Moana Oceania Academic Initiatives Programme - Auckland Law School

Tēnā koutou, Tālofa lava, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Tālofa, Ni Sa Bula, Vinaka, Noa’ia, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Mālō ni, Håfa Ådai, Mauri, Lakwe, Ekamawir, and warm Pacific greetings!

We warmly invite you to attend the Olive Malienafau Nelson Public Lecture 2026. The Lecture will take place on Wednesday, 18 February 2026 at 6.30 PM at the University of Auckland Faculty of Arts Building.

This lecture honours the enduring legacy of Olive Malienafau Nelson who was the first Pacific woman to graduate from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Laws degree. A daughter of Sāmoa, Olive was a trailblazing lawyer, leader and champion of Samoa’s independence movement. The inaugural Lecture was delivered in July 2024 by afioga Tugaga Misa Telefoni Retzlaff, former Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General of Samoa.

We are honoured to welcome afioga Dame Meg Taylor, DBE, a distinguished Pacific leader, diplomat and former Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum to deliver the Lecture this year. Dame Meg is widely regarded as one of the Pacific’s most influential and respected leaders and has championed Pacific regionalism, good governance and Pacific-led solutions to development and security.

Please RSVP using our EventBrite Link here: https://olivemalienafaunelsonpubliclecture.eventbrite.co.nz/

Moana Oceania Issues Moot 2025

The annual Moana Oceania Issues Moot was held on Wednesday, 24 September at the Auckland Law School. This year, 26 LLB Part III/IV students participated in the moot competition and had the opportunity to critically engage with legal issues from the wider Pacific Island region.

After a competitive evening of arguments, Samuel Lewis was awarded the First Place Prize and received a $500 cash prize sponsored by the Pacific Lawyers Association and a trophy sponsored by the MAI Programme. Phil Welcome was awarded the Second Place Prize and received a $200 cash prize sponsored by the MAI Programme. We celebrate and congratulate all of our wonderful participants for their hard work and efforts!

We thank our amazing student volunteers who acted as our Court Registrars for the evening as well as the wonderful family members and supporters who came to witness our participants in action.

We are especially grateful to the esteemed Pacific Lawyers Association for their generous support for this annual event. In addition to sponsoring the $500 cash prize for the First Place Winner, members of the PLA volunteered their valuable time to serve as judges.

Our esteemed judges this year were: Afioga Elaine Ward (President of the Pacific Lawyers Association), Afioga Lesieli Mafi, Afioga Justine Paea, Afioga Peter Fuiava, Afioga Panama Leauanae, Afioga Samuela Nginingini and Afioga Dr Suliana Mone.

We also thank the wonderful FOLAU Team and the MAI Programme at the Auckland Law School for organizing this competition. We would like to especially thank Dr Suliana Mone (Assistant Associate Dean Pasifika), Fuimaono Dylan Asafo, Chelsea Naepi, Jeremiah Lafaele and Beatrice Tabangcora for their leadership and hard work in organising and facilitating this annual event!

Fa’afetai tele lava, vinaka vakalevu, mālō ‘aupito, fakaaue lahi and tagio tumas to everyone who has made this event a success!

Seeking Moana Oceania Student Research for AULR

The editors of the AULR are currently looking for articles for the Moana Oceania Issues Paper section for the Auckland University Law Review's 2025 volume.

The Auckland University Law Review is an academic journal with a proud tradition of showcasing some of the best student work produced at the Auckland Law School, edited and published by students.

The AULR typically has a Moana Oceania Issues Paper in each volume, focusing on topics important to the Pacific. They would love to again feature an article in this year's volume.

All interested students are warmly invited to get in touch with the Editors by email to [email protected] by 11:59 pm on Saturday 19 April if they have done any recent research paper on a Pacific issue, of 5,000 words or more, and are interested in having it featured.

Moana Oceania Part I Students & Families Orientation - Semester 1 2025

Last night, the FOLAU Team had the incredible privilege of hosting our first year law students and their families to the Auckland Law School for our MAI Part I Orientation.

Our Moana Oceania Assistant Associate Dean, Dr Suliana Mone, welcomed our students and their families and congratulated them on their hard work and efforts so far.

In addition to learning important information about the law degree and programme and the support services available to them, our students were able to meet our incredible LAW 121 Course Coordinator, Tracey Whare.

Our students also heard from one of our inspiring Moana Oceania superstars from Samoa, Aniva Clarke. Aniva, who was one of our top MAI Part I LLB students, shared bout her experience at the Auckland Law School and gave helpful advice for our students on how to succeed as a first year student.

Finally, our wonderful Moana Oceania law student groups, the Pacific Island Law Students Association and the MALOSI Project, gave energetic presentations about their mission and objectives, work and initiatives.

We wish our first year law students all the very best as they embark on their law school journeys 💙

We look forward to supporting you!

Bigfala tankiu tumas, fa'afetai tele lava and malo 'aupito to everyone who contributed to our MAI Part I Orientation!


Pacific at the University of Auckland Pacific Island Law Students' Association The MALOSI Project

Maori & Pacific Island Orientation - Law Session

On Monday, 24 February 2025, the MAI Team hosted the Law Session at the Maori & Pacific Island Students Orientation with our Maori Academic Programme (MAP) Team. We were privileged to have had the generous support of our MPI Law student groups: Te Rakau Ture (TRT) and the Pacific Island Law Students Association (PILSA).

We were thrilled that over 60 Maori and Pacific teina attended our session.

Our interactive session aimed to:

1️⃣ show our teina how laws and legal systems impact our Maori and Pacific Island communities in Aotearoa NZ and the wider Pacific Island region;

2️⃣ build whanaungatanga and confidence in our teina; and

3️⃣ get our teina excited about studying law.

We ended our session with a mock court case that saw our incredible students fiercely argue for/against a banishment order in the fictitious Pacific Island country of Motunui.

Fa'afetai tele lava, malo 'aupito and tagio tumas to everyone who made this event a success! 💙


Pacific at the University of Auckland Pacific Island Law Students' Association

Talofa lava, mālō e lelei, bula vinaka, halo olgeta and warm Moana greetings! 🌊🌺

We’re excited to launch our official social media page for the Moana Oceania Academic Initiatives (MAI) Programme at the Auckland Law School!

The MAI Programme aims to support, uplift and empower our Moana Oceania students as they navigate their law school journey.

Please like and follow this page to keep up to date with the latest MAI Programme announcements and news!