Rochelle Surendran Confirmed Green Candidate for Invercargill

Invercargill, New Zealand (Sunday 12 March 2017) - It’s women running for office in the south as Rochelle Surendran joins three other women campaigning for the four largest political parties.

Metiria Turei, Green Party co-leader, chaired Sunday’s members’ meeting selecting Rochelle Surendran as candidate for Invercargill.

“It’s exciting to receive the endorsement of my local branch to campaign for the Green Party in the Invercargill. Now, it’s just keeping on having the conversations I’ve been having with people in the community.”

Mrs Surendran is literally the “average Kiwi” - a woman in her 30s, of mixed Maori and NZ European descent, with children, living in an urban centre.

She said the strong correlation between Green values, Christian values and tikanga Maori led her to join the Green Party.

“The four principles in the Green Party Charter are ecological wisdom, social responsibility, appropriate decision-making, and non-violence. The Greens’ greatest strengths are unity in diversity and a culture of honour. The Party is growing and it’s exciting to be part of that.”

The hottest topics in the general election will be water, support for families and the economy, said Mrs Surendran.

“I want my children to be able to swim in our rivers without serious risk of getting ill. The Green Party wants decisive action to stop the declining water quality trends, and to clean up our rivers.”

Mrs Surendran said Invercargill voters want fresh vision and a balance of women and men in leadership.

Mrs Surendran stood in the 2016 Invercargill City Council elections with a vision of “inspiring, innovative, resilient community”. She received 5058 votes, missing out on a seat on Council by 1097 votes.

She says the election result was positive. “Invercargill residents elected more female councillors and had one of the highest voter turn-outs in NZ. Our community is politically engaged.”

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