National’s New Lynn candidate

National has announced:

Paulo Garcia has been selected by local party members as National’s New Lynn candidate for the 2017 General Election.

Mr Garcia is a lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. Originally from the Philippines, Mr Garcia has lived in New Zealand for over a decade and considers himself a proud Kiwi Pinoy. He co-founded the New Zealand Philippines Business Council and in 2012 was appointed an Honorary Consul-General for the Philippines.

“It’s a great honour to be chosen by National and especially our local membership here in New Lynn,” Mr Garcia says.

“One of the things that drew me to New Zealand was its reputation as a place where anyone who worked hard and cared about their community could get ahead.

“New Lynn is full of people who live this attitude. It’s a community I’ve come to know well, a really positive mix of born-and-bred New Zealanders through to brand new Aucklanders.

“I’ll be working hard to earn their trust to serve as a strong local voice in a National Government that knows how to deliver.

“I’m standing for National because it’s a party that welcomes diversity and understands the needs of New Zealanders of all backgrounds no matter where you live or where you’re from.

National does not have and never will have quotas yet has managed to have a caucus that is more diverse than Labour, when it comes to ethnicity. National has 10 MPs of Maori descent and also MPs of Samoan, Cook Island Maori, Sikh, Korean, Indian and Chinese descent – and now a candidate of Filipino descent.