Campaign walkabout....

Winnie’s winning ways
The central courtyard of Babe’s Nightclub & Bar was packed to over-flowing with Demo supporters mid-week, where Winton Pickering held his campaign rally in the Mangaia seat of Oneroa.
The quaint local bar transformed into a feverish den of political views as over 80 local residents together with a visiting delegation of Rarotonga Democratic Party supporters rallied in support of Winton Pickering in his bid to claim the seat for a second term.
Pickering noted the achievements of the island of Mangaia under the Democratic Party Government over the past four years. He was particularly proud of the rebuilding of Mangaia School, the power project upgrade, the crusher project and the Harbour project. He also noted his commitment to completing the homes project to facelift and renovation of village homes, the water project and Te One Kura.
The incumbent member showed why he is such a favourite in caucus in Rarotonga. Through his direct and articulate address to his constituents in Oneroa, he justified the need to strengthen the infrastructure in order to improve Mangaia’s chances of developing the economy. He had a clear plan of development in mind for Mangaia and urged fellow Mangaians to commit to his bid for re-election to allow him to complete these developments.
“These infrastructure projects – the power, water, roads, and harbour have to be ready to take advantage of Te One Kura.”
Pickering also added that once the outstanding projects are completed, he will be happy to hand the seat over to someone else. But for now, he is seeking re-election from the 275 voters of Oneroa so he can see the development projects through to completion.
Winton Pickering spends his time between Mangaia, the country’s southern-most island and home to his constituency seat of Oneroa, and Rarotonga where his wife and children reside.

Quiet achiever given boost
Andy Matapo was pleasantly surprised by the turn out of over half of the 57 constituents of Tamarua to a lunchtime rally held in the local meeting house hall on Wednesday. Previous political rallies generally attracted less than 10 people.
The seat of Tamarua is nestled in the hills of Mangaia and boasts a school, a church, and a concrete brick factory. The residents were pleased to have an opportunity to meet publicly with their candidate and to discuss with the visiting Rarotonga delegation how the Democratic Party would improve conditions for Tamarua residents if it was Government after the 17 November general election.
Tamarua locals quizzed the Democratic Party Leader about the ongoing road project and Te One Kura – the government’s planned boost for agriculture. Wigmore, in full campaign stride, was quick to deal with the issues of concern to the Tamarua residents. He discussed in depth the plans to revitalise agriculture in Tamarua, and for the whole of Mangaia. He reminded those present of Mangaia’s heyday as an agricultural producer and challenged the Mangaians to “return Mangaia to where it once was.”
Matapo admits he has a tough road ahead of him to wrestle the seat off CIP incumbent Pukeiti but is up for the challenge.
“Having the support from the Leader (Wigmore) and his Rarotonga delegation has really fired us up here in Tamarua,” he said.
“The delegation was able to clear up some of the stories we had been hearing about things like the national referendum and it was good to hear it straight from team. They made us feel like things are moving ahead for Mangaia, and showed the people all the good things that had been achieved while the Democratic Party has been in Government.”
Matapo and his committee expressed their gratitude on behalf of the Tamarua people to the Democratic Party delegation for taking the time to visit Tamarua, which is one of the nation’s smallest constituencies.

Cassey warms to the vainetini
Cabinet Minister Cassey Eggelton was on the campaign trail in Tamarua Wednesday visiting the vainetini. Cassey visited the women in their homes as she travelled the length of Tamarua with the local Democratic Party Campaign team.
“It was a real eye-opener for me to visit the women of Mangaia in their own homes,” Eggelton said.
“Their issues are finding ways to supplement their husband’s incomes while they are staying at home with their children. Tamarua in particular has very little economy, and those with jobs have to travel to Oneroa each day. The road in this part of the island is not as well developed and is difficult to traverse in wet weather.”
Eggelton also met the teacher of the local school, who was “fantastic, very enthusiastic”.
The minister confirmed the delegation had come to support Democratic Party candidate Andy Matapo.
“It was well worth the visit to see the genuine issues facing our island mamas in their own homes. Andy really understands his people and their needs, I’m pretty sure he will do well for the people of Tamarua in Parliament.”

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