Source: New Zealand Government
[Speech to the Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Ltd (PCBL) conference, 6pm, 12 March, New Zealand International Conference Centre, Auckland]
Good evening –
Our hosts, the Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited, particularly Board Chair Brent Impey and Chief Executive Natasha Melesia;
Pacific broadcasting partners from across the region;
Members of the diplomatic corps;
Members of the media, government, and other partners;
It is a pleasure to be here today on the PCBL’s 10th Anniversary, marking 10 years of Pasifika TV on air across our Pacific region. Happy anniversary and warm greetings to you all.
It’s great you are all able to come together here in New Zealand to celebrate this momentous achievement. And as with many small broadcasting operations across the Pacific, collegiality, creativity, and the ability to solve problems is essential.
We are proud to have been your partner every step of the way. One of our great strengths as a region is our commitment to democratic governance. The work you do, as the Fourth Estate, helps to make our societies more connected and more robust.
New Zealand’s Place in the Pacific
We have spoken throughout this term about the importance New Zealand places on our region, the Pacific. This region is a core pillar of New Zealand’s foreign policy. Why? Because New Zealand is a Pacific country – we share history, geography, DNA, culture, sports, and religion.
Around one in four New Zealanders have Māori or Pasifika heritage. These connections shape our worldview and the responsibilities we accept as a member of the Pacific family.
And we see New Zealanders enriching Pacific countries too – through the expansion of New Zealand businesses into the region, through churches, and sports, our tourists, and those supporting development. This two-way, reciprocal exchange is essential.
Travel and Recent Engagements
The Pacific Reset reinforces that our identity, our security and our prosperity are inextricably linked with the Pacific. We have not only increased investment through our International Development Cooperation programme in the region, but we have been present, listening to our Pacific partners, and carrying those messages home.
Our travel has reaffirmed a simple but enduring truth: in the Pacific, there is no substitute for ‘talanoa’, having face-to-face engagement, listening carefully, and strengthening the bonds shaped by the challenges we face and our shared region and history. Our recent engagements underscored these priorities and highlighted the deep alignment between New Zealand and our Pacific partners.
During our recent visit to Kiribati, our discussions and the signing of a new Statement of Partnership deepened a relationship grounded in respect, cooperation, and a mutual commitment to addressing shared challenges. This visit also marked a significant milestone for us: during the current Parliamentary term, we have now visited all 17 fellow Pacific Islands Forum member states, demonstrating New Zealand’s steadfast dedication to regional partnership.
During these visits we saw the results of New Zealand’s work with Pacific partners to build better infrastructure, to manage our fisheries, strengthen public financial management, education and health systems, and to improve disaster preparedness.
The New Betio Hospital, which we visited in South Tarawa in January, is a great example of our approach. It is a high-quality, fit for purpose facility, built on a strong partnership between the Governments of New Zealand and Kiribati, with support from Japan and the Asian Development Bank. It stands as a symbol of the impact we can have by working together to support Pacific development.
Connectivity
Everywhere we’ve been, our counterparts have stressed the importance of connectivity: physical and digital. Pacific Leaders are clear to us that secure, resilient, and affordable digital infrastructure is essential to national development and regional cooperation. Digital systems underpin access to education and health, enable financial inclusion, expand economic opportunities, and connect remote communities to essential services. It means people can access online content, including broadcasting.
Achieving meaningful digital integration requires investment in undersea cables, satellite connectivity, and cyber resilience. It requires building local digital skills, supporting safe online spaces, and strengthening regional interoperability so systems can work across borders.
For New Zealand, partnering on digital transformation is both a practical responsibility and an expression of our Pacific identity. Harnessing digital transformation reduces distances, enhances disaster response, supports transparency, and enables broader participation in the digital economy. Ultimately, digital integration is not simply a technical challenge—it is an investment in sovereignty, opportunity, and the unity of our Blue Pacific Continent.
