SPEAKERS

Putting Pacific Voices at the Heart of our Housing Future

Kiwi Tamasese’s extensive work in Pacific social policy, poverty, housing, mental health, cultural equity, and the effects of government systems aligns strongly with the conference’s policy and wellbeing themes. Her keynote could explore how Pacific cultural knowledge systems can reshape housing policy, reduce deprivation, and strengthen community led solutions. This includes addressing the impacts of overcrowding and housing insecurity on mental health, recognising cultural dislocation, and advocating for policy frameworks grounded in aiga, spirituality, relationality, and collective wellbeing.

With more than three decades of research, policy analysis, and community development experience, Taimalieutu Kiwi is a Pacific research leader that has served as the long standing Coordinator of the Pacific Section at the Family Centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work spans social policy, cultural research, mental health, intergenerational wellbeing, disaster recovery, and Pacific centred conceptions of resilience. A pioneering contributor to the Just Therapy approach, Taimalieutu has led major national and international research partnerships—including projects with Massey University, Waikato University, and the New Zealand Treasury—and she has been instrumental in building Pacific research capacity across multiple disciplines. Internationally recognised for advancing culturally grounded methodologies, Taimalieutu has delivered keynote and plenary addresses across Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, Australia, and the Pacific. Taimalieutu’s leadership in post tsunami psychosocial recovery in Samoa influenced global understanding of resilience, and the Family Centre’s innovative climate adaptation proposal was selected as a World Bank Development Marketplace prize winner. A respected advocate for Pacific wellbeing, ethics, housing, and Pacific Data sovereignty, Taimalieutu continues to mentor emerging researchers, contribute to UNESCO and other governance bodies, and publishes extensively on Pacific perspectives in mental health, culture, and social policy.

Designing Pacific Housing with Pacific Knowledge

How can we balance culturally led designs with modular and scalable housing models? Pacific knowledges are key to how Pacific peoples live and how they will continue to thrive. So, if we are to design and build better housing for Pacific peoples, it must start here. However, making that a reality needs new approaches. Charmaine discusses opportunities to design Pacific housing with Pacific knowledges drawing on her research about multigenerational housing, Indigenous building technologies for climate resilient designs, and enabling housing wellbeing.

Dr Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei (Tatakamōtonga, Houma—Kingdom of Tonga) is a registered architect (NZRAB and BOAQ), researcher and educator at Te Pare School of Architecture and Planning, Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland. Charmaine is a leading researcher of Pacific architecture and has published widely on culturally responsive design methodologies, Pacific housing wellbeing, multigenerational housing, and Pacific building practices and technologies. Charmaine also works as an architectural consultant on government, community and aid projects in the Pacific region, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Australia. Enabling a symbiotic relationship between architectural research and architectural practice is a motivation of Charmaine's work.

Our Land, Our People, Our Homes

This keynote addresses housing not simply as infrastructure, but as a foundation of identity, dignity, and collective wellbeing across the Pacific. As CEO of Te Matapihi, the Māori housing peak body in Aotearoa New Zealand, Ali Hamlin-Paenga speaks to the shared Indigenous realities of Māori and Pacific peoples where land, family, culture, and future generations are inseparable. 

Drawing parallels between whenua and fanua, and the central role of aiga and whānau, the presentation explores how Māori and Pacific communities have long practised collective housing solutions often despite systems that were never designed for them. The keynote calls for renewed collaboration between Māori and Pacific leaders to reclaim and reimagine housing systems that are culturally grounded, community led, and fit for our people.

 A key focus of the address is the role of digital innovation in strengthening housing outcomes for Samoa and the wider Pacific. From data sovereignty and digital platforms to smarter planning and investment tools, the keynote highlights how technology when led by Indigenous values can support better decision making, transparency, and connectivity across housing systems. Digital tools are presented not as replacements for cultural knowledge, but as enablers that amplify it. 

The keynote concludes by challenging current policy and investment settings that continue to limit housing supply and affordability in Pacific contexts. It calls for governments, customary landowners, financiers, and community organisations to work differently removing barriers to investment, recognising collective land tenure, and enabling long-term, community-owned housing development. Grounded in lived experience, Indigenous leadership, and a deep respect for Samoan values of fa’a Samoa, this keynote is a call to action: to design housing systems that honour culture, enable prosperity, and secure a future where Māori and Pacific peoples can thrive in their whenua. 

Chief Executive of Te Matapihi he tirohanga mō te iwi Trust, the national peak body for Māori housing in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work focuses on strengthening the policy, regulatory, and funding environments that enable Māori-led housing solutions across the housing continuum.

Ali Hamlin-Paenga works alongside iwi, community housing providers, government agencies, and sector partners to address system barriers affecting housing delivery on whenua Māori and within Māori communities. Her leadership supports national advocacy, sector capability development, and strategic engagement to advance housing pathways that reflect collective ownership models, cultural values, and long-term community wellbeing