Labour’s dismal performance at the general election held on September 20, 2014 kept a budding politician with promise away from Parliament but the growing need for better interaction with ethnic communities has returned her to a responsible position.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan will take up her new assignment in December as Policy Research and Communications Assistant to Phil Goff, Member of Parliament and Labour’s Spokesperson on Ethnic Affairs at his electorate office in Mt Roskill.
Identifying issues
The appointment, made by Parliamentary Service, will see her responsible for identifying issues relevant to ethnic communities, consulting with members from these communities and contributing to policy recommendations.
Mrs Radhakrishnan currently works as a policy analyst at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Wellington. She was earlier employed as a social worker, advocate, media spokesperson and senior manager at Shakti Community Council Inc, a refuge organisation for women of Asian, African and Middle Eastern origin.
Good credentials
Mr Goff said that Priyanca brings years of advocacy, research and policy analysis experience to the role, with keen interest and understanding of the dynamics of ethnic communities in New Zealand.
“She has excellent communications skills and a sound understanding of the machinery of government. Priyanca was the strongest of an impressive group of people who applied for the position. She is absolutely committed to the role of ensuring that Labour will be a strong voice for the Indian and other ethnic communities. I value the support Labour gets from the Indian Community and we will be working hard to maintain the strong relationship that we have promoted with the community,” he said in a statement.
Mrs Radhakrishnan said that she was excited about the new role as it accorded an opportunity to work closely with members of Indian and other communities.
Closing gaps
“Over the past few months, I have met some wonderful people from these communities – many of whom have talked to me at length about the issues they face. I look forward to working with them, and with Mr Goff, so that the Labour Party is in close touch with our communities. This means working with the communities to address some of the main issues we face, and maximising the contributions we make to New Zealand society and economy,” she said.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan writes about the challenges faced by the media and critically appraises this newspaper in our 15th Anniversary Special on Page 21 of print edition.
