Auckland local body election rivals unite against racism

Candidates contesting a local body election in Papatoetoe want ethnicity left out of the race as they vie for one of the four seats that are up for grabs.

A Manukau District Court judge in December voided the outcome of the 2025 vote for the Papatoetoe subdivision that forms part of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.

The ruling came after irregularities were found on some ballot papers.

The decision has since been challenged in the Auckland High Court, with the winning candidates of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team - Kunal Bhalla, Sandeep Saini, Paramjeet Singh and Kushma Nair - filing a petition for a judicial review.

High Court Justice Jane Anderson reserved her decision last week, calling it a "tricky, conceptual, intellectual exercise" and promising to deliver a judgement as quickly as possible.

On the campaign trail over the weekend, Bhalla said the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team had not been implicated in any electoral wrongdoing.

"It is important to emphasise that the honourable District Court did not make any findings of wrongdoing against the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team or any of its candidates," Bhalla said.

"[But] after the decision, not only us but the entire Indian community has been targeted with racially motivated commentary."

Kunal Bhalla is a Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team candidate for the local body election. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

Rejecting allegations of electoral fraud, Paramjeet Singh took exception to language "defaming the entire South Asian community [used] by some vested interests who don't like immigrants".

"If I did something wrong - which I categorically say we didn't - punish me," he said. "Why are you calling my entire community a criminal?"

The Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team found unlikely support from the other side of the political spectrum, with all four Labour-affiliated candidates echoing a similar sentiment.

Three-term Labour MP Ashraf Choudhary, who has been a local board member since 2016, refuted the targeting of a particular ethnicity.

"People need to understand what happened here," Choudhary said.

Ashraf Choudhary is a former MP and a Labour candidate for the local body election in Papatoetoe. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

"When we got to know something wrong had happened, we went to the court," he said. "The other party there - the defendant party - was Election Services ... not other candidates.

"Later when the [District] Court found some evidence of fraud, it ordered a new election. That judgement [had] nothing to do with ethnicity and should be seen as such.

"I completely refute the racially targeting of one particular ethnicity with allegations of fraud.

"Even in our team ... three of us are from South Asian background," added the former lawmaker who immigrated from Pakistan decades ago, referring to teammates Raj Pardeep Singh and Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal, both of whom are of Indian origin.

Labour candidates (from left) Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal, Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, Raj Pardeep Singh and Ashraf Choudhary Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

Former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board member Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, who filed the petition in the Manukau District Court, is the fourth member of the Labour ticket.

"As a New Zealand-born Tongan, I completely identify with what is happening with the Indian community after the District Court judgement," Hausia said.

"The actions of a few, which undermined our democracy, is not a reflection of an entire community. Efforts to do so are unfortunate and condemnable."

Raj Pardeep Singh is a Labour candidate for the local body election in Papatoetoe. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

South Auckland-based criminal lawyer Raj Pardeep Singh said the misinformation contradicted progress the community had made over the years.

"Indians have been part of New Zealand growth story over three, four generations now, and we have constantly punched above our weight," he said.

"In terms of owning small and medium-sized businesses to support the country's economy and generate employment, the Indian community's contribution in New Zealand is immense I would say."

There was general agreement among the candidates that the Indian community lacked political representation, which had previously caused issues relevant to the community to be ignored.

"The situation is even more dire if you look at ethnic women representation in the local government," Dhaliwal said. "This is why I have put my hand up to contest the local board elections."

Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal is a Labour candidate for the local body election in Papatoetoe. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

If elected, she wanted council and government information to be disseminated in major ethnic languages.

"I have been a social worker volunteering at the local gurdwara," she said.

"In my experience, a lack of awareness due to language barriers is a big drawback ethnic women face here."

Putting the debate over ethnicity to one side, it's hard to differentiate between the campaigns run by the trio of four-member teams contesting the Papatoetoe election.

"Everyone wants a safe, clean and prosperous town," said Peter Dons, who is running under the Independently Papatoetoe ticket with former local board member Albert Lim, Chris Webb and Weakley Alison.

"So we are campaigning on the usual things - transport hub connections, fixing potholes, more CCTV for better security, as well as keeping libraries open and municipal pools free."

Sandeep Saini is a Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team candidate for the local body election. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

Saini of Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team said other concerns in the electorate included illegal dumping and roaming dogs.

"Papatoetoe has seen an increase in homelessness in recent years, which has caused problems of mental health and drug abuse," Saini said. "If we get elected to the local board again, we will focus on these issues."

Nair, an ex-banker, wanted better financial accountability of the local board finances.

"We will make sure all funding is equally divided between all subdivisions in our local board area," he said.

Kushma Nair is a Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team candidate for the local body election. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom

Hausia from the Labour team, who was deputy chair of the local board last term, said housing intensification was a hot-button issue for the community, which he noted had been adding pressure on infrastructure, including roads and parking.

"We want to plant more trees as well," Hausia said. "Papatoetoe has one of the lowest tree canopy cover in Auckland, which we need to improve."

Bhalla, who called his colleagues "a team of first timers", was determined to campaign hard over the next few weeks.

"We have amped up our efforts in terms of door knocking, attending events, mobilising the community and listening to their day-to-day concerns," he said.