Press release
For Immediate Release

Record turnout for Young Labour
Wednesday, 18 April 2007

Over 70 young people gathered at Parliament last weekend for the annual Young Labour conference of the Labour Party.

This was the largest conference in over 25 years, following the largest turn out at a Labour Party conference last year.

Young Labour President Meg Bates said of the impressive delegation: "It is
obvious Labour remains the party of choice for young New Zealanders. It's also clear from our increasing membership that young people are choosing to get involved in the Labour Party to make a positive contribution to our society."

"It isn't just the youth sector that is increasing in membership and
activity, the Labour Party as a whole is growing across the country,
despite being three terms into government. This bodes very well for the
2008 general election", Ms Bates said.

Among the issues debated at the conference was the challenge of climate
change. The conference was organised around a "carbon neutral" theme, with delegates accounting for their carbon usage as they travelled to and from Wellington. The total carbon usage, calculated at around 3.3 tonnes, will be offset by Young Labour members planting native trees in various native restoration projects around the country.

"Helen Clark set a challenge for New Zealand last year to become the
world's first carbon neutral nation. This is a goal that Young Labour
shares unreservedly. We proudly stand with her as we strive to meet this
goal, and our members plan to get active at a community level to help
the government achieve this."

The conference elected a new executive to lead the sector into the next
year:

President Meg Bates
Vice President Sonny Thomas
Maori Vice President Kapu Waretini
Secretary David Do
International Secretary Eric Goddard

Treasurer Glenn Riddell
New Zealand Council Tony Milne
Policy Council Rep James Kennelly
Communications Peter Wilson
Rangatahi Recruitment Kieran Brown
Maori Liaison Amelia Dalley
Pacific Island Rep Leah Rees
Women's Rep Sophia Blair
Rainbow Rep Jordan King
Affiliates Rep Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
Auckland/Northland Rep Rochelle Rees
Auckland/Northland Rep Stephen Cooper
Waikato Georgia Farrell-Summers
Central North Island Julia Haydon Carr
Wellington Rep Rita Lowe
Northern South Island Holly Griffin
Southern South Island Ashley Murchison
Immediate Past President James Coyle

ENDS

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