Samoan New Zealander, Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira, says he was shocked when he found out he was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in today's Queen's birthday honours.
Fa'amatuainu played a pioneering part in setting up Pacific broadcasting in New Zealand and has for the last 20 years been involved in a variety of Pacific community development roles.
He says he's gained valuable skills from working in the community and making sure Pacific issues are at the forefront of government programmes.
He currently chairs the Pacific Advisory Group for the New Zealand government taskforce on domestic violence and says it's been one of his most satisfying achievements.
"I kind of led the campaign to make sure our communities addressed issues of domestic violence so that was a big thing that was kind of risky at the time, but I wanted to make sure that the issue wasn't swept under the carpet."
Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira says he'd like to see more Pacific people in leadership roles in the business sector.
