I was born on a small Polynesian island in the Pacific close to the Cook Islands, Tonga and Samoa.
The people living on my island carry new Zealand passports. Many of us migrate to New Zealand for a better lifestyle. That’s what my father did in the 1960s. Once he was established he brought the family over. Mum filled out all the paperwork for the family. I don’t know how she did it as she couldn’t speak English and the documents were in English.
There is no wharf on my tiny island so we went out on dinghies to the freight ship which took us to Fiji. After two weeks at sea we landed in Fiji. We flew from Nandi Airport to Auckland. That was quite an experience. The highest we’d ever been before was a coconut tree.
We went from a small island to a big city. There were so many changes. We had to wear shoes. We’d never seen traffic lights before or big shopping centres. We had no TV. When we first went to school we couldn’t speak English. I don’t know how we managed to survive.
I met my wife in New Zealand. I saw her in a temple and fell in love with her straight away. A friend I was with arranged a date with her for me and that night we went out. 6 months later we were married.
In 1986 or 87 we left New Zealand to find a better life in Australia. We had five children. We first arrived in Brisbane and then work took me to Cairns. My job was selling two pack polyurethane paint system. It was seen to be the Rolls Royce of the paint world. The paint was applied on aircraft and luxury yachts. I sold and delivered paint systems to distributors between Rockhampton and Cairns.
We lived around Bayview Heights and Forest Gardens. Our children attended Woree State School. We just fell in love with Cairns and stayed in the southern corridor.
My father taught me the value of hard work. He worked 40-60 hours a week to provide for the family. His job was in a factory. He saw his role to be in providing money to pay the rent and buy food so that the family had enough to survive.
Mum and Dad also showed us the value of family and how important the family is and how important education is. I grew up with these values and have tried to pass them onto my children. We have 6 children and 26 grandchildren. All my children have been to university.
When I was in my 50s I decided to continue my education and went to James Cook University graduating with a Bachelor of Community Welfare. I spent the next ten years working as a Community Liaison Officer at Bentley Park College and Woree State School.
Education and gaining a qualification is important. Education empowers a person. It certainly empowered me. It changed my outlook. I want to see all the people Pacifica, Indigenous, Low Socio Economic background in the southern corridor of Cairns have qualifications. Education inspires people to a better lifestyle. It will change the south side.
I have passed these values of hardwork and education onto my children and grandchildren. I was very proud to see my grandson, Heilum Luki, gain an apprenticeship and even prouder to see all his hard work at football payoff when he was selected to play for the North Queensland Cowboys in the 2021 season. Education, hard work and family are important. They are the key to success.