RAM candidates
September-October 2007 local body elections
AUCKLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL
Franklin-Papakura Electorate
KIM MYHILL
Being a qualified social worker, I’ve got almost 20 years practical
experience in helping people to help themselves. RAM’s emphasis on
community self-help is deeply appealing. I live with my family on a
three-acre block in Franklin where we grow organic crops. RAM wants
to bring our “food bowls” closer to urban areas by reducing the council
rates of working farmers. We also want to gi ve much-needed rate cuts
to homeowners by making Corporate Auckland pay its way. As
someone who has dealt with the tragedies of family violence, I know a
lot of social problems flow from financial pressures. Families struggling
to pay their bills will be greatly assisted by RAM’s push to cut home
rates. They will also benefit from RAM’s campaign for free and frequent public transport in
built-up areas. The funding would come by shifting government money from motorway
construction.
Manukau City Electorate
ROGER FOWLER
During my 30 years in Manukau City I have been immersed in
community work, including adult learning, child care and citizen’s
advocacy. In 1999 I was awarded the QSM for community service. As
the foundation manager of Mangere East Community Learning
Centre, I help grassroots people to get ahead. This is also what RAM
stands for. RAM wants to lower the council rates of homeowners. The
cost will be met by ending the freeloading of Corporate Auckland,
who don’t get billed for all the services they consume. RAM is
promoting free and frequent buses and trains. That too will boost
family finances while reducing the car exhaust fumes fueling global
warming. Despite RAM’s opposition, the regional council voted to turn Pikes Point into a
used car park. That means we face losing our last public green space on the Upper Manukau
Harbour. Vote RAM to stop this eco-vandalism.
ROBYN HUGHES
My role as a sitting regional councillor has been enhanced by the
skills I have learned as a senior healthcare manager. Among my
tertiary qualifications is a Diploma for Graduates in Community and
Family Studies (Social Work). I support the massive contributions
made by Manukau City’s different communities, unions and religions.
One of RAM’s key planks is social inclusion. We all belong here.
RAM recently took the lead in defending our law-abiding Muslim
sisters and brothers from racist attacks. From inside the regional
council, I am promoting RAM’s campaign for free and frequent
public transport. Fare-free buses and trains will put more money into
the pockets of our people while allowing them to travel about more quickly. It can easily be
funded by diverting a portion of state cash away from road building. It’s the way to go! So
vote more RAM people onto council!
GRANT MORGAN
As the RAM organiser, I stand with the people. My 20 years as a fulltime grassroots organiser includes a successful campaign to compel
the government to reduce state house rents, a huge benefit to lowincome people in Manukau City. Recently I co-organised Voices of
Peace meetings as a positive alternative to the hate campaign against
our peaceful Muslim community. RAM will always stand tall to
protect all our communities from unjust attacks. RAM is advocating
free and frequent public transport funded by government money.
Less cars means less global warming which threatens Pacific Islands
and our own shores with rising seas. RAM will cut home rates by
making big business pay their way. We must save our park on the Upper Manukau Harbour
from being turned into a used car yard. If you believe these things serve our people and
planet, vote RAM all the way.
Waitakere City Electorate
PETER HUGHES
I have a history of standing up for the people. I headed the State
Housing Action Coalition during nine years of campaigning in the
1990s. This led to the government abolishing market rents for lowincome state tenants, a huge gain for our most vulnerable people.
Now, RAM wants to help homeowners struggling to afford rates
which are artificially high because of a de facto subsidy to Corporate
Auckland. RAM will reverse this injustice. Years of working on the
London Underground gave me a wealth of practical experience about
what an integrated public transport system should look like. The
RAM Plan for free and frequent public transport is bold yet realistic.
We must get cars off the road to slash the carbon emissions causing global warming. The
money is already there in the roading fund, but the political will to act is lacking. Vote RAM
and make it happen!
