“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t want to lose any more of my kids,” Alisia says. Her daughter had been taken into care because the family could not find rental accommodation and had no choice but to sleep in their car. Hope* is living in a cold, dilapidated garage with her six children. Usually healthy, one of her children has become sick because of the inadequate living conditions.
Alisia and Hope have something in common apart from their precarious housing situation: they are both Pacific Islanders. In Aotearoa New Zealand, people from the Pacific are more likely than most other New Zealanders to live in poor-quality housing. Despite this, government housing policies have not been developed in consultation with Pacific communities. A recent study shows a national strategy is urgently needed to address this worsening situation.
Researchers at ANU’s Department of Pacific Affairs interviewed Tongan families living in South Auckland in New Zealand to understand their perspectives of ‘home’ and document their housing experiences. Tā-vā (time-space) philosophy, developed by Tongan anthropologist Professor Hūfanga ‘Okustino Māhina in 1999, guided the researchers’ approach. The Tā-vā philosophy honours and prioritises Pacific indigenous cultures, languages, values and beliefs.
