Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Labour's candidate for Maungakiekie, has achieved several firsts in her political career.
In October 2020, she became one of two Indian-origin candidates in almost 170 years of New Zealand's parliamentary history to win an electorate seat, overtaking National lawmaker Denise Lee after special votes were counted to win Maungakiekie by 635 votes.
Former Labour MP Gaurav Sharma was the other Indian-origin victor in the election, winning Hamilton West.
Radhakrishnan has subsequently become the first-ever Cabinet minister of Indian-origin, taking over the ethnic communities' portfolio.
Born in India and raised in Singapore, Radhakrishnan entered Parliament in 2017 as a list MP based in the Auckland electorate of Maungakiekie, which is the Māori name for One Tree Hill.
National's Lee won Maungakiekie in 2017, beating Radhakrishnan by 2157 votes.
Prior to that, Labour's Mark Gosche held the seat from 1999 to 2008 before National's Peseta Sam Lotu-liga held it from 2008 to 2017.
"That's why Maungakiekie is a marginal seat - it keeps switching sides," says Marina Hay, one of Radhakrishnan's co-campaign managers. "But we are confident with the campaigning we have done in the past few months, and the work Priyanca has done in the electorate and as a minister, we have been able to convince the voters here to vote for her again."
According to the electorate profile, Maungakiekie has higher proportions of Asian residents (32.3 percent) and Pasifika households (14.4 percent) compared to the New Zealand average. In 2018, 1 in 12 households (8.5 percent) said they had no source of heating, the ninth-highest share in general electorates.
Maungakiekie candidate Priyanca Radhakrishnan. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Radhakrishnan elaborates on the government schemes initiated in the past six years.
"Because of the pandemic, it has been a tough few years - not only for locals in Maungakiekie, but across the country," she says.
"That's why the Labour government has put in several initiatives such as scrapping the prescription fees, making public transport cheaper and helping with heating bills over winter," she says.
"I have been helping Maungakiekie families and communities access these initiatives and will continue to do so in my next term," she says. "I will also continue to advocate for crime prevention measures and improve community safety locally."
Labour has faced criticism in the electorate over its response to crime.
While out on the campaign trail, Radhakrishnan has spoken to members of the Indian community who have faced the brunt of ram raids and aggravated robberies.
"When I talk to people in retail, they share their fear with me and that's unacceptable," she says.
"That's why we have initiated measures that are intended to break the cycle, tackle the drivers of crime and stop reoffending," she says.
"The rhetoric from the right that Labour is 'kind to criminals' is absolute nonsense. Building US-styled mega-prisons can never be the answer."
She further urges voters to differentiate between campaign announcements and past experiences of a National-Act government.
"One such example is the parents' residency visa scheme," she says. "We restarted it after the last National government suspended the scheme in 2016."
Radhakrishnan also defended her government's record in preventing the exploitation of migrant workers.
"As I have often said in the past, preventing migrant workers' exploitation is an issue I am passionate about. We have put in place measures such as a dedicated 0800 number and reporting tools, the migrant exploitation protection visa and liaison support for victims of migrant exploitation," she says.
"What went wrong with the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme particularly needs to be investigated and an inquiry is already underway."
Labour candidates Priyanca Radhakrishnan and Jenny Salesa at a campaign event in Mt. Wellington, Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Meanwhile, her campaign team invites anyone who thinks Labour is not running an energetic campaign to come to Maungakiekie to join the activities.
Apart from the usual door-knocking, letterbox drops and public interactions, the campaign is focusing on "human hoarding," in which participants wave billboards at passers-by while dancing to music.
Rani Nalam, a member of Priyanca's campaign team, claims the results on election day will be very different from what polls are predicting right now.
Labour is currently polling in the mid to high 20s, pushing several MPs into dangerous territory of potentially losing their electorate seats.
"As has happened in the past, the final results might surprise a few people," she says.
Radhakrishnan repeats her assertion that the opposition will make ethnic communities "invisible" if it wins the election.
"ACT wants to de-establish (the ministry of ethnic communities) and National grossly underfunded (the office of ethnic communities, the precursor to the ministry)," she says.
"These parties don't realise our communities advocated for 20 years to have a dedicated voice at the high table of decision-making. You take that away and our communities will become invisible."
While National has not made any comment on ACT's proposal, party leader David Seymour in a recent RNZ podcast proposed to reorient public services based more on equal opportunity as opposed to ethnicity while attempting to cut government spending.
Stay up to date with Checkpoint's live election night special with Lisa Owen, Corin Dann, Jane Patterson and reporters around the country from 7pm to midnight on Saturday, running alongside live data and blogging with electorate and party vote results on RNZ's website. RNZ Asia will also be running its own live blog in Chinese.
实时更新报道， 尽在RNZ中文！ 本周六（10月14日大选日当天)下午5点起，以中文实时追踪2023年新西兰大选，各党票数、全国选情 、计票进展与最终结果，第一手资讯尽在 www.rnz.co.nz/chinese。 本周六，我们与您一同关注大选。
Then on Sunday, stay tuned for the Morning Report special from 8am to 10am, examining the results, the drama, and the changes from the night before: with polls this close, exactly who's in government will likely come down to negotiations.
