A new political force promises to challenge the status quo and promote a positive contest of ideas in Manurewa at this year’s local government election.

The Manurewa Action Team is a group of long-time residents who will contest the four Manukau City Council seats in Manurewa, as well as the six Manurewa Community Board seats, and three of the six seats on the Wiri Licensing Trust. The Manurewa Action Team is standing on a platform of renewal, a return to prudent financial stewardship, and a greater investment in Manurewa.

Launch of Manurewa Action Team – Manukau Local Government election contenders.
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Daniel Newman, a current member of the Manurewa Community Board and a founding member of the Manurewa Action Team said the Council was failing to address the needs of existing communities.

“Manurewa ratepayers are paying higher total rates now than at any other time in history. Couple the city and regional rates with water and wastewater charges, and thousands of local residents and businesses are hurting. In our view the Council is harvesting cash locally to pour into its big projects in Flat Bush.

“It has become easier to set up a pub, bar or bottle shop in Manurewa than it is to get the Council to fund pedestrian crossings outside our local schools. The Manurewa Action Team thinks we need to reprioritise what is important in our community,” Daniel Newman said.

Daniel Newman (30) will stand for Council, as well as seek re-election to the Manurewa Community Board. A policy director and former policy analyst, he gives voters the opportunity to embrace generational change, while bringing to the Council table experience in public policy and commercial property.

Joining Daniel Newman is Mote Pahulu, a long-time Hillpark resident who works as a payroll supervisor for a large aged care provider. A lay preacher who is active in the Manurewa Methodist Church, he was one of the first leaders within the Pacific community to publicly criticise convicted fraudster and former Manukau City Councillor James Papali’i. Mote Pahulu will stand for Council and the Wiri Licensing Trust.

Angela Cunningham-Marino will stand for the Manurewa Community Board. A long-time Hillpark resident, Angela Cunningham-Marino is a sworn police officer based at the Manurewa Police Station. Married to well-known fellow police officer Bill Marino, she was involved in the successful Environment Court challenge of the Auckland Regional Council’s ‘wall’ erected between Hillpark residents and the Botanic Gardens.

Wattle Cove resident Angela Dalton will stand for the Manurewa Community Board. She served as a foundation member of the Manukau Enhancement Initiative (MEI) Steering Committee, and is now a member of the Board Forum for MEI. She is also the Deputy Chair of the James Cook High School Board of Trustees. Angela has a passion for the well-being of young people. She previously served on the Weymouth Primary School Board of Trustees and co-founded the Weymouth Netball Club.

Bill Marshall, the well known electorate secretary to Manurewa MP George Hawkins, will stand for the Manurewa Community Board as well as the Wiri Licensing Trust. The former chairperson of Manurewa Neighbourhood Support, Bill Marshall has participated in anti-graffiti clean-up campaigns and previously helped broker the sponsorship of a car for the Clendon Community Constable. Iraqi New Zealander Faris Nazo will stand for the Manurewa Community Board. Faris Nazo previously worked as an advocate at the Manurewa People’s Centre. He is the current chairperson of Star of the Orient and owns a small business in Manukau City.

Phil Palfrey, the principal of Manurewa East School will stand for the Manurewa Community Board. A recipient of a Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) in the New Year Honour’s list, Phil Palfrey is the popular MC of the Manurewa Schools’ Music Festival. Among other things he is campaigning to install pedestrian crossings outside schools to assist children and young people in particular.

Clendon resident and community advocate Waina Emery will stand for the Wiri Licensing Trust. She is a member of the Clendon Community Support Group; Manukau COGs committee; and she serves as a current Director for the Wiri Sisters of Mercy Trust.

Two further Manurewa Action Team Council candidates will be announced shortly.

The Manurewa Action Team looks forward to offering voters the opportunity to vote for action to be taken for and on behalf of local residents and ratepayers. In addition to its comprehensive suite of policies, the Manurewa Action Team seeks to bring to the debate a call for generational change and a sense of urgency in resolving some of the major problems confronting Manurewa.

“We each respect the valuable work and achievements of the Council and the Manurewa Community Board. But we feel it is time for change and time for action. That is why we have agreed to respond to the hopes and expectations of so many residents and businesspeople who want change for the betterment of the Manurewa community,” Daniel Newman said.

End.

The case for the Manurewa ACTION Team

Manurewa is a town with a heart. Manurewa is home to some of the best and brightest New Zealanders. Our young people succeed at school, in sport and in cultural endeavour. Our entrepreneurs succeed in business and create jobs. Our seniors have worked hard to build our community and lay the foundations for future prosperity.