Auckland City Electorate
BRONWEN BEECHEY
RAM offers a positive alternative to Corporate Auckland’s drive to
tighten their grip on local government. They want control over
community assets to be taken from publicly elected councillors and
given to unelected business executives. The net result for grassroots
people would be higher charges and weaker democracy. RAM is
committed to an expansion of democratic control over local body
assets. The RAM Plan for free and frequent public transport can
liberate our region from traffic gridlock while slashing the carbon
emissions fueling global warming. Funding for fare-free buses and
trains must come from the government’s roading fund. Auckland
already has more tarseal per person than any comparable city in the world. As for me, I’m an
occupational safety & health co-ordinator with a long history of service to the peace,
women’s, anti-racist and union movements. A vote for RAM is a vote for the people!
HEATHER CAROLAN-LYALL
As a social worker caring for children and teenagers at risk, I see daily
the problems that low incomes make worse. RAM’s strategy of people
before profits makes good sense. Hard-pressed homeowners need
reductions in their council rates. The money should come from making
Corporate Auckland pay its way, which simply isn’t happening at
present. I am currently involved in union and community campaigns
to improve the lot of Auckland’s working poor, whose numbers are
growing rapidly. RAM councillors will see it as their moral duty to get
involved in grassroots campaigns to improve the position of workers,
students, the retired, homemakers and other people who feel ignored
and powerless. RAM’s free public transport, financed by government cash, is critical to
creating a human and green urban environment. It will also deliver significant economic
benefits to residents. I will be the people’s champion on the regional council!
AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL
Avondale-Roskill Ward
VALERIE ALEXANDER-VUI
As a practicing lawyer, I have been admitted to the NZ High Court
after completing three university degrees (in history and law). I was
born and raised in Auckland City, and remain active in local Pasifika
and Church communities. My involvement with RAM, which goes
back some years, was sparked by our shared commitment to serving
the people. Too often, ordinary people have been hurt by local
government policies that serve only corporate interests. I support
RAM’s policy of lowering homeowner rates by making Corporate
Auckland pay its way. And we must protect all our communities from
racist abuse and other injustices. I am proud that, over recent months, RAM has taken the
lead in defending peaceful New Zealand Muslims from messages of hate. We do not want
communal hatreds festering in this country which lead only to violence. Our cause must be
peace, democracy and justice.
MOHAMMAD TAUQIR KHAN
Being awarded the Queens Service Medal in 1998 was a recognition
that immigrants like myself contribute much to our adopted country. I
have long been involved with Indian and Pakistani service
organisations in New Zealand. You may have heard my show on
Radio Tirana, Auckland’s main Indian station. I manage a travel
agency in Mt Roskill and have belonged to the NZ Institute of Travel
& Tourism for 20 years. I have also been a postgraduate member of
the Australian Institute of Management since 1983. RAM’s campaign
for free and frequent public transport will reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from cars, thereby helping to save our human habitat from
the serious threat of global warming. As a Justice of the Peace and a school trustee, I strongly
support RAM’s policy of social inclusion for all people in this country, regardless of
occupation, ethnicity or religion. RAM stands for social justice.
Tamaki-Maungakiekie Ward
RACHEL ASHER
As a qualified social worker supporting the victims of family violence,
every day I see the growing pressures which are hurting so many of our
families. I joined RAM some time ago because of the urgent need to
create a more humane city. RAM’s campaign for free and frequent
public transport across built-up areas will liberate people from private
car dependency, which is a financial burden on modest income people.
Let’s move that burden to the public purse where it belongs. And if our
children and grandchildren are to escape climate chaos, greenhouse gas
emissions from cars must be slashed. I am dedicated to the needs of
ordinary people who have been forgotten by the market. RAM will
lower homeowner rates by making Corporate Auckland pay its way. A vote for RAM is a
vote for people before profits. RAM expresses the values of diversity, democracy and justice.
ELLIOTT BLADE
A wide range of jobs, including dairy farming, snake catching and
waterfront work, has grounded me in the realities of ordinary people’s
lives. I’m now completing a university science degree. Being an
executive member of Greens on Campus, I applaud RAM’s campaign
for free and frequent public transport as a key measure to counter
global warming. This fundamental shift in transportation policy, says
RAM, must be funded by diverting state cash from road building to
buses and trains. Fare-free public transport would deliver a real
economic benefit to working people in Tamaki-Maungakiekie. As a
keen swimmer and rugby player, I understand the value of public
recreational facilities. So I’m right behind RAM in demanding that the regional council
reverse its vote to turn Pikes Point into a giant used car lot. We must save this last green
space on the Upper Manukau Harbour.
