Watch as MJ asks Casey Costello the tough questions relating to why she is standing for NZ First at the upcoming election on October 14th and why she believes that a vote for her will make a difference.
Profile
Coming from a large family Casey Costello has grown up with a strong sense of gratitude for what New Zealand has to offer.
Her father’s family traces back to settlers who first arrived in this country in the 1860’s and her mother’s Ngati Wai/Ngapuhi roots connect her to Patuone and Tamati Waka Nene, both chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi.
One of six children she has lived and worked most of her life in South Auckland and currently lives on a lifestyle block in Pokeno.
She is a mother of two adult children and her working life has been a varied career which started with the New Zealand Police leaving as a Detective Sergeant and Vice President of the NZ Police Association.
Taking on a range of management roles after leaving the Police she has worked in both private and public sector positions and has latterly been running her own business encountering the despair at the pointless bureaucracy that stops hardworking kiwis get ahead.
For the last 7 years Casey has been a spokesperson for Hobson’s Pledge that has lobbied for equality before the law for all New Zealanders. She has also a founding trustee for the Migrant Exploitation Relief Foundation.
Casey attributes her success to being able to understand people, a strong worth ethic and the enormous support from her family.
Why Casey is standing with New Zealand First
New Zealand has one of the proudest democratic histories in the world. A nation that, as part of its formation, established a Treaty from which the peoples, who were calling this nation home, agreed to come together and build a future.
Like any nation the path forward was not perfect but kiwis came together willing to recognise wrongs and determined to keep punching above our weight in the knowledge that there was no problem we couldn’t resolve by applying our number 8 wire methodology.
In the last twenty years this foundation of unity changed to a narrative of division. We stopped being New Zealanders and became manuhiri (visitors) and tangata whenua (original inhabitants). Kiwis were asked to choose sides.
Successive governments have strived for relevance and votes by advocating for a distortion of the Treaty and perpetuating a narrative that robbed our young people of their potential.
New Zealand has lost its way as the agenda that seeks to differentiate legal and political rights, based upon which ancestor you identify with, has gained traction.
Casey stands with New Zealand First because they have always demanded that whatever our history or background we are New Zealanders first and foremost.
None of the challenges facing the future of our children will be overcome if we lose our identity as an inclusive multi-cultural nation and to meet these challenges we must have the voice in Parliament that is able to call foul on the destructive narrative being forced on us.