But Manurewa is not doing as well as it could be. As part of one of the largest local authority units in New Zealand, Manurewa’s ratepayers are paying millions of dollars to Manukau City Council. Yet every year, just as we pay millions of dollars in rates, our community continues to be denied vital services and infrastructure.

Over the last 12 years Manurewa has lost some of its best retailers, only be have them replaced with an every-increasing number of pubs, bars, bottle shops and gambling dens. We pay our way, but Manurewa has increasingly been overlooked in favour of other communities in Manukau City.

This must change.

The Manurewa ACTION Team is a group of local residents who share a passion for this community. Every member of the Manurewa ACTION Team is motivated to champion change, new ways of thinking, and a new burst of energy for and on behalf of local residents and businesses. No member of the Manurewa ACTION Team believes that change will happen quickly. But unless we elect new people and embrace new leadership within Council, Manurewa will slip further behind.

What you need to know about the Manurewa ACTION Team:

* Every member of the Manurewa ACTION Team is committed to a vision where Manurewa is a safe, clean, tidy and affordable town for every resident.

* Every member of the Manurewa ACTION Team not only thinks that Manurewa has more than enough liquor outlets, but also supports an overhaul of the District Plan to control the growth in the sale of liquor in our town.

* Every member of the Manurewa ACTION Team places a high premium on Council asking only as much rates as required in order to cover the cost of local government. Our team knows how hard you work for your money, and we are committed to maintaining good financial stewardship of people’s rates.

* Every member of the Manurewa ACTION Team would consider it a privilege to serve you. Our team pledged to remain accessible, accountable and transparent at all times, in part to help restore public faith and confidence in Council.

Daniel Newman JP

Candidate for Manukau City Council

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Daniel lives in Wattle Downs. He is the current chairperson of the Manurewa Community Board. He is also a member of the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club, Manurewa Historical Society, the Manurewa RSA, and Age Concern Counties/Manukau.

Daniel attends St Anne’s Catholic Church. He is also a current member of the Board of Trustees at Reremoana School. Consistent with his commitment to support community organisations, he supports the work of the Weymouth Residents and Ratepayers Association, and assists the Wattle Downs Residents and Ratepayers Association with coastal restoration projects.

Daniel has a background in public policy and finance, having worked in central and local government as well as the private sector. He appreciates the importance of hard work and deplores waste and financial mismanagement of other people’s money. Daniel is standing for Council and Community Board because he wants to crack down on the pubs, bars, bottle shops and gambling dens. He also wants to ensure that the Council pursues a fair and affordable rating system. He believes Manurewa deserves new leadership and a fresh face around the Council table.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Mote Pahulu JP

Candidate for Manukau City Council

Candidate for Wiri Licensing Trust

Mote lives in Hillpark. He works as a payroll supervisor for a major New Zealand Aged Care provider based in Manurewa. He manages a payroll team that delivers a nationwide payroll service which pays wages and salaries to in excess of 1,400 staff.

Mote is a lay preacher and a member of the Manurewa Methodist Church. He works with young people within the church community. He also ministers to prisoners at Mt Eden Prison. He preaches the importance of family, faith, respect and tolerance, and personal responsibility.

As a leader within the Tongan community, Mote speakers at many Polynesian events and addresses groups on a variety of issues such as budgeting, alcohol addiction and truancy. He has previously provided assistance to people when completing and handling documents such as sale and purchase agreements. Mote is standing as a candidate for the Manukau City Council and the Wiri Licensing Trust because he wants to offer his skills and professional experience in financial management. A team player, Mote looks forward to working in the best interests of all local residents.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Angela Cunningham-Marino

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Angela lives in Hillpark. Manurewa has been her home for 40 years. She and her husband Bill Marino both serve in the New Zealand Police. She has served in the police for 26 years and has been stationed at Manurewa for the past 9 years.

Angela has always felt that the public must be empowered about issues and decisions that affect them. She served on a resident’s committee, which successfully challenged the Auckland Regional Council’s decision to build an intrusive ‘wall’ between the Botanic Gardens and the southern motorway. When the wall went up without due consultation with affected residents, Angela joined in the successful campaign to have it removed.

Angela wants to see Manurewa become a safe place again, where residents can safely walk the streets. She is standing for the Manurewa Community Board because she has seen the constant degradation of Manurewa through wanton tagging and a substantial increase in the number of pubs and bars. She wants Manurewa to become a place where problems with our local roads are addressed through prompt Council action, and where Christmas is celebrated throughout the community.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Angela Dalton

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Angela is a Wattle Downs resident. She a senior manager for a car rental group.

