 Sam McDonald is the Labour Candidate for Tamaki. He opened his address by advising that he felt presenting to St John's Rotary was a "tough gig" ! He was aware of the work we did in the community and stated he had common and shared values with Rotary. Sam is 27, and currently works as an Educational facilitator at Unitech, He grew up locally and lives locally. A former Deputy Head Boy of St Peter's College, Sam went on to study History, Politics and Law at University of Auckland completing a BA, LLB and also a Diploma in Secondary Teaching. He acknowledged that he was a bi-product of a privileged and "encouraging" upbringing where he was told from a young age that he was "capable". He strongly feels the way people are "brought up" informs the way they think. He credits his family and the people who surrounded him while growing up as instilling him with strong values. Sam spoke of former Labour Prime Minister Norman Kirk's barometer for happiness - everyone needs someone to love; somewhere to work; something to hope for. These are the basics in life that we all need in order to be successful, the markers of success. He feels that there are massive structural issues in our economy and in the way in which the country is currently being run. We are missing the mark on fundamentals and the big issues are now poverty; homelessness; incarcerations; inequality. |