Western Bays Ward
GERALDENE PETERS
I have drawn on my skills as a media studies lecturer at AUT
University to help the growth of grassroots media in Aotearoa/New
Zealand. This has included involvement with the foundation of
Aotearoa Indymedia in 2000 and with a collective organising
community documentary projects and public film screenings. I am
affiliated to WIFT (Women in Film & Television) and SDGNZ
(Screen Directors Guild of NZ). I participated in citizen’s
mobilisations against the Iraq war. My community and media activism
fits well with RAM’s ethos of popular democracy. Local body
governance shouldn’t be dominated by Corporate Auckland simply
because of its wealth. It takes the collective effort of people to create
a truly human eco-city. Important steps along the way will be RAM’s state-funded, fare-free
public transport and homeowner rate reductions. In the spaces between I will have fun with
whanau, friends and an iramutu named Ke’arn!
Eden-Albert Ward
DAPHNE LAWLESS
As a RAM candidate, I stand for equal rights for all. Recently I
assisted RAM’s campaign to defend local Muslims from racist attacks
by right-wing extremists. Back in my university student days I helped
organise the UniQ club for gays and lesbians. After receiving a PhD in
literature, I became a university librarian and was elected as the staff
union representative. In 2004 the Postgraduate Students Association
voted me “Best Librarian”. I’m currently helping to unionise low-paid
workers as well as generate political action against global warming.
The RAM Plan for free and frequent public transport is a bold yet
realistic antidote to climate chaos. It shows that RAM has the political
backbone to tackle climate change, which is probably the biggest
threat to humanity’s survival. I am also a recorded singer/songwriter and edit the quarterly
journal “UNITY”, Aotearoa’s premier socialist publication.
Mt Roskill Community Board
OLIVER WOODS
In addition to speaking English and Spanish, I have a basic knowledge
of Mandarin, Cantonese, Sanskrit and Arabic. My language skills,
along with my involvement in multi-cultural activities like the NZChina Friendship Society, tie in well with RAM’s support for different
ethnic and faith communities across Greater Auckland. RAM has
taken the lead in standing up against racist attacks on peaceful
followers of the Islamic religion in New Zealand. I was proud to chair
RAM’s large Voices of Peace meeting at Auckland University in July
which lifted the profile and mana of our local Muslim community. As
an elected member of the university’s student association, I bring
youthful energy to RAM’s commitment to social justice. The RAM
Plan for free and frequent public transport will bring economic benefits to Mt Roskill
residents while showing the world how to tackle global warming.
Avondale Community Board
SAM QUAYLE
I believe the only way to solve social problems is by the community
themselves through flaxroots organisation and leadership. This is
what drew me to RAM. I’m deeply involved in my Ngati Paoa marae
community and very proud of our Maori heritage. I’m also proud of
the way RAM stands up for all people living in our community, no
matter what their country of origin or their cultural and religious
practices. I’m a modest-income worker whose occupations have
included screen printing, food processing, plastics manufacture,
furniture making and organic gardening. The RAM Plan for free and
frequent public transport will be of huge monetary benefit to
modest-income workers like me while helping to save our planet from global warming. We
need to change the way council rates are levied so that homeowners pay less and
corporations pay more. That’s what RAM wants, and I back it 100%.
Tamaki Community Board
SHAUN KEARNEY
As director of a small security company, I see the problems of crime
in our region. So much criminal behaviour stems from the interlinked
factors of low incomes and community breakdown. RAM is
addressing both these factors. By making big business pay its way, we
will reduce the council rates of home-owning families. Another way
RAM will lift the bank balance of grassroots people is by making
public transport free and frequent. These economic benefits for lowto-middle income families will be enhanced by RAM’s commitment
to community self-empowerment. By putting people before profit, we
will nourish the soul of grassroots communities. I have witnessed the
need for organisations like Presbyterian Support, so I know the community’s need for a
strong advocate. I am well into a combined law and philosophy degree at Auckland
University. I totally support RAM’s philosophy of social justice and popular democracy.
