![\"Karl](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/karl-mokaraka-interrupts-a-speech-by-chris-bishop-in-2026-JRTSJUVUTRHSHHLCDKA3XX3AME.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPapatoetoe candidate Karl Mokaraka says being called a “serial heckler” misses the point of what he’s trying to achieve.<\/p>\n
By Taelegalolo’u Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting <\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve done it out of a thing of love and concern for my community,” Mokaraka says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is a heckler? I suppose it’s someone that voices the concerns of your community. It’s someone that’s vocal for local, and that’s what I’m all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokaraka, who ran for Destiny Church’s Vision NZ party in 2023, has disrupted a number of events.<\/p>\n
He’s been removed from Parliament and appeared behind a fence at a National Party press conference during the last election.<\/p>\n
Mokaraka has now set his sights on local politics, running for the Papatoetoe local board.<\/p>\n
He says his \u014ctara upbringing and experience in finance and community work motivated him to stand for the local board.<\/p>\n
Local board members help decide how council funding is spent on services such as community facilities, parks and local programmes.<\/p>\n
Mokaraka says he wants to ensure community voices are heard in local decision-making.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to empower families, make sure our families are looked after. Because nationhood starts in the neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says his experience growing up in the area and working with families have shaped his decision to run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m deeply rooted in \u014ctara,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019ve really ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karl Mokaraka interrupts a speech by Chris Bishop in 2026 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
Mokaraka, who has Samoan, Tongan and M\u0101ori heritage, says his family settled in South Auckland after his Samoan great-grandfather migrated to New Zealand for road construction work in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
He says he has worked in finance roles and large organisations such as Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n
Mokaraka laughs when reflecting on his school results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only got 5%. Under the old school system, we used to do exams, right? And I only got 5% in maths. So I don’t know how I ended up in the career choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says transparency around council finances is important as many households face rising living costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith rates and water charges going up, those things affect everybody, not just homeowners but renters as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokaraka says community service has played a significant role in his life.<\/p>\n
Since 2016 he has worked with families in South Auckland and previously helped run a community meal initiative at Tupu Youth Library in \u014ctara.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to get a couple of hundred kids,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just for our community. I didn\u2019t care whether you were M\u0101ori or Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokaraka says some of his strongest connections to Papatoetoe also come from his childhood.<\/p>\n
For a short period between 1990 and 1991, he was placed in state care at the Dingwall Trust residential facility in Papatoetoe after getting into trouble with police as a teenager.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tagging at Papatoetoe Intermediate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Papatoetoe was a place of refuge for me. It offered refuge and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a kid from \u014ctara we used to see Papatoetoe as quite a flash place,\u201d Mokaraka said. \u201cThe streets were clean and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
If elected, Mokaraka says he would focus on ensuring local services remain strong and that families facing financial pressure are supported.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to make sure that our families are looked after,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Papatoetoe and I love \u014ctara.\u201d<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a winter boost for hospital staffing, and the star who went from the Oscars to a burger joint. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Papatoetoe candidate Karl Mokaraka says being called a “serial heckler” misses the point of what he’s trying to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-333867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-auckland","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}