9 June 2002

Alliance Leader Laila Harré today announced the Alliance’s list for the 2002 election.

“We have an incredibly strong field of candidates and ranking them has not been easy,” said Ms Harré from her Waitakere office.

“Our top ten is a high calibre mix of experience and bright new talent. I look forward to having Matt McCarten with me in Parliament. Matt has worked for the Alliance for years and I am very happy he has made the decision to bring his skills to the Parliamentary arena.

“I am also particularly pleased with Kevin Campbell’s decision to re-commit to the Alliance for another term of Parliament. His decision to stand for the Alliance is a demonstration of his support for the Alliance as the only party with an unequivocal commitment to social justice.

“New MPs will include Tricia Cutforth of Whangarei. Tricia is the regional manager of Skill NZ and has a deep understanding of the issues facing regional New Zealand. Her experience in the public sector will significantly add to the strength of the Alliance in this area.

“The rankings given to Vern Winitana and Naida Glavich recognise the skills that they have developed outside Parliament and the importance the Alliance gives to its partnership with Mana Motuhake.

“Gerard Hehir and Rebecca Matthews have given strong leadership to many sections of the Alliance, no more so than in the months of crisis experienced late last year and earlier this year.

“I am pleased that the list committee has acknowledged the leadership that presented itself in our most difficult days as a party. It was a baptism of fire and the experience gained and commitment shown by these people stands us in good stead as a party.

“Rebecca Matthews leads a team of young people on this list who are the future of left wing politics in New Zealand. As the leader of the Alliance I am aware of past contributions as well as always looking towards the future. One of my jobs is to ensure a long term leadership for the party in Parliament and this list achieves that,“ said Ms Harré.

The full Alliance Party list for the 2002 election follows

1 Laila Harré MP
Leader of the Alliance. Minister of Women’s Affairs, Youth Affairs, Statistics, Associate Minister of Labour, Associate Minister of Commerce.
Former union lawyer, entered Parliament for the first time in 1996, standing in the Waitakere electorate in 2002. Laila is 36 and is married with two children and lives in Te Atatu.

2 Willie Jackson MP
Leader of Mana Motuhake, Deputy Leader of the Alliance.
Ngati Porou and Ngati Maniapoto descent.
Alliance spokesperson on Maori Broadcasting, Broadcasting & Sports & Recreation
Former broadcaster and advocate with the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, entered Parliament for the first time in 1999 and is standing in the Tainui electorate in 2002. Wilie is 41, lives with his partner Tania and has two children.

3 Matt McCarten
Alliance Party President.
Matt is a trade unionist. 1983 until 1989 he occupied various positions within the movement including union president and organiser. Matt grew up in Marton and Dunedin. His mother is Ngapuhi and his father is Irish.

4 Liz Gordon MP
Chairperson of the Education Select Committee
Alliance spokesperson on: Education, Tertiary Institutions, Schools, Disabilities, Social Security, Children, Crown Research Institutes, Research, Science, and Voluntary Organisations. Entered Parliament for the first time in 1996.
Liz is married to Garth Lomax and has one adult daughter, Sonya, and two foster children, Vikki and Francesca. She lives in Christchurch.

5 Tricia Cutforth
Regional Manager, Skill New Zealand/Tertiary Education Commission, Northland. Standing in the Whangarei electorate

6 Gerard Hehir
Gerard Hehir the general Secretary of the Alliance and is 38 years old. Gerard has previously worked in Parliament as the Director of the Alliance Electorate Liaison Unit and as a Regional Agent in Palmerston North. He also has a background in education and television production.
Gerard grew up on a dairy farm in the Manawatu and currently lives in Petone with his partner and 17th month old daughter.

7 Vern Winitana
Company Director, Made in New Zealand Corporation, Oxford Institute of Learning
Born in 1950, married with children, lives in Lower Hutt.

