He Kōwhiringa, He Mana – Your vote, your voice

A message from Liz Kelly, Te Tumu Whakarae | CEO

There’s a whakataukī I often return to: Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini - My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.

It reminds me that real change happens when people move together with purpose. That’s what local elections are about. And this year, they matter more than ever.

As a community, we spend a lot of time responding to decisions that others make, like decisions about funding, housing, education, safety, and health.

But when we vote, we shift from responding to shaping. We bring our experiences, values, and hopes to the decision-making table. That’s powerful.

At the Porirua Whānau Centre, our kaupapa is simple: we’re here to give people a hand up, not a handout. That means supporting whānau to build strength, resilience, and leadership in their own lives.

It’s why we run programmes like Mana Tāne, Mana Wāhine and Mātua Power. It’s why we invest in our community's rangatahi and parents.

We’re all about creating pathways for the community to rise together, and that’s what leads to benefits for the individual.

And leadership doesn’t only happen inside our whare. It happens in council chambers, on school boards, in health committees.

Decisions are being made in all of these spaces, ones that affect our lives. And to get our people into those spaces, we need to show up. We need to vote.

This year, three of our kaimahi are standing in the local elections. While we can’t, and won’t, tell anyone how to vote, or for which Parties or candidates to vote, we can legally support policies that align with our values and charitable purpose.

And we are justifiably proud that people from our community are stepping forward, bringing the lived experience of our mahi and our whānau into the public conversation, and taking the values nurtured here at the Whānau Centre into new spaces.

Hopefully, their deep commitment to serve and to lead – and their shared experiences and views – will be useful in helping to shape policy that will benefit our wider community.

Local government might not feel as flashy as central government, but it’s where real, tangible decisions are made every day.

Rates, roads, housing developments, sports fields, recycling, libraries: these aren’t just services. They’re the things that shape whether our tamariki grow up in a thriving, connected, and supported environment.

If we want our values reflected at the table – manaakitanga, kotahitanga, fairness, and courage – then we must be at the table. Voting is how we get there.

Ballot packs will start arriving soon. Make a plan to vote. Sit with your whānau and talk about what matters to you. Think about who reflects your values and your hopes for Porirua.

Then make sure you vote. It’s your voice, and your voice matters.