The race for Labour held Manukau East has begun with Sunny Kaushal, a long-time supporter and worker of Labour announcing his bid for the Party’s nomination.
A member of the Service and Food Workers Union, he was Labour’s candidate for Pakuranga in general election held in 2011.
“Manukau East is close to my heart since we spent the early years of our arrival in New Zealand in this constituency. I have fond memories of this area and my elder son graduated from the Papatoetoe Primary School,” he said.
Mr Kaushal is an experienced campaigner and has been a part of many campaigns and elections since 2008; including the Mt Albert by-election for David Shearer, the Botany by-election in March 2011 and the general election held in November 2011.
Avid campaigner
Among his other campaigns have been the Port of Auckland marches, No Asset Sales, Labour Leader elections, two by-elections as well as the local government election held in 2013.
“It would be exciting and challenging to represent the people of Manukau East in Parliament. This is one of the most important constituencies in the country accounting for diverse communities. I have had the pleasure of having lived and worked in Tonga, which gave me an insight into the Pacific Island way of life. I look forward to the honour of being nominated by my Party to stand as a candidate at Manukau East,” Mr Kaushal said.
The seat is likely to be widely contested with selection of the candidate by the LEC scheduled to be held on February 22.
