Education key to Islanders' pay

Fonterra senior research scientist Dr Palatasa Havea. Picture / Richard Robinson

A Pacific Island workforce with the same skills and education as the rest of New Zealand would deliver $5 billion to the economy inside 20 years, a study concludes.

And the wages of Pacific peoples could lift with accelerated education and training to be close to 96 per cent of the non-Pacific rates by 2021.

In 2001 the average wage of Pacific people was 82 per cent of the non-Pacific average wage.

The Pacific People's Economic Participation Report, commissioned by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, was released at a Pacific Prosperity conference in Manukau yesterday.

The report found discrimination against Pacific people in terms of wages and said while its effect was strong and statistically significant, the causes were not clear.

It suggested there could be discrimination but also partly attributes it to the work characteristics of Pacific employees.

Fonterra senior research scientist Dr Palatasa Havea told the conference education was the key, and he had for many years failed in almost everything he had attempted to do.

Dr Havea came from a large, poor family in Tonga where his father impressed upon him the importance of education.

His father warned him he would end up facing a hard life of curing copra if he did not get an education.

Dr Havea said he was unmotivated in his early school years but finally gained university entrance in Tonga and attended Massey University in New Zealand.

There he went from being a "pretty useless" under-achieving student to gaining a doctorate.

He said Pacific youth needed role models and mentors, self-discipline and the courage to achieve their dreams.

Fuimaono Les McCarthy, the ministry's chief executive, said Pacific people would remain at the bottom of the economic ladder in another 50 years if they did not change their mindsets.

Mr McCarthy said the Pacific population was very young and would be a significant proportion of the workforce.

"What happens if they are unskilled or mis-skilled?"

Mr McCarthy said there would be a cost to the prosperity of New Zealand if Pacific people did not create more wealth.

They needed to focus on areas where the economy was moving forward.

"The key message is if you're going to dream, dream big. If you aim low you will get there."

The Rev Tavake Tupou said Pacific people were getting into debt because of their commitments to the church and a long list of cultural expectations.

Mr Tupou said he had decided as a Christian minister to make some changes.

He told his congregation that each family was to give no more than a certain percentage of its income to the church and make sure their needs were met first.

Mr Tupou said he refused to receive payment as he believed church ministers should not enjoy a higher standard of living than church members - especially if they were supporting them financially.

He had also changed his preaching and had begun to demolish biblical myths used to justify unrealistic financial demands.

Mr Tupou also called for a rethink of culture. He said just over half the Pacific population was New Zealand-born.

"It is time we leaders of the Pacific community acknowledge, articulate and celebrate the existence of a brand new culture here in New Zealand."

The conference ends tomorrow, with speakers on leadership, culture, growing skills and talents and the creation of capital.

Workforce

* By 2050, Pacific people will comprise 13 per cent of New Zealand's workforce.

* Median income in 2001 for Pacific people was $14,800 compared with $18,600 total population.

* Only 1.9 per cent of Pacific people are employers, compared with 7.7 per cent nationally.

* 4.4 per cent Pacific people self-employed compared with 12.7 per cent nationally.