School students demand answers at Māngere 'meet the candidates’ forum

Auckland high school students were given the microphone to ask the hard questions of Māngere's local election candidates.

The youth's presence was a deliberate feature of the forum to give them a voice at the event.

Manuia Fox-Romia, head girl for Māngere College, challenged candidates on the disconnect between council and communities.

“A big issue within governance as a whole is a big disconnect between on-the-ground communities and big council decisions that affect those communities.

"What will you do to ensure accountability and bridge that gap and ensure people on the ground have a say and are informed of the decisions that affect them the most?” she asked.

Manuia told Local Democracy Reporting that young people are going to bear the consequences of the decision makers today.

"Real change happens when you prep students early and give them that political knowledge," she says.

As a Pasifika person, your existence is political. The town centre we’re standing in, it’s political. The fact that the roof, there’s no roof, like, that’s political.”

Her schoolmate, Safa Mustafa, stressed accessibility. “Events like this should be accessible to everyone, not only through social media but in places where everyone else are also involved.”

Some of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board candidates with community members and students, joined by Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli and mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni. Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

Housing and poverty issues

Community advocate Agnes Magele, coordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty, pressed candidates on housing and poverty.

She welcomed more Pasifika and Māori standing but said she was not satisfied with the answers.

“For someone like myself, who’s really passionate about the issues we’ve been seeing for years - poverty, housing issues, rising costs of living - I believe the local board has a huge part to play. They should be a voice for us on the ground and fling that back to the government.”

Magele linked low Pasifika voter turnout to survival pressures, with families working multiple jobs leaving little time for politics. s

Some of the Manukau ward councillor candidates who took part in the Māngere forum,, including incumbents Alf Filipaina and Lotu Fuli. Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

“People talk up a big game, but don’t deliver… our trust has been broken too many times over the last four decades."

Candidate responses

Incumbent Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli said underserved communities needed strong advocates.

“Our communities remain underserved, and so we need really strong voices at that decision-making table.

"People like [candidate Alf Filipaina] and myself … will not back down when we are faced with huge pressure from multi-millionaires sitting around that table.”

Community members filled the Māngere Town Centre for the Meet the Candidates event. Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

First-time candidate Vicky Hau, manager of the Māngere Town Centre, said youth spaces were urgent.

“We do not have a youth hub… that is one of the initiatives that I would like to roll out and ideally for it to sit here somewhere in our town centre.”

Others focused on jobs and leadership, and calls for greater employment and career pathways for rangatahi.

Local business owner Swanie Nelson highlighted Māori representation was missing.

“It’s crazy to me that we don’t have a Māori representative currently on our local board… The first thing you can do is vote Māori back into these positions… What’s good for Māori is good for all.”

Community-led focus

The event, held on Saturday 6 September at the Māngere town centre, was co-organised by 275 Times managing editor Jo Latif, who said the goal was to make politics accessible.

“We have a really low voter turnout for Māngere historically. The point of today’s event was to show people who is standing. So when the papers arrive in their letterbox, they’ll be like, oh, I know these people, I’ve seen them talk.”

Latif said including students was deliberate.

275 Times managing editor Jo Latif and Justin Latif, organisers of the Māngere candidates’ forum.Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

“It’s important for young people because they are our future leaders. They are the ones facing the decisions of today’s leaders… they are going to be growing up in this community with their families and living the reality. So what better people to speak up and have a say now.”

Cadell Armstrong, a year 13 student at De La Salle College said it gave rangatahi confidence.

“It was really beneficial just to see who the candidates were and get that local community engagement. It gives us a basis for the vote, there’s no point in being able to vote if we don’t know who and what we’re voting for.”

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board member Te’o Harry Fatu Toleafoa, centre, with De La Salle College students including Cadell Armstrong, right. Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

The forum included a heckler pressing candidates on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but the discussion largely focused on housing, employment, youth, the cost of living and accountability – issues raised by both students and community members.

Speakers urged the community to vote. Voting opens on Tuesday, 9 September.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air