanders, Pacific Islander Americans, Solomon Islander New Zealanders, Samoan New Zealanders, Papua New Guinean New Zealanders, Māori people, Māori Australians, Samoan Australians, Tongan Australians, Fijian Australians

Pasifika New Zealanders (also called Pacific Peoples[2][3]) are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (also known as Pacific Islanders) outside New Zealand itself.[a][4] They form the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after European descendants, indigenous Māori, and Asian New Zealanders.[5] Over 380,000 people identify as being of Pacific origin, representing 8% of the country's population, with the majority residing in Auckland.[4]

## History

[edit]

Prior to the Second World War, Pasifika in New Zealand numbered only a few hundred.[6] Wide-scale Pasifika migration to New Zealand began in the 1950s and 1960s, typically from countries associated with the Commonwealth and the Realm of New Zealand, including Western Samoa (modern-day Samoa), the Cook Islands and Niue.[7]

In the 1970s, governments (both Labour and National), migration officials, and special police squads targeted Pasifika illegal overstayers. Pacific Studies academic Dr Melani Anae describes the Dawn Raids as "the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by the New Zealand government in New Zealand's history".[8]

Immigrant Pasifika families settled in the inner city suburbs of Auckland and other major cities in the country, when middle-class Pākehā families were tending to move outwards to newer, more distant suburbs.[7] Pasifika immigrants also tended to replace Urban Māori in central suburbs.[9]

By the mid-1970s, gentrification became an issue for Pasifika communities in Auckland. The cheap housing found in Ponsonby and other inner city Auckland suburbs were attractive to Pākehā young professionals, especially socially liberal families searching for a multicultural and urban lifestyle.[7] As these houses were purchased, the available rental stock plummeted, and Pasifika families who tended to rent more began to relocate to suburbs further out from the city centre.[7] The Pasifika populations in Ponsonby and Freemans Bay peaked in 1976.[7] Grey Lynn continued to have a large Pasifika population (particularly Samoan) until the mid-1980s.[7]

The umbrella term Pasifika, meaning "Pacific" in Polynesian languages, was first used by government agencies in New Zealand in the 1980s to describe all migrants from the Pacific islands and their descendants.[10][3]

## Demographics

[edit]

Pacific peoples in 2018  Pacific Islanders New Zealanders population pyramid in 2018

There were 442,632 people identifying as being part of the Pacific Peoples ethnic group at the 2023 New Zealand census, making up 8.9% of New Zealand's population.[1] This is an increase of 60,990 people (16.0%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 146,691 people (49.6%) since the 2013 census. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to Statistics New Zealand starting to add ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the census data to reduce the number of non-responses.[11]

The median age of Pasifika New Zealanders was 24.9 years, compared to 38.1 years for all New Zealanders; 136,077 people (30.4%) were aged under 15 years, 123,828 (28.0%) were 15 to 29, 156,534 (35.4%) were 30 to 64, and 26,193 (5.9%) were 65 or older.[1]

At the 2018 census, there were 191,391 males and 190,254 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.006 males per female. The majority of Pasifika were born in New Zealand: 66.4% at the 2018 census, up from 62.3% at the 2013 census and 60.0% at the 2006 census.[12]

In terms of population distribution as at the 2023 census, 275,079 (62.1%) Pasifika New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 126,678 (28.6%) live in the North Island outside the Auckland region, and 40,845 (9.2%) live in the South Island. The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area of Auckland had a majority Pasifika population at 60.4%, with the next highest concentrations in the nearby Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board area (48.7%) and Manurewa local board area (39.9%). Porirua City had the highest concentration of Pacific people outside Auckland at 26.5%. The lowest concentrations of Pasifika New Zealanders are in northern Canterbury: the Kaikōura district had the lowest concentration at 1.0%, with the neighbouring Hurunui district having the second-lowest concentration at 1.3%.[1]

According to responses to the 2018 census, 91.6% of Pacific Peoples spoke English, and 37.8% spoke two languages.[13]

### Ethnic origins

[edit]

At the 2018 census, 59.4% of Pasifika reported belonging to a single ethnic group.[13] The largest Pacific Peoples ethnic groups – immigrants from a particular Pacific nation and their descendants – are Samoan New Zealanders (182,721 people),[14] Tongan New Zealanders (82,389),[15] Cook Island Māori (80,532),[16] and Niueans (30,867).[17]

## In politics

[edit]

Samoan-born Aupito William Sio currently holds the record for being the longest serving Pasifika MP, serving from 2008 to 2023

In 1993, Samoan-born Taito Phillip Field became the first Pasifika member of parliament (MP), when he won the Otara electorate seat for Labour.[18] Field was joined in 1996 by Samoan politicians Mark Gosche and Arthur Anae (the first Pasifika MP from the National Party), and by Winnie Laban in 1999. In 2008, Field left the Labour Party and formed the New Zealand Pacific Party, a short-lived political party aimed at representing conservative Christian Pasifika communities.[19]

For the 2008 New Zealand general election, Samoan-born Sam Lotu-Iiga was elected as MP for Maungakiekie, and was joined by Labour list MPs William Sio and Carmel Sepuloni, who was the first MP of Tongan heritage. In 2010, Kris Faafoi entered parliament by winning the 2010 Mana by-election, becoming the first MP of Tokelauan descent. In 2011, Alfred Ngaro became the first MP of Cook Island descent by winning the Maungakiekie electorate. Further Pasifika MPs entered parliament in the 2010s: Asenati Taylor for New Zealand First (2011), Christchurch East MP Poto Williams (2013), Manukau East MP Jenny Salesa (2014) and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki (2017).

