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Our Whare Our Fale housing development in Porirua has won a national architecture award for its Pasefika-led design. Photo: Supplied A Pasefika-led housing development in eastern Porirua, Wellington  has been recognised at the 2026 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) National Architecture Awards. The Central Pacific Collective & transformative development, Our Whare Our Fale (OWOF) took out  the Housing – Multi Unit category in association with architecture firm First Light Studio.  The award recognised their focus to reimagine the Pacific village concept through affordable, intergenerational homeownership centred on community, culture and belonging. The national judging panel described OWOF as “an exemplar for affordable housing in urban Aotearoa. Planned around a malae and common fale, the masterplan places people and community first, strengthening a sense of belonging and helping neighbours look out for one another.” It sai...

New Zealand’s 2026 election has left the make-up of the next government uncertain, raising questions about Pasifika representation in Parliament. Gladys Hartson | Senior Journalist “MMP was the winner, it’s the first time we’ve actually had a proper MMP election… it’s not going to be left and right; National, Labour ruling the roost. And now we’re starting to see people saying we’ve got options, strategic voting has come into play” – NZ First List MP, Alfred Ngaro.   The country took to the polls over the weekend, to decide which political party or parties will form the 55th parliament of New Zealand. The preliminary results did not deliver a clear result.  Until the more than 390,000 votes are counted, no political bloc has been able to claim an outright victory. On top of this, there is the impact of the overhang of seats that coul...

Above: Flashback to 10 years ago – the Upper Hutt Rams after winning the 2016 American Ambassador’s 7s series.  The time remaining in the year is getting shorter and so are these columns. But a few things below this week, which will be added to as news comes in. First a reminder of what’s coming...

Tagata Pasifika | Television Series What does the election mean for Pacific communities? Seinafolava Sanele Chadwick brings together Pacific MPs and commentators to unpack the results, debate what’s next and explore the issues that matter most to our people.

By Steven White Photos by Andy McArthur The Petone Ponies are this year’s WRFU Women’s 7s series winners with a convincing win today’s second of two tournaments at Rugby League Park. Petone won last week’s first tournament so were in the box seat to take out the series. Sevens rugby can throw up surprising results,...

Tagata Pasifika | Television Series The 2026 Pacific Music Awards may have come and gone, but the stories behind our award winners deserve a spotlight of their own. Join us as we share the journeys of Sam V, Signature Choir and A.R.T in this exclusive coverage where we go beyond the awards to explore their journeys, the stories behind their success and their hopes for the future of Pasifika music in Aotearoa.