25 August 2000 Media Statement

Maori & Pacific Advertising Scholarships

The Minister of Transport Mark Gosche announced four new advertising scholarships that will enable Maori and Pacific design and communication graduates to work on national road safety campaigns.

"Statistics tell us we need campaigns targeted at Maori and Pacific communities and therefore we need to have Maori and Pacific people working on our campaigns," he said.

Mr Gosche made the announcement at a fono for Auckland-based Pacific broadcasters.

“The scholarships not only provide the opportunity for career growth for the successful applicants, but will mean that campaigns targeted at specific sectors of the Maori and Pacific community will have been developed by those who have experienced first-hand the cultural and social differences at play.”

New advertising funding was made available in this year’s budget to target road behaviour hot-spots that were specific to Maori and Pacific peoples and which were not addressed in the Land Transport Safety Authority’s general campaign work.

The scholarships offer two months work with the LTSA’s advertising agency, experiencing all aspects of agency work.

Mr Gosche said the scholarships were an excellent way to encourage Maori and Pacific talent into mainstream advertising, which had traditionally lacked their presence.

Mr Gosche said he looked forward to seeing the work developed by the scholarship winners.

The “hot-spot” behaviour being targeted by the campaign for Maori is drink-driving and will be aimed at Maori males in upper North island rural and provincial areas. For Pacific communities, the campaign will focus on addressing the issue of high pedestrian injuries among children under 10, and the use of child restraints and safety belts for children. This campaign will primarily focus on Auckland City and Manukau City.

Information on the scholarships can be found on the LTSA’s website at www.ltsa.govt.nz. It has also been publicised through Ad Media and design and communication courses around the country have been mailed with information on how to apply.

ENDS

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