Media Release
Monday 6 March 2006

Community votes needed to shape Manukau’s Pacific voice

Manukau City Council’s Pacific Island Advisory Committee (PIAC) elections are to be held at Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Otara on Thursday 30th March from 6pm to 9pm.

The elections, held every three years, are the opportunity for Manukau’s Pacific community to decide who is to represent them and advocate to Council on their behalf.

Established in October 1991, PIAC serves as Manukau’s Pacific voice, a dedicated, formal channel through which the Pacific community can raise issues that impact on their lives. Elected committee members then take those issues, concerns and queries up with Council.

Over the past three years PIAC has played a key role in a number of Council policies and strategies including the Youth Policy Review, Pacific Peoples Policy and Action Plan, Alcohol Policy, Gaming Venue Policy and Community Safety Strategy.

PIAC has a total of 15 members representing Samoa (3), Tonga (3), the Cook Islands (3), Niue (3), Fiji (1), Tokelau (1) plus a further representative from small pacific nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and Solomon Islands.

Voters and nominees must be of Pacific Island descent and a Manukau resident.

Mayor Sieuli Sir Barry Curtis says:

“We encourage all our Pacific Island residents to turn out and vote at the upcoming PIAC elections. This is their opportunity to make a difference in how their needs and aspirations are fed into the heart of Council policy and decision-making.”

Nominations close on 24 March. Further information and nomination forms can be obtained by calling PIAC coordinator Faama Viliamu on 262 8900 ext 8469. Alternatively, forms can be collected from Council’s citizen and customer centre or downloaded from Council’s website www.manukau.govt.nz

ENDS

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