Angela is the deputy chairperson of the James Cook High School Board of Trustees. She previously served as a trustee at Weymouth Primary School (for 11 years) and served as a foundation trustee on the Manurewa Enhancement Initiative. She is currently a representative on the Manurewa Enhancement Initiative Board forum. She also co-founded of the Weymouth Netball Club.

Family life has always been Angela’s top priority. Her oldest daughter Melissa teaches at The Gardens School. Her oldest son Michael is a student at AUT, and her youngest children, Craig and Laura, attend James Cook High School. Like her late grandfather, Vincent Clifton Morrin, a past borough councillor, Angela wants to serve the wider Manurewa community.

Angela cites the poor state of our local roads, property neglect, student truancy, and a general lack of community pride and respect as the main problems confronting Manurewa. She wants to see our town cleaned up, with decent retailers back in town and the pubs and pokies gone.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Bill Marshall JP

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Candidate for Wiri Licensing Trust

Bill lives in Clendon. He is the past Chairperson of the Manurewa Neighbourhood Support Group. He is also a member of the Wiri Licensing Trust. Both Bill and his wife Aurora attend St Anne’s Catholic Church. They are also well-known within the Filipino New Zealand community both in Manurewa and throughout wider Auckland.

Bill is widely recognised as the able and conscientious electorate secretary working in the Manurewa Electorate Office. For years Bill has provides professional support and advocacy on behalf of thousands of local residents and businesses. Not a week goes by when Bill doesn’t help find someone a home, resolve a benefit dispute, fix-up an accident compensation matter or resolve an immigration enquiry.

Bill is standing for the Manurewa Community Board because he wants to see the town centres in Clendon and Manurewa cleaned-up and made safe again. He is appalled by the Manukau City Council’s lack of leadership, which has meant good retailers leaving the area only to be replaced by pubs, bars, bottle shops and gaming dens.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Faris Nazo JP

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Faris lives in Alfriston. A small businessman, he and his wife Angham manage Zezenya, a popular ethnic restaurant in Botany Downs. Their eldest daughter Zena manages a popular baby-wear and accessories shop in Manurewa; their second daughter Mena is training to become a doctor; and their son Phillip is a student at Sancta Maria College.

Faris is a popular member of the Iraqi New Zealand community. He is well known throughout the community because of his work at the Manurewa People’s Centre, where he spent two years assisting families and whanau in need. Faris is involved in a number of community groups and organisations that are dedicated to improving the lives of other people.

As a first generation New Zealander, Faris feel privileged to have been given an opportunity to live in such a fantastic country. Faris is standing for the Manurewa Community Board because he believes getting civic leadership requires new and different candidates who possess different skills and life experiences. He strongly deplores graffiti and tagging and wants to support clean-up initiatives that will beautify Manurewa again.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Phil Palfrey QSM

Candidate for Manurewa Community Board

Phil lives in Alfriston. He is the popular and well-respected principal of Manurewa East School. Education is a high priority in the Palfrey home. Phil’s wife Di Palfrey is an experience primary school teacher, and his son Matthew plans to enroll to become a primary teacher in a few years.

Phil’s passion for the welfare and well-being of young people is widely recognised. In the seven years he has been at Manurewa East School, Phil has helped turn that school around. The philosophy at Manurewa East School is hard work, self respect and respect for other people. Phil dedicates much of his spare time to supporting sport and the creative arts. He has helped establish numerous softball teams. He is also the popular MC of the widely acclaimed Manurewa Schools’ Music Festival.

Phil is standing for the Manurewa Community Board because he believes Manurewa is not getting a fair go in Manukau City. As a Board member, Phil will dedicate his time to advocating for outcomes that benefit Manurewa residents and businesses as a matter of priority.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

Waina Emery

Candidate for Wiri Licensing Trust

Waina lives in Clendon. She is a highly respected local resident who has dedicated years of her life to supporting the community projects that help make Clendon and Manurewa a great place for all local residents.

Waina currently works as the Community Development Manager responsible for the Clendon Community Renewal Project, funded through Housing New Zealand. The project focuses on making Clendon a great place to live work and play. She is a member of the Clendon Community Support Group; Manukau COGs committee, and she serves as a current Director for the Wiri Sisters of Mercy Trust. She is the past executive member of the Literacy Taskforce for Manukau City; past secretary for St Anne’s Catholic Women’s League; and past secretary of James Cook High School Fundraising Steering Committee.

Waina is standing for the Wiri Licensing Trust because she wants to see that Trust governed and managed in the best interests of all communities throughout Manurewa.

When your ballot paper arrives in the post in September this year, vote for action. Vote for the entire Manurewa ACTION Team.

This document is authorised by B. Marshall: 2/54 Finlayson Avenue, Manurewa

ENDS

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