Technology is moving quickly in the region to support broadcasting. As Pacific broadcasters move to digital, local broadcasters begin to have access to multiple channels. This creates an opportunity for digital transformation platforms as connectivity improves, spreading its reach to wider Pacific audiences.
This is important because we know that broadcasting and media in the Pacific play a critical role in fostering democracy, ensuring safety, and preserving culture in communities spread across the vast Pacific Ocean. Media supports democracy by holding those in power to account, providing public service announcements, and promoting civic education.
Our ongoing support to PCBL reinforces the importance that New Zealand places on media freedom and a resilient, vibrant and regionally connected Pacific media sector. PCBL is a critical partner. It connects the world to the region during emergencies. And it supports local broadcasters to produce factual and locally relevant media content. New Zealand has been a proud provider of free-to-air content to the PCBL, and in the spirit of our shared love for sports, we are launching an initiative to support PCBL’s capacity to competitively negotiate and secure rights to show major live sports to Pacific audiences.
Talanoa is critical in the Pacific, but distance is a challenge. This has been raised with us on our travels, and we have been determined to break down that barrier, including through supporting leaders get to key regional meetings such as the Pacific Islands Forum. If we want regional responses to our challenges, we need regional leaders and our people to connect.
The Government is backing up these words with action. I’m pleased to announce tonight that from the 1st of June this year, we are decreasing the total cost of applying for a visitor visa for Pacific nationals from $216 to just $161, for a 12-month period. This is part of New Zealand’s ongoing work to reduce the barriers, including cost, to Pacific visitors travelling to New Zealand.
This is another practical update to visitor visa settings that reduces cost, supports easier travel, and helps to strengthen the relationships that matter most. This builds on earlier changes, such as longer visa durations and the current visa-free trial for Pacific travellers coming from Australia.
Partnership in difficult times
Strengthening our people-to-people connections is important when our strategic environment in the region is increasingly complex. The region is navigating sharper great power competition alongside climate and transnational risks that do not respect borders. In these difficult times, regionalism is essential.
Pacific leaders are clear: they seek cooperation, stability, and sovereignty — not division. The Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent remains our shared framework for long-term resilience, security, and prosperity.
New Zealand’s position is steady and principled. Pacific countries know they can turn to New Zealand in times of need. We’re continue to invest a range of initiatives that invests in the Pacific preparedness against physical and cyber threats, without adding pressure or duplication. We will also never shy away from having frank, mature, conversations with our Pacific family of nations, and we will continue to advocate for the Pacific – including on the global stage.
In an increasingly contested world, values matter. Our collective approaches and our regional architecture, like the Pacific Islands Forum, help guard against the ability of big, powerful countries to divide us. Together we can hold firm to our principles, enhancing the power of the region as a whole. Throughout these challenging times, our guiding principle is unchanged: to work with Pacific partners in ways that honour sovereignty, respond to local priorities, and support long-term resilience.
As we look forward to New Zealand’s hosting of the Pacific Islands Forum in 2027, New Zealand will be working to ensure our region is connected and unified. We will use our hosting of the Forum to strengthen the region’s relationships with partners who share our regional values, and who can contribute positively to the region’s prosperity and resilience and to its development.
Consensus, respect, and dialogue have defined Pacific diplomacy since the early years of regionalism – they are The Pacific Way. The Pacific Way guides us to engage constructively, to listen carefully, and to move forward collectively even when the issues before us are challenging. At a time of shifting geopolitical currents, the Pacific Way reminds us that partnership is a strength, that sovereignty is to be respected, and that solutions must be Pacific-led and Pacific-owned.
Closing
The Pacific has a long tradition of navigating vast oceans with courage, vision, and unity. New Zealand is committed to continue working within the Pacific family of nations—listening first, aligning second, and delivering always.
In closing, let us reflect on the goal that was established a decade ago by PBCL – to build and support an empowered, resilient and sustainable Pacific broadcasting community which supports informed, open and democratic societies, and regional cohesion.
Congratulations again on the first 10 years and all the best for the remainder of your conference.
Thank you