Manukau food bank records surge in demand for food parcels
A south Auckland foodbank has seen calls for food parcels triple during the latest lockdown.
Manukau Urban Māori Authority supports Māori living in urban environments, and runs a foodbank at the Ngā Whare Waatea Marae at Calthorp Close in Favona.
Spokesperson Sarah Sparks said staff at its base were dealing with a surge in requests in south Auckland.
“We’ve had triple the number of phone calls to our 0800 number for the foodbank since we went into alert level 3,” she said.
“On average we have an allocation of 40 food parcels a day. But last week that was increased to 70 a day and we were still really stretched.”
A University of Auckland study found Māori and Pacific communities in areas such as south Auckland would be at greater risk from a second wave of Covid-19.
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By-election for Otara-Papatoetoe area
Just to let everyone know that we have another by-election happening, and here is the reason why. Below are details and dates, so keep an eye on your letter boxes.
The Manukau Court’s Ruling
The Manukau District Court determined that the Papatoetoe subdivision result of the Ōtara–Papatoetoe Local Board election was invalid, ruling that the outcome had been “materially affected” by voting irregularities. Judge Richard McIlraith found that the scale and nature of the irregularities met the legal threshold required to void an election under New Zealand’s local electoral laws.
In his decision, Judge McIlraith stated that the evidence presented — including reports of stolen voting papers, fraudulent use of ballots, and other procedural irregularities — was sufficient to conclude that the integrity of the election had been compromised. The court noted that at least 79 voting papers were identified as having been cast without the rightful voter’s knowledge during a judicially supervised examination of ballot boxes.
While the judge acknowledged that the election had been administered “properly and in accordance with all requirements” by Independent Election Services and the electoral officer, he concluded that the fraudulent activity originated outside the official process and nonetheless impacted the final result to a degree that required the election to be voided.
As a result of the ruling, the court ordered that a new election must be held, with Auckland Council confirming that the fresh poll must be completed by 9 April 2026
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