Sign In / Register
As attention turns from recent local board elections, political parties prepare for the general election on November 7.
Labour has confirmed that Estefania Muller Pallarès will again stand as its candidate for the Whangaparāoa electorate.
Muller Pallarès stood in the 2023 election, polling 15.23 per cent against incumbent National MP Mark Mitchell, who retained the seat with 53.7 per cent of the vote.
Mitchell’s office advises that National Party candidate selections for the 2026 election are open and yet to be confirmed.
Muller Pallarès works on the Hibiscus Coast as a sustainability teacher, researcher and eco-neighbourhoods community facilitator. She is also a committee member of Te Herenga Waka o Ōrewa Marae, where she co-leads restoration projects along the Weiti River.
Confirmed as Labour’s candidate in December, Muller Pallarès says she is looking forward to meeting with the Coast community over the coming months.
She says her decision to stand again was driven by what she sees as a lack of advocacy for key local issues, including environmental protection, youth unemployment and access to social housing.
“A leading issue for me is the environment. It’s my job, and it’s where I spend a lot of time volunteering with different organisations, and we are seeing volunteers and not-for-profits taking on a lot of the workload,” she says. “I would like to be more of an advocate for that. I would like to see more resourcing and more support, whether from local or central government, for environmental work that is ongoing.”
Youth unemployment and encouraging more people into work are also key focus areas, she says.
“I would love to see more opportunities for young people, more support for small and medium businesses, because they are the biggest employers of youth, and more gateway programmes from schools, which are currently being defunded.
Encouraging greater voter participation in the upcoming election is also a key concern fer her.
“Every vote counts and every voice counts. We are seeing people struggling, and we can do something about it. Politics is just one of the ways to make change, but it is one of the most powerful ways we can make change.”
