Alfred Ngaro

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Alfred Ngaro
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National party list
Personal details
Born 1965/1966 (age 57–58)[1]
New Zealand
Political party National Party
Website www.alfredngaro.co.nz

Alfred Ngaro is a New Zealand politician and, since the 2011 election, a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the National Party and the first Cook Islander who was elected to Parliament in New Zealand.

Early life

Ngaro is of Cook Islands descent.[1] Ngaro's father Daniel Ngaro from Aitutaki[2] and Pukapuka he was a union delegate, and the family has a long tradition of voting for the Labour Party.[1] His mother, Toko Kirianu, is from Mangaia.[2]

Ngaro trained as an electrician and was self-employed in the trade for five years.[3] As per his grandmother's wish,[2] he then completed a theology degree and became a pastor at the Tamaki Community Church.[4] He later won a Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Award for his work on the Tamaki Transformation Project.[5]

Ngaro served as the Auckland District Health Board's Pacific committee chairman and as the Tamaki College board of trustees chairman.[1] He is a member of various advisory committees for the Ministry of Social Development.[6]

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years Term Electorate List Party
2011 – 2014 50th List 37 National
2014 – present 51st List 34 National

Ngaro was encouraged by his friend Sam Lotu-Iiga to become active in politics.[1] Ngaro was a candidate for Citizens & Ratepayers in the Maungakiekie-Tamaki ward at the 2010 elections for the Auckland Council. He however finished second to Richard Northey and was not elected.[7]

In early September 2011, he was announced as a list-only candidate for the New Zealand National Party at the 2011 election.[8] He was ranked at 37 on the party list[9] and was subsequently elected.[10][11] He is the first Cook Islander to be elected to the New Zealand Parliament, sitting in the 50th Parliament.[12]

Ngaro voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.[13]

In the 2014 election Ngaro was the National Party candidate for Te Atatu. Despite polling strongly, Ngaro lost to Labour's Phil Twyford by 2,813 votes. Ranked 34th on the National Party list, Ngaro returned to parliament as a National List MP.

Private life

His wife Mokauina is of Samoan-Niuean descent.[1][14] They have four children; three boys and one girl.[2][14]

Controversy

In 2009, Alfred Ngaro allegedly punched former Tamaki College art teacher Christopher Scott Roy for not bowing his head during a prayer. Roy alleged that Ngaro, whose son was in the Tamaki First XV rugby team, approached Roy after the prayer. Roy alleged that he was then confronted by Ngaro and that he then punched Roy in the back of the head.[15] Tamaki College denied any assault occurred. In a judgment released mid November 2013, ERA member Tania Tetitaha did not make a finding about the alleged assault but found there were several issues with Roy's statements including: despite initially identifying the principal Soana Pamaka, Roy changed his evidence at the hearing, saying he didn't see her strike him at all. Roy then changed the location of his injuries and provided no corroborating evidence. The alleged motivation for the assault (Ngaro's displeasure at Roy's refusal to bow his head during grace) did not ring true. When Roy took the matter to police, they declined to investigate. The ERA also found a lack of evidence of bullying behaviour. The police and Employment Relations Authority decided not to investigate the incident.[16]

References

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