# Josiah Tualamaliʻi

Josiah Tavita Tualamaliʻi is a Samoan New Zealand health and social justice advocate. 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.

## Biography and early life

Tualamaliʻi was born in Dunedin and was educated at Middleton Grange School. He is a graduate of the University of Canterbury where he gained a Bachelor of Arts in 2019. 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. 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.

## Health advocacy

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. 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. The commission's report showed evidence that depression has become one of the leading causes of avoidable suffering globally.

## Social justice advocacy

In 2020, Tualamaliʻi co-brought a case to the Broadcasting Standards Authority against broadcaster Sean Plunket. 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". 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.
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". 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. He has carried on advocating for broader aspects he and community leaders see are still to be addressed.
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

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. He received the Pacific Emerging Leadership Award in 2020.
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 and in 2022 alongside fellow University of Canterbury alumnus and author, Abbas Nazari. He was a finalist in the 2024 awards.