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GO ALLIANCE PARTY !
PRESS RELEASE
First Tongan MP on the Cards
Finau Kolo, Alliance Candidate for Mangere, has been placed within striking distance of a seat in Parliament with the announcement of his elevation to No.17 on the Alliance Party List.
Heeding calls from leaders of the Pacific Island community for more effective representation at national level, the Alliance Party has promoted Tongan social researcher Finau Kolo from No. 31 to No.17 on its Party list.
With the Alliance confidently aiming for 20% of the party vote, Finau Kolo is assured of becoming the first Tongan member of the New Zealand Parliament after the General Election on November 27.
The Alliance campaign for the party vote looks to be boosted by Pacific Islands votes with the placement of Finau Kolo at no. 17 to secure the first Alliance Pacific Islander a parliamentary seat. Both Labour and National have sitting MPs from the Samoan community.
" The Pacific Islands community had always wanted more MPs representative of the diversity within its community. They will understand that this is the turn of the Tongan community. They are in fact voting sentimentally and will give their party votes to the Alliance in order to get their Tongan brother into Parliament. The experiment of the last fifteen years had been a real disaster for ordinary New Zealanders and the working people, which include more than ninety percent of the Pacific Islands workforce. National new right economic policies had driven Pacific Islands people to the edge. They continued to live in poverty, substandard housing, unskilled, unhealthy and without jobs. The Alliance economic development policy will create more jobs and employment for those who are jobless and therefore cannot afford a reasonable standard of living." said Finau Kolo, the Alliance Mangere candidate.
Christopher Simmons
Media Officer
Mangere Alliance Campaign Team
This is one of many fascinating stories that the Tongan community in New Zealand will be watching with great interest. I think it is safe to say that this is a possible success story and one of many success stories of the Class of '69.
T H E K I N G D O M O F TONGA
WEBMASTER Copyright: Loseli Hafoka 1999.