Papakura Election: Labour candidate says cost-of-living is driving a major push for change

Labour Party candidate Anahila Kanongata’a says her push to win back Papakura is driven less by politics and more by what she is seeing in local homes and communities.

For the former Labour MP, the issue is not only winning votes in this year’s general election. It is getting people to turn up at all.

The seat is historically a safe National stronghold but the retirement of long-serving National MP Judith Collins has thrown the race wide open.

Kanongata'a, who previously served as a list MP from 2017 to 2023, wants to turn the electorate red by re-engaging voters who stayed home during the last election cycle.

Speaking with William Terite, the host of Pacific Mornings, Kanongata'a says this year’s election is not about National or Labour, but about showing people why their vote matters.

“So in this year's election I'm asking Papakura, particularly the Labour voter who didn't turn up to vote in 2023, to please come out and vote. And not only that, but bring your household with you to vote.”

Watch Anahila Kanongata’a’s full interview below.

Data from the 2023 Census found the proportion of residents identifying with a European ethnicity has decreased to 36.7 percent.

The remaining population is primarily composed of Asian ethnicities at 34.2 percent, a substantial 83.2 percent increase since 2018, followed by Māori at 24.6 percent, Pacific Peoples at 20.5 percent, and Middle Eastern, Latin American, and/or African (MELAA) groups at 1.7 percent.

Papakura is also a notably young community with a median age of 32.0 years, where nearly one in four residents (23.7 percent) is under the age of 15.

Considering this, Kanongata’a says the policies her party champions, such as a $20 cap on public transport and free doctor's visits, will positively affect local households, especially young families.

One of Labour’s early promises is that they will cap weekly public transport fares at $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and at $10 everywhere else in the country. Once a person hits their cap, the rest of their trips that week are free. Photo/Auckland Transport

She also strongly advocates for the preservation of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, which currently faces potential restructuring and spending cuts.

Born in Tonga, Kanongata'a moved to New Zealand in 1980 at age 10. She worked as a social worker and later as a manager at the Department of Social Welfare. Kanongata’a’s political journey began when she joined the Labour Party in 2008, inspired by her mother who was a union delegate.

After losing her seat during the 2023 Labour electoral defeat, Kanongata'a, now a mother of three and grandmother of nine, says she is motivated to return because she sees everyday families struggling under the current coalition government.

Kanongata’a recalls when a father of four in Papakura asked her for $5 to purchase a bag of chicken frames, which are the remaining carcass of a chicken after the breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings have been removed.

“I said, ‘of course I can. I'll pay for your groceries, get some more meat, some beef, some pork’. He says, ‘no, I'm getting paid tomorrow. All I need is another bag of chicken frames for my family tonight’,” Kanongata’a says.

She says local businesses are also adapting, where local night market vendors have lowered the price of a hāngi meal from $15 to $6 to accommodate struggling households.

Anahila Kanongata’a says people are struggling to make ends meet. Photo/File

“So that's what the cost of living looks like in Papakura. I say that because people talk about people like we are numbers. I really want people in this year's election to think about longevity, as a grandmother, to think intergenerational.

Currently ranked 48 on the Labour Party list, Kanongata'a faces National Party candidate Emma Chatterson in the upcoming election scheduled on 7 November.

For more information on Anahila Kanongata’a’s campaign this Saturday, click here.