Voters In Areas With Large Pacific Populations Clear On Who Should Lead Country

Justin Latif RNZ Pacific News Editor

While
the general election result might be too close to call,
voters in areas with large Pacific populations have once
again shown a clear preference on who should lead the
country.

National and Labour finished in a near dead
heat for the party vote – with Labour on 29.4 percent
percent and National on 29.2 percent, but with almost
400,000 special votes still to be tallied, who can form a
coalition is not yet certain.

Based on preliminary
results it’s fairly clear there will be eight Pacific
members of Parliament (MPs), increasing representation in
the previous term from the previous seven.

And for
those Pacific Labour MPs who won their electorates, support
for many of them has also significantly increased since 2023
– assuming special votes don’t swing back to the
right.

Labour’s Barbara Edmonds, who is of Samoan
descent, won Kenepuru with 17,294 votes, almost ten-thousand
more than the next best placed candidate (which she won by
7324 votes in 2023 when the electorate was called Mana) and
fellow Samoan Lemauga Lydia Sosene regained Māngere with
14,815 votes and an increased 11,970 margin (having previous
won by 11,712).

Three-term Tongan MP Jenny Salesa is
also back, winning Ōtāhuhu for Labour with 13,826 votes
with a margin of over ten-thousand (having previously won by
7,970) and Labour’s Samoan-Tongan deputy leader Carmel
Sepuloni won Glendene with 14,478 votes with a 6,940 margin
(having won by 4,396 when her electorate was previously
called Kelston).

Labour’s Tangi Utikere, who is Cook
Islands descent, also retained his seat of Palmerston North
with a similar margin as 2023, while fellow Cook Islander
and former National Party minister Alfred Ngaro re-enters
Parliament after a six year absence, but this time under the
NZ First banner thanks to his fifth place ranking on its
list.

The Greens won 13.3% of the party vote according
to preliminary results, meaning Teanau Tuiono, who is of
Cook Islands descent, returns to Parliament thanks to his
third place ranking, while first-time MP Tania Waikato,
who’s of Māori, Samoan and Hawaiian heritage, also enters
due to her list placing of 13.

None of National’s
three Pacific list candiates of Rosemary Bourke, Angee
Nicholas and Agnes Loheni will make it into Parliament,
given their party’s lower party vote percentage and the
unusual situation where the party won 42 electorates –
creating an overhang.

Pacific
Labour voters react

While election night didn’t fall
strongly in Labour’s favour, it was clear for Pacific voters
at Labour’s post-election event in Tamaki why their support
swung left.

For Rua Rio and Koro Tuarae, Cook
Islanders from Glen Innes, Labour was who they felt would do
the most to address the cost of living.

“There’s a lot
of things we’ve seen that this government has been doing
that makes it hard,” Tuarae said.

“Things like the
length of stay with hospital, there’s [a shortage of]
nurses, doctors and so when you go to hospital you can sit
there for so many hours before they see you.”

For Rio,
the lack of jobs and the price of petrol were two factors in
his support for a left-wing government.

“It’s so hard
to get a job now because three years ago I had a factory
job, but it was closed but I know if Labour comes on board,
people always work aye.”

While failure to turn around
cost of living pressures during this term has hurt the
National Party electorally, its finance spokseperson told
the public that the signs of a turnaround in the economy are
starting to appear.

Nicola Willis, who has not made it
back into parliament, said that the National-led coalition
has been
laying the foundations for a economic rebound during
trying times, but that improvement can take time.

Fania
Kapao, who is of Cook Islands and Samoan descent,
volunteered for Labour in Glendene. She felt excited to see
more young people involved in this campaign than in previous
years even though overall voter turn out was down almost 4
percent from last election.

“I hope that Pacific
people feel a lot more represented and seen [by this
result],” Kapao said.

“And I’m feeling very hopeful
with the new and fresh blood that’s coming
through.”

For Gloria Tu’itupou, a 24-year-old
Tongan-New Zealander youth leader, she was inspired by how
Labour’s Tamaki candidate Max Harris engaged the Pacific
community in her neighbourhood.

“I loved what Max
Harris has been doing, centring Pacific communities in Glen
Innes and Point England,” she said.

“I like that he’s
been out and about in the community and talking to heaps of
people in the community about what problems we have been
facing, especially because our problems might get
overshadowed by the wealthier areas.”

She was also
concerned how the turnout was impacted by the decision to
scrap same-day voter enrollment.

“I feel like the way
that they’ve set it up not being able to enrol and vote on
the same day really impacts a lot of our
communities.

“Our Pacific communities are more
disenfranchised by this government and that’s what motivated
me to get out and be a bit more vocal.

“Even if it
meant not supporting Labour, I was just encouraging my
friends and family to get out and have voice
heard.”

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