‘Show us the wins not WINZ’: Mokaraka wants Panmure-Ōtāhuhu to shed deprived label

Vision New Zealand candidate Karl Mokaraka wants voters in Panmure-Ōtāhuhu to judge their Member of Parliament on results, not promises.

Mokaraka’s message to Labour MP Jenny Salesa, who has represented the area for 12 years, is simple.

“Show us the wins, W-I-N-S, not the WINZ, W-I-N-Z,” he tells William Terite on Pacific Mornings. “Show me where we’ve improved. Show me where we’ve got the wins.”

After 12 years of community work, he says Pacific families are still being overlooked.

“We’re the forgotten people,” Mokaraka says. “I think we’re at a time now, we really need strong Pacific voices in the fray that are representing us.”

The PMN-Horizon Research Pacific Issues Election Survey found cost of living was the biggest issue for Pacific voters, with nine in 10 saying it would influence how they vote.

Watch Karl Mokaraka's full interview below.

Mokaraka says the pressure on families is clear in housing, healthcare and access to jobs.

“We haven’t been prioritised by either party. There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of rhetoric, but at the end of the day, the outcomes and the results are what matters.”

His own connection to the electorate goes back more than 70 years. His great-grandparents migrated from Sāmoa, and he also has Tongan heritage.

Ōtāhuhu in the 1960s. The South Auckland suburb has undergone major changes over the decades.. Photo/Facebook/John Newman

“I’m a very proud son of the Pacific, and I will fight,” Mokaraka says.

He says Vision New Zealand fits his values as an openly Christian, family-centred party. “Strong families create a strong nation.”

The party's policies include a proposed Ministry for Families and a $5000 Family Empowerment Grant for every child. It also wants to pause mass immigration while infrastructure, housing and hospitals catch up.

For Pacific families in Panmure-Ōtāhuhu, Mokaraka says the pressure is already being felt through competition for homes, jobs and health services.

He points to Middlemore Hospital where he says waits can reach eight or nine hours on a busy day. He experienced that himself about a month ago when he went through the emergency department for minor surgery.

“It was a real eye-opener,” he says.

From right: Karl Mokaraka with William Wilson, at Parliament for the Abuse in Care Apology. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala.

Mokaraka has built his profile by confronting politicians in public, including Labour leader Chris Hipkins in Ōtara and Housing Minister Chris Bishop over housing density.

Mokaraka says the confrontations are about getting attention for issues affecting local families, rather than creating social media content.

“I don’t go in there to be violent. I don’t go in there to get clicks,” he says.

He says his concern over housing density is that Pacific and Māori families could end up squeezed into smaller homes.

“We’re going to end up in these small little chicken coops.”

At his first Labour Party event this week, a youth panel, Mokaraka says he heard young people frustrated by politicians offering talk but little action.

Karl Mokaraka has built his profile by confronting politicians in public. Photo/RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Asked whether voters can expect more confrontations during the campaign, he says anything is possible. “I could pop up over someone’s fence.”

His campaign, he says, is ultimately about restoring hope. “I want to bring hope in the vote. Our families have lost all hope. I want to bring that back to our electorate again.”

The 2026 general election is on 7 November with advance voting starting on 26 October. Voters must be enrolled by midnight on 25 October.