8 Rebecca Matthews
Researcher, New Zealand University Students Association, aged 30

9 Kevin Campbell
Alliance spokesperson on: Police, Tourism and Land Valuation
Kevin entered Parliament for the first time in 1999
Kevin Campbell is a lawyer with a background in social work and policing. Kevin was born in 1949, is married and lives in Christchurch

10 Naida Glavish
Tikanga Advisor for Auckland District Health Board, Waitangi Treaty Fisheries Commissioner, Deputy chair of the Waipareira Trust. Well know as the Telecom “kia ora” lady and the major campaign around the right to say “kia ora”
Nga Puhi, Ngati Whatua, standing in the Tai Tokerau electorate.

11. Robert Reid
Robert is the Wellington Central Candidate for the Alliance and works as an union organiser for clothing, footwear, manufacturing and construction workers. He has extensive experience in student politics, community groups and NGOs, local, national and international union organisations.

12. Jill Ovens
Jill is 49 years old and is the National president of the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE). She is standing for the alliance in Mt Albert. Jill currently serves on a range of CTU committees and most recently as CTU Women’s Convenor. She is also the Convenor of the Alliance Women’s Network.

13. Sam Huggard
Sam is 24 years old and is the Campaign Co-ordinator for the OUSA. E co-president of NZUSA 2000 & 2001. Sam grew up in Auckland and Wellington and is finishing a BA in Sociology.

14. Janice Panoho-Smith

15. Vernon Tile
Vernon is 47 years old, of Samoan background and Head of the Maths Department at Rongotai College in Wellington. He is the Alliance candidate for Rongotai. Vern is a member of the PPTA Executive, Vice-President of the Council of Pacific Education (the South Pacific education union organisation) and a NZ Dieticians Board member.

16. Julie Fairey
Julie is 24 years old and the National Spokesperson and National Council Representative for Staunch Alliance – the youth wing of the Alliance. She has a background in student politics and is the Alliance candidate for Epsom.

17. Gavin MacLean is the Alliance Candidate for East Coast and lives in Gisborne.
Gavin Maclean is a teacher of singing, small-farmer and woodturner with a
background in physics. Married, with two teenage daughters, he has long been
a campaigner for envoironmental and social justice issues. In 1999 he
received a QSM for community service in music, and stood for the Alliance in
the general election.

18. Carolyn Payne-Harker
Carolyn is a union organiser for the NZ Nurses Organisation, is 43 years old and is standing for the Alliance in Dunedin North. She has a background in nursing, politics and unuions and is a mother of three children.

19. Kamaka Manuel
Kamaka is 28 years old, standing for the Te Tai Hauauru seat and lives in Whanganui and is of Ngati Porou/ Ngati Whatua/ Tainui origin. Currently employed as Kaituhauora Tane with Te Puawai Whanau Family Start, under the auspices of Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority and Kamaka is also active within various community projects including Cultural Liason Officer for the Whanganui Maori Rugby Board and a trustee for Te Kura O Ratana, Pouako for Te Ngakau O Te Awa roopu kapahaka, a combination of students from Sacred Heart and St Augustines Colleges.

20. Mary Ellen O’Connor
Mary Ellen is 51 years old and is the Alliance candidate for Nelson and is an English Language Teacher at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, where she is a staff representative on the Council. She is also the Nelson trustee on The Community Trust.

21 Maxine Boag

22 Mike Treen

23 Moira Lawler

24 Ravaani Ghaemmaghamy

25 John Tibble

26 Anna McMartin

27 Anna Sutherland

28 Hayley Rawhiti

29 Joseph Randall

30 Lucia Clearwater

31 Peter Wheeler

32 Val McClimont

33 Margaret Jeune

34 Dion Martin

35 Len Richards

36 Paula Henderson

37 Brendon Lane

38 Peter Jamieson

39 Fiona McLaren

40 Solly Southwood

41 Michael Gilchrist

42 Paul Protheroe

43 Justin Wilson

44 Karl Bartleet

45 Richard Wallis

46 Simon Shields

47 Craig Wills

48 Helen Mackinlay

49 Bob van Ruyssevelt

Ends

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