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Josiah Tualamaliʻi

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Josiah Tualamaliʻi

Josiah Tavita Tualamaliʻi is a Samoan New Zealand health and social justice advocate.[1] He is the co-founder of the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Council and was a member of the New Zealand government's inquiry into mental health and addiction.[2]

Biography and early life

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Tualamaliʻi was born in Dunedin and was educated at Middleton Grange School.[3] He is a graduate of the University of Canterbury where he gained a Bachelor of Arts in 2019.[4] As a member of Christchurch's Pacific community, Tualamaliʻi helped establish the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Council and has served as its treasurer and chair.[5] Concurrently, Tualamaliʻi supported the development of iSPEAK, a bi-monthly forum for Pacific youth to discuss issues affecting people in New Zealand, such as Christchurch's recovery from the 2011 earthquake and the development of a living wage campaign.[5][6]

Health advocacy

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While serving on the board of Pacific wellbeing charity Le Va, Tualamaliʻi was appointed as a member of the New Zealand Government's Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction.[2] Subsequently, he was appointed as a member of the Psychotherapy Board of Aotearoa in 2019 and in 2020 became an advisor with lived experience for the Lancet Commission on Depression.[7][8] The commission's report showed evidence that depression has become one of the leading causes of avoidable suffering globally.[9]

Social justice advocacy

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In 2020, Tualamaliʻi co-brought a case to the Broadcasting Standards Authority against broadcaster Sean Plunket.[10] While discussing an iwi roadblock intended to protect its elderly members from the COVID-19 pandemic, Plunket levelled accusations that a Māori iwi "did not care about child abuse".[10] Tualamaliʻi's case was upheld and the Broadcasting Standards Authority fined Plunket's employer MediaWorks New Zealand and ordered it to issue an on-air apology for the “offensive and harmful” interview.[11]

Tualamaliʻi and Benji Timu co-led the youth component of the campaign for the New Zealand government to issue a formal apology for the Dawn Raids after describing the actions as "government‑sanctioned racism".[12][13] [14] On 1 August 2021, a formal apology was given by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a public ifoga ceremony before 1,000 Pasifika guests at the Auckland Town Hall. As part of the apology, the government announced that it would provide resources for schools to teach the dawn raids, $2.1 million towards academic and vocational scholarships for Pacific communities and $1 million towards Manaaki New Zealand short term scholarship training courses for delegates from Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Fiji.[15] He has carried on advocating for broader aspects he and community leaders see are still to be addressed. [16]

Tualamaliʻi was selected as a participant in the Youth Town Hall as part of the virtual Summit for Democracy in 2021 hosted by the United States "to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad". The youth session was chaired by the Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Recognition and awards

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Tualamaliʻi won a Civic Award for Youth Advocacy from the Christchurch City Council in 2016 and was nationally recognised the same year with the Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Leadership and Inspiration Award.[5][17] He received the Pacific Emerging Leadership Award in 2020.[18]

Tualamaliʻi was named as a semi-finalist for the Young New Zealander of the Year Awards in 2018 alongside fellow University of Canterbury alumnus Logan Williams [19] and in 2022 alongside fellow University of Canterbury alumnus and author, Abbas Nazari.[20] He was a finalist in the 2024 awards.[21]

Bibliography

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  • Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction. (2018). He Ara Oranga : Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction. Government of New Zealand
  • El Omrani, O., Carmen, V. A., Bionat, J. F., Ghebreyesus, T. A., Fore, H., & Wickramanayake, J. (2021). COVID-19, mental health, and Young People's engagement. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.02
  • Radio New Zealand. (2020). Episode 15: Josiah Tualamaliʻi. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-outliers/story/2018746471/episode-15-josiah-tualamali-i-the-outliers.

References

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  1. ^ Ministry of Social Development, Bridging the Gap - An interview with Josiah Tualamaliʻi. Ministry of Youth Development, retrieved 2022-04-12
  2. ^ a b "The Panel | Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry". mentalhealth.inquiry.govt.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  3. ^ "Former Pupil wins Prime Minister's Award". Middleton Grange School. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  4. ^ "Young Alumni Stories - Josiah Tualamaliʻi". The University of Canterbury. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  5. ^ a b c "UC student wins PM's Pacific Youth leader award". The University of Canterbury. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  6. ^ Steele, Monique (2016-12-07). "Empowering young 'Pacific champions' leads to PM award". Stuff. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  7. ^ "Appointments to the Psychotherapist Board of Aotearoa - 2019-go3153 - New Zealand Gazette". gazette.govt.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  8. ^ "An introduction to governance for Pacific people | IoD NZ". The Institute of Directors. 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  9. ^ Herrman, Helen; Patel, Vikram; Kieling, Christian; Berk, Michael; Buchweitz, Claudia; Cuijpers, Pim; Furukawa, Toshiaki A.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Kohrt, Brandon A.; Maj, Mario; McGorry, Patrick (2022-03-05). "Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission". The Lancet. 399 (10328): 957–1022. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02141-3. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 35180424. S2CID 246830234.
  10. ^ a b "BSA orders broadcast statement and $3000 costs against Magic Talk Afternoons with Sean Plunket". Broadcasting Standards Authority. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  11. ^ McConnell, Glenn (2020-12-22). "MediaWorks fined for 'offensive and harmful' Sean Plunket interview with iwi about level 4 lockdown roadblock". Stuff. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  12. ^ Anderson, Vicki (2021-06-14). "Pasifika petitioner moved to tears by 'surprise' dawn raids apology". Stuff. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  13. ^ "Petition of Josiah Tualamaliʻi and Benji Timu : Apologise for the 'Dawn Raids' and enable education in Aotearoa about them - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  14. ^ Tualamali'i, Josiah (2021-06-15). "Advocacy, apologies, and new beginnings". Newsroom. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  15. ^ "Government offers formal apology for Dawn Raids". The Beehive. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  16. ^ Tualamali'i, Josiah (May 31, 2022). "A precious week, but I still hope for one more step to full inclusion".
  17. ^ "UC students vie for 2018 Young New Zealander of the Year award". The University of Canterbury. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  18. ^ "Pacific Emerging Leadership Award". SunPix. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  19. ^ "Entrepreneur makes 2018 Young NZ of the Year award shortlist". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  20. ^ "Introducing your 2022 Semi-Finalists". nzawards.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  21. ^ Hartson, Gladys (2024-02-22). "Pacific people recognised as finalists in the New Zealander of the Year Awards 2024". TP+. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
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  • Profile on Ministry of Youth Development website
  • Profile on the Institute of Directors website
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