Auckland Council’s Rainbow Panel is up and running, with its members inducted at its first administrative meeting. Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel members with Mayor Len Brown, Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse and Councillor Cathy Casey. The interim co-chairs are New Zealand AIDS Foundation Community Engagement Programme Manager Jordon Harris and Julie Radford-Poupard from Women's Health Action. Its members are Aram Wu from RainbowYOUTH and EquAsian, counsellor Audrey Hutcheson, former local body politician and ex Body Positive boss Bruce Kilmister, community drug and alcohol worker Diana Rands, RainbowYOUTH General Manager Duncan Matthews, former Human Rights Commission educator Julie Watson, trans rights advocate Lexie Matheson, Body Positive head Mark Fisher, union delegate Merv Taueki-Ransom and Moira Clunie from the Mental Health Foundation. Interim co-chair Jordon Harris says there is aroha and passion among the members, and a sense there is much it could achieve to address the interests and needs of the glbti and takatāpui communities. “Today we gathered for the first time as a united group and welcomed the leadership that our members bring to enhance the wellbeing of our communities,” he said. “The overwhelming sentiment shared by all members today was the need to give our communities a voice. Our task now is to take what we know about our unique communities, their needs and wishes, and create an achievable work plan that will elicit results.” The Rainbow Panel is designed to provide a local government platform, from which to address issues of significance to Auckland’s lgbti community. It joins five other Council advisory panels, which represent those with disabilities, Pacific and ethnic Aucklanders, youth and seniors. Mayor Len Brown first mooted a Rainbow Panel at a Big Gay Out and when there were concerns from Councillors about the cash needed, he dipped into his Mayor’s budget to make it happen. “This is an historic and very significant moment for our rainbow communities and Auckland as a whole,” he told the Panel at its induction meeting. “Over the course of your term you will experience a diverse range of views from all sides. Your challenge is to lead well and to lead with pace. You have our very best wishes.” Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse said the panel will play an important role in the council’s commitment to diversity. “The Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel is all about this Council walking the talk around inclusivity. This is about taking your issues considerately and respectfully through the council process. “We cannot do these things without acknowledging the full diversity of our communities, so I am thrilled our rainbow communities are sitting around the table adding their voice,” Hulse said. The next meeting of the Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel in October will also be a closed administrative meeting to focus on draft work planning. The third meeting in November, for which a date is yet to be announced, will be open to the public. The panel will then hold open meetings every six weeks. Its annual work plan will be presented to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee meeting on 3 December 2015.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 22nd September 2015 - 7:58am