ANDREW WILSON
Having lived in this area all my life, I will use the vigour of youth to
advance the interests of local people. My friendly and approachable
manner fits well with RAM’s campaign for inclusive communities
free from racism and other unjust social divisions. I was part of
RAM’s recent Voices of Peace initiative which successfully defended
New Zealand’s peaceful Muslims from hate attacks. During my time
at university I was a representative of other language students,
gaining skills in community representation which will be useful on
the Tamaki Community Board. Involvement in organised sports,
cultural events and social justice issues brings me into contact with a
wide range of grassroots folk. They say that rising council rates is a huge problem for Tamaki
homeowners. I am right behind RAM’s plan to slash home rates by making Corporate
Auckland pay its way at long last.
Eden-Albert Community Board
RAFE COPELAND
I want to see the gap between the grassroots public and those in power
disappear. Keeping you informed and involved in the decision-making
process is one of my key priorities. RAM’s commitment to social
inclusion meshes with my strong belief in a multicultural society.
Standing up against the preachers of hate, as RAM has been doing to
protect our law-abiding Muslim citizens, is critical in stopping any
outbreaks of inter-communal conflict. I am a web designer and a
university student (philosophy and politics). My youth will be an asset
for the Eden-Albert Community Board. I can inject energy and
idealism. I have some knowledge of the Japanese and German
languages, which would be useful in our increasingly diverse
community. I pledge to do my very best for Eden-Albert residents, including helping RAM
promote its visionary campaign for free and frequent buses and trains.
LEE WONG
Having travelled and studied in places as diverse as Scotland and Saudi
Arabia, I have experienced many different cultures firsthand. It has
made me more open-minded about other peoples and the way they do
things. I have seen that, although we may do things differently, we all
share the same fundamental goal of building a harmonious life and
society for ourselves. I believe the cross-community unity that RAM
emphasises is so important in our multicultural society. With humanity
facing the perils of climate change, people must be enticed out of their
carbon-polluting cars. RAM says the way to go is to make public
transport free and frequent. The money to fund fare-free buses and
trains is already available, but is currently being wasted on building roads to the next traffic
jam. Let’s get real! Let’s unite around the RAM Plan for eco-sanity.
DISTRICT HEALTH BOARDS
Counties-Manukau District Health Board
ROBYN HUGHES
Did you know that plans are well advanced to build a private hospital
on the grounds of our public health clinics at Manukau? RAM
believes this sets a bad precedent which will undermine our free
public hospitals unless it is stopped. RAM will do everything in our
power to keep public hospitals public. As both a sitting regional
councillor and a hospital service manager, I have the background
experience to promote closer ties between local government with the
health boards. So many council policies impact on people’s health.
Introducing free and frequent public transport, as RAM advocates,
would greatly reduce the suffering and deaths caused by vehicle
pollution and traffic accidents. My experience in senior health and
disability posts over the past 15 years points to the importance of subjecting key council
policies to a Health Impact Assessment. We need to make far more use of this potent tool.
GRANT MORGAN
Our community has high health needs linked to overcrowding, low
incomes and other social ills. RAM believes the health board should
form alliances with community groups who are tackling these social
ills, so that the causes of health problems are dealt with as well as the
results. It will take more than police intervention to roll back the
terrible epidemic of child abuse and family violence, which are closely
connected to community breakdown. Yet our health board’s Annual
Plan only mentions family violence prevention in passing, and in a
way that’s disconnected from wider social problems. We have to get
more serious about “big picture” solutions such as community
empowerment. That requires community organisers, like myself, to be elected onto the
health board. The board should be telling the government to lift the pay of health workers
and protect them from contracting out. Happy staff make a good hospital.
JANICE T. ROBERTS
Ko Tainui te Waka
Ko Oruarangi te Awa
Ko Manukau te Moana
Ko Puketapapa te Maunga
Ko Makaurau te Marae
Ko Waikato te Iwi
Ko Wai o Hua ki Te Ahiwaru te Hapu
Ko Janice Tangiroimata Roberts ahau.
