Marie Evotia Laufiso

Ki te mana whenua o tēnei rohe, Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou katoa
E kā mana, E kā reo, E kā hau e whā ~ Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou katoa
Tēnā Koe, Assalamu Alaykom, Ni Hao, Namaste, Hola, Mabuhay, Mālo Ni, Kia Orāna, Ni Sā Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Tālofa, Māuri, Halo Olageta, Halo Olgeta, Noa’ia, Mālō E Lelei, Fa’atālofa Atu

Ōtepoti-born-and-bred, I’m proud to be running to be the first female Pāsifika Mayor in Aotearoa New Zealand. With the legacy of tautua service modelled by our Parents, my siblings and I have served locally, regionally, nationally and internationally ever since we were teenagers.

In 2016, I was the first-ever Pāsifika elected member for the Green Party (national) and the DCC (local). As a Councillor, I’ve continued our Parents’ legacy of service especially love for the People Aroha ki te takata ~ while grounded in my lived experience as an on-the-dole volunteer, a flax-roots community organiser in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Locally, nationally and globally, nationally our energy-hungry growth economies continue to deplete the environment’s finite resources. The lockdowns of Covid-19 provided us with an opportunity to re-set and consider our urgent need for ecological economics. Having served as chair of the Community Services Committee, Grants Sub-Committee, Dunedin Former Refugees’ Steering Group and Social Wellbeing Advisory Group, I’ve learned that if enough of us respond to our Neighbours who are in deep crisis, humanity can shine brightly.

To benefit the wealthy few, and further deprive our current and future mokopuna generations, New Zealand has been turned into a housing market, with a few add ons, so we must all shine now.I’m running for the position of Mayor to lead the city in urgently pulling together so that we come to terms with how we will care for and support one another as we prepare for inevitable economic and environmental collapse. I want to lead as Mayor of Aotearoa’s first city with 7-Generations planning that will urgently end all forms of homelessness and invest fully and equitably in all our Babies, Children and Young People.