Merav Benaia - Candidate of Papanui-Innes Community Board (Papanui Ward)

Tell us a bit about your (and/or your family’s) New Zealand journey. (in 400 words please)

Kia ora, my name is Merav Benaia and I’m a candidate for the Papanui Community Board. I emigrated from Israel to NZ 15 years ago with my husband and our two boys. Today my husband and I are owners of a mechanical workshop in Addington. I’m also a mother of two teenage boys and a dog named Sparky.

Our journey began with a decision to make a change in our life, so that we will not wonder why we never tried. We chose NZ because it is an English speaking country so it saved us the need to learn another language and because it was remote enough from the rest of the world and we estimated this will be an advantage. We found out we were correct. We discovered this remoteness is what gives the people their ingenuity and the country its wealth of opportunities.

There were challenges. The house we rented was a winter indoor experience just as interesting as the outdoor one. It took time to learn the difference between kindergarten and pre-school and to adjust to driving on the other side of the road.

Searching for a permanent place to live, we identified the schools we would want our children to go to, and searched for a home we could afford. We found ourselves in Papanui mainly due to a good advice from the pre-school teacher to go as close to the airport as possible as the land there is dry and stable. This proved such a good advice in September 2010.

I got involved in our school community and served for many years on the PTA. I was the manager of two rugby teams. This was a great opportunity to meet more people, to establish more roots and connections and to contribute back to the community that opened its arms for us.

We bought our first business, a small car rental operator, in 2007. Unfortunately, even with all the outside the box thinking the business did not survive the devastation the Christchurch Earthquakes brought, and so we sold whatever was left of it and moved on. We are now proud owners of a successful mechanical repair workshop in Addington. Our boys are teenagers now, studying at Burnside High school and I find myself again in a position where I can contribute back to the community.

I came to NZ because I didn’t want to find myself years into the future wondering why I didn’t try. I’m running in these elections because I want to know I did everything I could to make this city a place my children will choose to live in. I’m running because I still believe I can change the world.

What motivated/prompted you to stand for local government elections this time? Please also indicate which area/position you are standing for.

Politics is about making a difference in people’s lives. Local body politics is about making a difference in our immediate community, on our street, our neighbourhood, our city and region.

I came to NZ because I didn’t want to find myself years into the future wondering why I didn’t try. I’m running in these elections because I want to know I did everything I could to make this city a place my children will choose to live in. I’m running because I still believe I can change the world.

What are the issues concerning the area (ward/council/city) you are standing in? (please list four main)

The main issues concerning Papanui residents are shared city wide – maintenance of roads and footpaths, continued chlorination of our drinking water, lack of public transport, traffic safety and traffic volumes. But more locally I identified the residents of Papanui want to have a community house to allow for community events to take place.

Christchurch mosque attacks changed/or should have changed/ how multiculturalism is viewed in New Zealand. Please share some concrete suggestions on how all of us can work together to make Aoteoroa New Zealand a more diverse, inclusive, and multicultural society.

To be multicultural society, NZ must first embrace its Maori culture. We need more people speaking the language. We need to embrace the Maori culture. We need to educate our young and our old about the different cultures that comprise the current NZ society.

Christchurch City Council has approved funding for a multi-cultural hub. I would like to see that hub promoting inclusiveness and celebrate diversity via art. I would like to see the hub working alongside schools in creating programmes that will be for but also run by school children, to celebrate and embrace what makes us unique while amplifying how we are the same.