Phil Goff –
As I leave Parliament and the role I have fulfilled for over 30 years as Member of Parliament for Mt Roskill, I want to thank the Indian Community sincerely for the strong and consistent effort I have received.
Right from the time I stood for Parliament as a 28-year-old Candidate in 1981, the Indian Community has stood with me.
It has been a privilege and an honour to have worked with the Community and shared in the important events celebrated by it.
Major Challenges
In my new role as Mayor, I have the responsibility of serving all of the one and a half million citizens we have across the City of Auckland.
It is a big job and the tasks that we face in tackling the challenges Auckland confronts, are enormous.
Traffic congestion and housing affordability have been growing as problems year after year. It will take time and an immense effort and the cooperation of central government with all the resources it has available to start to turn the issues around.
For every problem, there is however a solution and we need to make the hard decisions now to begin to correct the problems.
We cannot simply leave the issues for a future generation to resolve.
We acknowledge the problems confronting Auckland.
Positive facts
We are however fortunate to live in a great city.
We are one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and we can use our diversity to enrich our cities and not divide it.
We have a stunning environment, we enjoy the choices and opportunity which comes from living in a city of people. We need to make our city a place where talent and enterprise coexist. A city which is a centre of learning and innovation and a city which is an exciting place for people to live and to visit.
We want our city to become one of the best performing cities in the world.
Thank you again to the Indian Community for your support both for me as an MP and the strong mandate you have now given me to be Mayor of our City.
Phil Goff has been writing in Indian Newslink since 2001 and has been a great friend of the extended Indian community in New Zealand, including people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepalese and Middle Eastern origin. He is a relentless worker and no doubt, Auckland will challenge him with its unique problems. We wish him the best in his new role as Mayor.