I was brought up at Ihumatoa Pa in Mangere, and that’s the region
where I’ve stayed. I’m the current chair of Makaurau Marae, and have
strong links to several sports clubs. At present I’m based at Middlemore Hospital as a line
manager of medical social workers. Previously I have worked in the areas of child protection
and elderly care. Drawing on my connections to the flaxroots, I believe our healthcare
resources should be more under the control of our communities, including marae. I stand
with RAM in opposing a private hospital being built on the grounds of our public health
clinics at Manukau campus. Let’s keep the public in public healthcare.
Auckland District Health Board
RACHEL ASHER
I’m a qualified social worker employed by Preventing Violence in the
Home, a non-government agency specialising in the safety and wellbeing of victims of family violence. I’m a hospital advocate and
respond to high-risk family violence referrals throughout the Auckland
District Health Board area. As a RAM candidate, I see the importance
of narrowing the gap between community needs and health boards. The
mark of a civilised society is how its most vulnerable members are
treated, and our public health service is one of those vital pillars.
Family violence is symptomatic of an unwell society, and more people
are realising its solution starts with an integrated community and
health response. Aucklanders can be sure that I will be their dedicated and visionary
advocate on the health board, with feet planted firmly in the community and with extensive
clinical experience at the health coalface to draw from.
BRONWEN BEECHEY
As an occupational safety & health coordinator, as well as a longtime
union campaigner, I have a proven commitment to improving the
health status of people who often suffer simply because they don’t have
lots of money to buy private health care and live the “good life”. I
question why nobody in authority took responsibility for the debacle
over the lab testing contract, yet the salaries of top health executives
are going up while hospital cleaners and kitchen staff cannot escape the
poverty trap. We’re losing experienced nurses and other health care
professionals to other countries where pay and conditions are better.
There aren’t enough midwives to provide quality services to pregnant
women. Many of the priorities of health institutions and political elites are out of kilter with
people’s needs. RAM is fielding a team of candidates across the region’s three health boards
with a view to humanising these priorities.
HEATHER CAROLAN-LYALL
In my occupation as a social worker caring for kids at risk, the close
linkage between health problems and social problems is glaring. I
believe the health board needs to play a more up-front role in
helping communities to solve social problems before they turn into
health problems. To do this, the health board needs to act as the
social partner of a wide range of community groups, which means
forming relationships based on the principles of equality, respect and
self-empowerment. If these principles were being put into practice,
community feedback would have prevented the health board’s lab
contract disaster from happening. We need to rescue the governance
of our health care service from a narrow institutional mindset. We need a health board that
puts community health needs and health sector staff ahead of ministerial edicts and
corporate pressures. It’s time to care!
LEN PARKER
Helping organise the successful campaign to reverse market rents for
low-income state tenants showed me that overcrowding and poverty
impact badly on people’s health. We are now seeing an increase in
meningitis, TB, asthma and other diseases linked to housing
problems. RAM’s policy of lowering the council rates of homeowners
will have a beneficial flow-on into improved community health
outcomes. This shows the importance of having community
organisers such as myself elected onto health boards so that wider
health determinants can be better addressed. As a senior, I’m
particularly conscious of the health needs of older people. We must
always defend the principles of a free, quality, public health service against the profiteering
instincts of market forces. That includes supporting the campaigns of health workers for pay
rises and better conditions that improve their quality of life. Let’s help our health workers to
care for the sick.
Waitemata District Health Board
PETER HUGHES
It’s outrageous that in New Zealand today there aren’t enough
midwives to provide the proper level of service to all pregnant
women. That single fact denotes a public health system in deep
trouble, despite sterling work by our health professionals. While more
government funding is certainly needed for our health services and
for the workers providing the care, that’s not sufficient on its own.
RAM believes another factor is just as important: We must bring our
communities more closely into the strategic direction of health
services. This is a governance issue which requires responsive,
transparent and democratic leadership from the health board. The
board should, for instance, be liaising with community groups to ensure Health Impact
Assessments are done on all important council policies. The benefits to community health
flowing from RAM cutting home rates needs to be quantified. Such a holistic approach to
health is the way forward.