Te Rito Journalism Project
Mary Afemata
Was it a scam or a life-changing new opportunity?
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Was it a scam or a life-changing new opportunity?
That was the dilemma for Pacific Media Network (PMN) Auckland host Aggie Tupou when someone from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation contacted her through an Instagram DM.
Tupou thought it was too good to be true.
"I didn't even know about the job; I didn’t even apply for it".
She was skeptical.
“Is this a scam? Is someone scamming me and trying to offer me something that might not be true”.
However, a call from a real person at the ABC soon followed, and the life-changing reality sank in for Tupou.
"This is exactly what I had asked for, what I had prayed for".
Tupou’s prayer turned into reality with the offer of a firm contract for the role of presenter/broadcast journalist with ABC’s Pacific Beat show.
Aggie Tupou has worked at PMN since 2012, where she was thrown in the deep - with no radio experience, she was straight on the air.
She’s been hosting 531pi’s breakfast show since 2021 and says her new job - the hour-long Pacific Beat - will easily translate from what she currently does.
"Newsy, current affairs, a bit of music".
She joins a team of producers and reporters who are stationed on different Islands across the Pacific or in other cities around Australia.
Professionally, she’s both excited and nervous about her new show.
“I would rather go over and try and then possibly fail than to have stayed and never ever tried. I don’t want to live a life of regret.”
Personally, she has a vision for herself and her children.
“The greatest gift any parent can give to their kids, knowing that if their mama or papa can do it then rightly so, they should have all the more reasons to excel.”
As a proud single mother, she credits her faith and God’s plan for the way that her life is going.
"I wondered if anyone else wanted me to do other things in NZ or within Auckland. I had so many shut doors, like the doors would just like boom boom boom, nothing."
Tupou believes it's God's timing and is grateful for the rejection, because those closed doors led to the ABC.
She and her two children, aged 22 and 14, are now packing up and moving to Melbourne, flying in on July 2nd, and starting work immediately - July 3rd.
How hard is it going to be to leave PMN?
Tupou says PMN has supported her in her darkest times and become her family, she’s had ups and downs and learned unforgettable lessons.
“You can be the best you when you decide to be your best you and then you get around people who actually believe in you.”
While her new role offers something she couldn't say no to, it isn’t about the money.
"If people know me, know Aggie, I'm not going purely just because of the job.
“I'm going because I want my kids to do better and be better in life than I ever have been.”
Hero Image: Aggie Tupou, just before heading across the Tasman for her new role. Photo / Mary Afemata
