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Cook Islander Riki Manarangi is passionate about his Pacific community in Hamilton City.
“One of the things I am really excited about is that down here in Hamilton Kirikiriroa is K’aute Pasifika which is our hub. That’s a place not only for our Pasifika people but for all of our community to benefit from.”
He is one of eight candidates vying for mayor in this year’s local elections. He says his multiracial identity is a point of difference.
“That’s the mindset that I bring into council – is that ability to walk in those spaces of te ao Pakeha, but also to walk in those spaces of te ao Pasifika and te ao Maori. You won’t find any other candidate that has that ability to do that.”
Down in the deep of the South Island in Dunedin, Marie Laufiso is standing again for the city council on the green party ticket to continue her work with vulnerable communities.
“My job is to be strategic and think for the future and to serve the interests of the whole city, not just the privileged few or the people that have always had it their way,” she says.
She’s been a councillor since 2016 but says the last two years of covid have emphasised the concerns of Dunedin’s Pasifika community.
“The retailers [have been] suffering, but that’s only one year – the last two years. Maori and Pasifika have been suffering for generations, and all covid did was highlight the inequities,” she says.
In Wellington City, former rugby player ‘Inoke Afeaki is standing for councillor of the Paekawakawa Southern ward, following his frustrations with the current council.
“Imagine if you went to a training session and had two coaches. They keep talking and arguing with each other for 18 minutes of the 20-minute drill. That’s the situation that they’re in at the moment – they can’t decide on what to do,” he says.
Afeaki played over 30 games for the hurricanes and captained the ‘Ikale Tahi at the 2003 world cup. He says his sporting career has set him up well for politics.
“Learning how to be a leader. You’re just not born with it – you’ve got to find out [the] things that tick those boxes and do them well and get the guys up for it. Loyalty is another one.”
In Hawkes Bay, Victoria Fuata’i is standing for the Flaxmere ward, hoping to supersede outgoing councillor Peleti Oli, the first Pacific person elected to the Hastings District Council.
“Flaxmere is one of the only cities in Hawkes Bay that has a very diverse community, and that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to stand for Flaxmere general ward because they have the most Pacific Island and Maori in that community,” she says.
Victoria is currently a coordinator for the RSE scheme, which has brought hundreds of workers from the Pacific to work in Hastings.
“That’s one of the reasons why I am standing because I really have a big heart for our people. You know I see the work day in and day out, seven days a week, and they take home what they can, and they’re happy.
“Me seeing that brings so much joy to me, but I know that our people can do more.”
Back in Waikato, Cook Islander Josiah Teokotai is standing for the Tokoroa Ward at the South Waikato District Council to increase Pacific representation at the top table.
“For the last couple of years, we have been trying to get up a Pacific advisory, but when it’s not led by a Pacific person, it tends to go astray,” he says.
If he gets in, one area he’d like to improve is the level of engagement with the elderly community.
“I think our experienced elders who seemed to be out in the community but not really heard. I really want them to give their experience to our young people – to help them with reading, to help them with maths.”
But for the candidates to make a difference, Riki Manarangi says they will be counting on one thing.
“The most important thing I would say is that our people need to go out and vote,” he says.
“They need to be a part of these decisions. This is our way of making sure that we don’t get left behind in this decision-making, so go out and vote.”
