Transcript
JOSEPHINE BARTLEY: It felt very surreal. It has been something that I have been working away at for a long time now. It felt surreal but also a real honour, a real honour just to have that validation from Maungakiekie-Tamaki residents. It's just awesome.
SARA VUI-TALITU: As you say it has been a long process so what sort of preparation has led up to this moment?
JB: Well I served on the local board for 7 years, so that has helped me to learned about issues faced by the community and get to know our community. And it has all helped me to be a really effective strong governor for Auckland and advocate for Maugakiekie-Tamaki.
SV: It hasn't been a smooth ride has it, there have been a few challenges?
JB: Yeah I think with any campaign you get the negatives and the positives. And being in the public like that you do get a lot of negative comments come through which is like playground stuff. It doesn't really need to come through in something like this but then you can't control what people say.You know the criticisms that people have picked up that I am Samoan, criticisms about being Samoan, and criticisms about me being a woman and criticisms about appearance. It is very silly stuff.
SV: You are very community oriented, would you say that has played a big role in your success?
JB: I think the reason why I have won is because of our community. I haven't done a proper analysis of voter turnout, but I can tell that members of our community have voted that don't normally vote, that don't normally engage in these processes because of our relationship. Because they have seen me out in the community, which is what they have said to me, and cos they can see what I have done in my time on the board and in the community and they want to support that. I think that is really humbling to see that , people want to support what I do in the community and they want to support it so much they will find the voting papers, they will tick the box and they will take it down to their local library.
SV: So what do you hope to achieve in your term, from when you are sworn in this week?
JB: I want to make sure that Maugakiekie-Tamaki is ready for the growth that's going to happen here and already happening here and also looking at addressing and taking concerns at a local level and looking at it from a regional level as well because what we experience here we are experiencing as Auckland. Such as water quality now that is a major issue and we can't deal with it at a local level we need a regional response to it. I am really keen to work on addressing water quality issues at that regional level. Homelessness. You see people in the city but then you also have a problem with homelessness in Maugakiekie Tamaki and in other suburbs I am sure so we are really keen to look at how we can look at that regionally and locally. Transport is a big issue - we have just had that East-West link cancelled over in Onehunga but we still need to address the congestion issues there and the trucks sitting in traffic, and the loss of money to business and to our community because of the congestion that's happening over there so we have got some major issues to deal with. Those are just some of the things I want to really get involved in at a regional level.
SV: For people in Samoa, what are your family villages?
JB: My father's village is from Tapatapao and my mother's village is Singamoga and so those are the villages that I affiliate to back in Samoa so when I go back there I always stay there either in Sinamoga or Tapatapao. But I think that if you do trace further back, my family can be traced back to Savaii.
SV: And you also have an Asian connection?
JB: Yes I have. My great grandfather if Chinese from Canton and he moved over to Samoa to work as a tailor for the police.