The 2020 New Zealand general election saw the largest cohort of Pasifika MPs entering parliament: Terisa Ngobi, Barbara Edmonds, Tangi Utikere, Neru Leavasa for the Labour Party, and the first Pasifika MP from the Green Party, Teanau Tuiono.[20][21] 2023 saw Efeso Collins, formerly a member of the Auckland Council, joining as a member of the Green Party.[22]

Tala Cleverley was the first Pasifika local body politician elected in Aotearoa. She was elected to the Wellington City Council in 1979 and held her role as a Labour Party city councillor until 1995.

The Auckland Council has had three Pasifika councillors since its founding in 2010: Alf Filipaina and former National MP Arthur Anae representing the Manukau ward since 2010, and Efeso Collins in 2016, replacing Anae's for the Manukau ward. In 2022, Collins unsuccessfully ran for the 2022 Auckland mayoral election.[23][24] Collins entered parliament in 2023 as a member of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, serving until his death in February 2024.[22]

When elected to the Dunedin City Council in October 2016, Marie Laufiso became Dunedin’s first Pasifika city councillor[25] and the Green Party's first successful Pasifika election candidate at either local or central government level;[26] Laufiso is of Sāmoan and Tongan descent.[27]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Tokaikolo Tongan Church in Māngere Bridge

* Maota Samoa / Samoa House, former consulate and current library and event space on Karangahape Road, Auckland

* FAFSWAG, a Māori and Pasifika queer arts collective

* Member of the Pacific Underground performing arts collective (1994)

* Dancers at the Cook Islands stage at the Pasifika Festival in Auckland (2010)

* Hip-hop musician Che Fu won the Single of the Year and Best Male Vocalist awards at the 1997 Aotearoa Music Awards, for the single "Chains".[28]

## See also

[edit]

* New Zealand portal

* Urban Pasifika, hip hop music
* Pasifika Festival
* List of ethnic origins of New Zealanders
* Culture of New Zealand

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Note Pasifika does include indigenous peoples originating from other nations in the Realm of New Zealand, namely Niue, the Cook Islands and Tokelau; see § Ethnic origins.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "2023 Census population counts (by ethnic group, age, and Māori descent) and dwelling counts | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
2. ^ "2018 Census ethnic group summaries: Pacific Peoples ethnic group". www.stats.govt.nz. Statistics NZ. 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
3. ^ a b "Pacific and Pasifika terminology". tapasa.tki.org.nz. New Zealand Government. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
4. ^ a b "Pasifika New Zealand". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). Retrieved 21 March 2022.
5. ^ "2018 Census population and dwelling counts". www.stats.govt.nz. Statistics New Zealand. 23 September 2019. § Ethnicity. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
6. ^ Fraenkel, Jon (20 June 2012). "Pacific Islands and New Zealand – Immigration and aid". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
7. ^ a b c d e f Friesen, Wardlow (2009). "The Demographic Transformation of Inner City Auckland". Population Association of New Zealand. 35: 55–74.
8. ^ Prebble, Ricky (15 September 2021). "The dawn raids: causes, impacts and legacy". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
9. ^ Whitelaw, J. S.; Bloomfield, G. T. (1969). "Auckland, New Zealand's Largest Urban Area". Geography. 54 (3): 303–307.
10. ^ "In Pasifika, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities seek identity and independence". USA Today.
11. ^ "New Zealand's population reflects growing diversity". www.stats.govt.nz (Press release). Statistics New Zealand. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
12. ^ "Ethnic group (detailed total response - level 3) by birthplace (detailed NZ or overseas born) by age group, for the census usually resident population count, 2006, 2013, and 2018 Censuses (RC, TA, SA2, DHB)". nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
13. ^ a b "2018 Census ethnic group summaries". www.stats.govt.nz. Statistics New Zealand. 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
14. ^ "Samoan ethnic group". www.stats.govt.nz. 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
15. ^ "Tongan ethnic group". www.stats.govt.nz. 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
16. ^ "Cook Islands Maori ethnic group". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
17. ^ "Niuean ethnic group". www.stats.govt.nz. 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
18. ^ "Former Minister Taito Phillip Field has died aged 68". Radio New Zealand. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
19. ^ "Field moves to register 'Pacific Party'". Stuff. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
20. ^ "NZ election brings in largest Pacific caucus". Radio New Zealand. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
21. ^ Martin, John E. (20 June 2012). "Parliament - Impact of MMP". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
22. ^ a b "Green MP Efeso Collins dies after collapse at ChildFund Water Run in central Auckland". The New Zealand Herald. 21 February 2024. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
23. ^ "Auckland Mayoralty: Efeso Collins confirms bid for the job". Stuff. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
24. ^ Scott, Matthew (8 October 2022). "'An uphill battle from the beginning'". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
25. ^ "Five questions with Marie Laufiso," Otago Daily Times, 11 March 2017, p. B2.
26. ^ Women in Local Government Councillor: Marie Laufiso, agora-parl.org. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
27. ^ "Cr Marie Laufiso". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
28. ^ "NZ Music Awards 1997". Archive. RIANZ. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.

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