Profile New Zealand
Winnie Isn't Slowing Down
Laban Sets Sights On 2008 Election
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| Luamanuvao Winnie Laban is focusing on trade, economic and social development in the election buildup. |
Laban's Samoan parents were among the first Pacific people to arrive in New Zealand in the 1950s. She, however was born and schooled in windy Wellington, far from the white sandy beaches of her parents' island. She graduated from Victoria University in Wellington with a bachelor in social work, followed by a post-graduate degree in development studies at Massey University in Auckland. In 1992, Laban received the high chief's title of luamanuvao from the village of Vaiala, in Samoa's district of Vaimauga, a title she was given for her service (tautua) to the Pacific Island community.
Her political career kicked off as she watched a dramatic local court case where a significant number of Islanders had been laid off from their factory.
The newly-unemployed and desperate people persuaded her to run for MP. "I was worried New Zealand was on a fast slope to nowhere,” she says. "I was on a list as MP and got onto the employment relations committee. We made the work place fair and just. Me being on the committee was a way to give back to the Pacific Island community in New Zealand.”
In 1999, she was elected the first woman of Pacific Island descent to New Zealand's Parliament. Since then, she has acquired the portfolio of Minister of Community and Voluntary sector and is also Associate Minister for Economic Development, Pacific Islands Affairs and Social Development and Employment.
At the top of her "to do” list are improving Pacific Islanders' employment and health. Helping Pacific Island children achieve more, in and out of the classrooms is also a priority.
"People like to focus on deficit. Sixty percent of the Pacific Island population in New Zealand were born here. They're young and my focus is numeracy, literacy and Pacific Island languages, health and employment. We're still lagging behind with income, but we're catching up” she says.
While Labour in New Zealand is under pressure from rising interest rates, rampant inflation and crime with an election looming later this year, Laban says she still believes the principles of the Labour party sit well with her ideals of social justice. "I am focused on working with Labour to win this next election. I want to focus on trade, economic development and social development. I put my energy in the Pacific Business Council. The gap is enormous and New Zealand has an advantage. It's very important that we progress those agendas and it's very important that we serve the interests of the community.”
Laban was forced to put affairs of state to the side to focus on her own health after she was diagnosed with treatable breast cancer late last year during a routine check. "It was a real shock. I started therapy before Christmas,” she says. "I found out in December that I was going to lose all my hair and I thought ‘I'm not going to let chemo wreck my hair,' so I cut it in stages. There is the odd time when you feel unwell but you have to push through.”
Laban went public almost immediately and she is keen to get the message out to Pacific women about the importance of regular health checks. She says Pacific Island women are traditionally reserved and routine preventative measures such as mammograms may be seen as an invasive procedure and a hard pill to swallow. Still, she hopes they will learn from her experience.
"The number of Pacific women getting mammograms is so low (41 percent)," she says. "Since I've gone public, the number has gone up, to 47 percent. The reason I went public wasn't about me. It was about the people.”
The disease has so far failed to curb Laban's enthusiasm for her work. "It forced me to slow down a bit. I'm still going through chemo. After the chemo, they'll probably look at surgery. It's looking positive. It's a matter of taking each day as it comes. You carry on life, you carry on living.”
She says cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. "It's a life sentence with vigilance. I'm back at work and focused on my target. I don't do rhetoric. It's nice when we tick the boxes."
