Tongan women who wish to become candidates for district and town officer elections in June this year, yesterday learned from a visiting New Zealand member of parliament how they can work with the support of other women.

Manukau East Labour Party MP, Jenny Salesa held an open meeting in Nuku'alofa yesterday, Thursday, 14 April, inviting women who want to stand for election for local government and parliament.

Jenny motivated the women by sharing her experience when she started her political career and answered questions from about 30 attending.

She told the women they need strong supporters from the community they live in.

“It is hard work,” she said.

Jenny started out running for local government by going out door to door with her supporters.

“You need to have a strong support team and choose your support team wisely, because they are the people who will encourage you during challenging times,” she said.

Jenny advised women they must have a work plan. “What do you want to do? Know your area or community, know your voters, know the names of families, the church they go to, you must seek this out,” she said.

She asked the women who wish to run for district officers what do they want to do.

She said that if they are to run for office, then go in with a heart to help and “not seek the glory”.

Step one is the local government, she said.

“People don't know how much you know until they know how much you care", was a quote she shared with the attendees.

Jenny said she went into parliament with the desire to help because parliament is the place that one person can help a lot of people.

Affordable housing

With other issues, the MP told Matangi Tonga an important issue in New Zealand is access to affordable housing.

There are over 300,000 Pacific Islanders with 150,000 Samoans and just under 61,000 Tongans in New Zealand.

"The number one issue I see as a constituent MP, is housing. The lack of affordable housing, housing that people cannot rent because rent is too expensive and houses that people cannot buy because the price to buy one house in Auckland is now around $968,000 on average, so housing overall is really expensive."

She said 82 percent of all Pacific people in New Zealand either rent from government, state houses or private rentals with only 18 percent of Pacific people owning their own homes. So when rent increases, for example six-years ago to rent a three bedroom house in Otara was $230, and it's doubled today.

“It’s a big issue because people’s wages haven't doubled but the housing cost has more than doubled and the cost of living has not gone down as well as other costs."

Jenny said there are have been so many homeless people who have come to see her. People that are living in cars, vans and in garages or moving from house to house, people from all ethnicities, including Pacific, Maori, Pakeha and Indians. 

A second important issue is education.

She said when they look at education, only three out of 10 of Pacific students including Tongans go on to further education in universities.

The issue is what happens to the seven out of the 10 who don’t get higher education.

“Too many of our kids fully drop-out and do not continue with further studies, employment, entrepreneurship or training that can get them a career.

"Those are two big issues as an MP and as one of five MPs who are associated with writing policies for our party, I am looking at addressing these issues," she said.

Jenny is visiting Tonga as part of New Zealand's relief efforts to Vava‘u after it was affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston last month.

She was invited to address the meeting by Tonga’s Ministry of Internal Affairs Women's Division, as a continuance of the International Women's Day candidacy workshop to empower women, especially those running for local government.