Labour’s candidates for Porirua City Council, Josh Trlin (Pāuatahanui Ward) and Geoff Hayward (Onepoto Ward), have today launched a joint local manifesto for their 2025 election campaign, focused on fairness, transparency, climate resilience and local opportunity.

Josh Trlin, a current councillor seeking re-election, said the manifesto sets out a practical and progressive path forward for Porirua City.

“We want to ramp up investment into our core infrastructure, accelerate the restoration of our harbour, and use the levers Council has to make Porirua an affordable, safe, and rewarding place to live,” Trlin said.

“The manifesto is built on what our communities have told us they care about: better public services, greener neighbourhoods, resilient infrastructure, and making our streets and villages accessible and family friendly.”

Geoff Hayward, first elected to the Onepoto Ward in 2022, said the plan reflected unfinished business that Labour-aligned councillors are committed to advancing.

“There is some important mahi already under way that we need to protect and build on. But we’re also naming some bold priorities that go beyond the status quo,” Hayward said.

Key priorities in the manifesto include:

• Completing the household waste overhaul (including general waste bins, organic waste collection and proper glass recycling);
• Championing local employment and procurement through council contracts;
• Strengthen climate action through embedding adaptation and resilience into every council project and decision;
• Balancing council’s budget to deliver sustainable rates and long-term savings;
• Standing up for vulnerable communities and keeping pressure on central government to deliver on social housing alongside Mana MP Barbara Edmonds;
• Collaborating with Labour colleagues on region-wide solutions to shared challenges like waste minimisation, climate change, and pest eradication
• Expanding Porirua’s urban tree canopy and maintaining our commitment to riparian planting by committing to planting one native plant per resident annually;
• Holding the Water Charter (Kawenata Wai) to account to protect water as a public good.

The pair say this is a values-led, solutions-focused approach to local leadership that stays true to Labour’s kaupapa of putting people first.

To mark the launch, Geoff Hayward and Josh Trlin will be holding a joint “Ask Me Anything” session online. The livestream will take place from 4.30-5.30pm via on Saturday 16 August, via the Josh Trlin for Pāuatahanui General Ward Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JoshTrlinPorirua)

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