06/10/2026
**Meeting between the Ethiopian Community of Auckland Inc. and Senior Leaders of the New Zealand National Party:**
As members of the Executive Committee of the Ethiopian Community of Auckland, we have accepted the responsibility entrusted to us and are working diligently to bring about tangible changes regarding issues that affect our community.
In line with our plan, on September 26, 2026, we held an in-depth public discussion with senior leaders of the New Zealand National Party. In attendance at the meeting were the Honourable Minister for Social Development, Louise Upston; the Honourable Minister of Immigration and Education, Erica Stanford; Member of Parliament and representative for the Mount Albert electorate, Melissa Lee; and Member of Parliament and representative for the Mount Roskill electorate, Carlos Cheung.
During the meeting, we successfully conducted a very fruitful discussion by raising questions concerning:
* Immigration policy
* Housing supply
* Education system policies and their impact on our community’s cultural and religious values
* As well as several other pressing issues affecting our community
In particular, regarding our question expressing concern about s*x education for children, the Honourable Minister Erica Stanford provided a response confirming that s*x education will be removed from the standard core curriculum starting next year, and that age-appropriate biological education will only be delivered based on consent and in consultation with parents.
Additionally, other matters raised and addressed included:
1. The timeframe for bringing family members from our home country has been significantly reduced, which allows families to reunite faster; regarding the situation where newly married couples are required to go back to Ethiopia for 6 months to get the visa for their partner, they will look into it and get back to us with an answer soon.
2. Homes with more than 3 bedrooms will be constructed to accommodate larger families.
3. Facilitating favorable conditions so that we can receive necessary support to undertake initiatives that benefit the community.
4. Showing their willingness to grant location permits and general support to celebrate Timkat (Epiphany) grandly and broadly in Auckland.
5. Promising to provide necessary support to arrange a permanent office space for the Ethiopian Community of Auckland.
The meeting was positive and productive. We expressed our gratitude to the National Party leaders for showing respect to our community, attending in person, listening attentively to our concerns, and providing satisfying responses to the questions raised. They have showed great interest to the issues of our community and assured us of their willingness to work together with us. The Ethiopian community is open for positive and constructive engagement that will bring about positive change to everyone.
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**Message to Our Community**
We, the Executive Committee of the Ethiopian Community of Auckland, serve our community voluntarily, treating all Ethiopians equally, raising community-related issues to the best of our ability, facilitating platforms for consultation, and seeking solutions.
Therefore, like all of you in our honored community, we carry out this work alongside our personal lives, balancing and taking time away from our personal family time to serve you. However, all our hard work will only bear satisfying result when joined by your support and continuous participation.
Thus, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the members who arrived on time, attended, and supported our meetings. Because your presence and commitment mean a lot to us, we respectfully request your continued active involvement in our future activities.
Furthermore, we understand that many of you have busy work schedules, family responsibilities, health matters, and other commitments that may prevent you from attending meetings; we have no reservations regarding those who could not attend.
However, when only a small portion of our community attends meetings like this with people who can make a difference for our community, it weakens our efforts and makes it difficult for us to represent you properly. Working together in unity and organization gives strength to our voice. If we are not organized and do not work together, it will be extremely difficult to make our voice heard and get answers anywhere on any issue. Because we can go a long way when we move forward together, the Executive Committee respectfully requests your active participation and continuous support going forward.
Additionally, we welcome your feedback on when and where future meetings should be held to make attendance easier for most of you. Every person in our community is respected and valued, and we hope to build this together moving forward.
**The Executive Committee of the Ethiopian Community of Auckland Inc*
