Transcript
The Norman Kirk Memorial Trust has celebrated its 40th Anniversary and also the "Trust of the Year" Award.
The celebrations were held in the Grand Hall in Parliament, and hosted by the Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne, who said that Mr Kirk was a visionary.
"He was the first to really appreciate that New Zealand was a Pacific nation and that our primary area of interest and I guess responsibility was the Pacific and I think it's neat that the trust has carried that vision through."
Kapeteni Polutea is in his second year of a computer science/information technology degree at Victoria University. From Porirua, and the eldest of four, Kapeteni says education is important in his family and while his parents have been really supportive towards his studies the financial assistance from the trust has been a huge help.
"It has been a massive blessing for me and so as my family so my aim was to make my family proud, and in terms of the financial side of my studies, having this contribution towards it really made a big difference.
And Tana Tanoi, who is studying engineering at Victoria University, says the scholarship has helped ease some financial pressures for him.
"Engineering is not that easiest degree but knowing you have financial stability when you are programming late at night is quite nice, it eases the journey a fair bit."
Tana has been offered an internship at Google in Sydney. Labour MP Poto Williams is a former recipient of a trust scholarship.
"It was the first scholarship I had ever applied for and it was more than just receiving the money, it was actually knowing people believed I could do this."
Ms Williams went on to finish her Diploma in Business following the Kirk award, and then later completed a Master of Business Administration.
The Trust also has partners in the Pacific. Here's Sister Catherine Jones of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.
"Norman Kirk Foundation Trust has been contributing to school fees for children in schools in Samoa and Fiji."
Sister Catherine says the Trust has made a huge difference in those children's lives, giving them the headstart they need. The Trust's chairperson, Peter Swain, says Mr Kirk had made a strong connection with Pacific countries.
"The Trust deed of the Norman Memorial Trust asks us to provide education opportunities particularly second chance education opportunities for people in New Zealand and in the South Pacific."
Norman Kirk's son Philip is a Trustee and says he's pleased his father's legacy continues through the trust.
"And one of the things about his political mission and social mission was that people should have an opportunity and if they wanted it they could take it and make the best of it and this is what this trust has been doing in his name for 40 years."
The Trust's capital comes from donations made in Norman Kirk's memory by individuals and the governments of New Zealand, Australia and several South Pacific nations.
