Local elections 2019, Hastings District Council: Flaxmere councillors Henare O'Keefe and Jacoby Poulain announce joint campaign

Current Flaxmere ward councillors Henare O'Keefe and Jacoby Poulain have announced they will campaign together. Photo / Paul Taylor

Flaxmere councillors Henare O'Keefe and Jacoby Poulain have announced they will run a joint campaign to be re-elected for the Hastings District Council.

The pair, who "live and breathe" what's happening in their ward, say there's still more to be done to unlock Flaxmere's potential.

While the voting sheet will remain the same, they are asking for "Flaxmere to vote for us as a team - to give us their two ticks".

They have always campaigned together, O'Keefe says. They've just never put it on a billboard. However, they say now it "makes sense" to do so.

"Why should you be at loggerheads, headbutting one another when you've both been complementing one another and working so well together for all these years in council," O'Keefe asked.

They both confess they are like "father and daughter". "She's the articulate one, I'm the detailed one."

Poulain believes their strengths complement each other.

"I think individually we are each strong, but together we can achieve things far greater than we could separately.

"It is like that whakataukī or proverb; one can chase a thousand, but two in unity will put ten thousand to flight."

"I do feel that it's a new season and Flaxmere is on the verge of advancing. I believe it is a time for empowerment for our people, and Henare and I have the ability."

They are under no illusion that there are issues: including a housing crisis, a health system in "dire need of support", and advocacy for women's issues needs elevating.

However, they say they have already made inroads.

Poulain has been successful in calling upon the Ombudsman to initiate a review of the attempted uplift of a newborn from Hawke's Bay Hospital.

They have also helped get Flaxmere Park a revamp, and campaigned for a major housing project which will result in 122 homes built in Flaxmere.

Poulain said she felt the suburb had been "subject to a spirit of heaviness over time".

"Now is the time for the shackles to be broken and for us as a community to be brought into newness and strength."

O'Keefe says the pair will lay their heart and soul on the table.

"It's not about politics. It's not about the status. It's love.

"At the end of the day, people need to know can they trust us, and they can, we have proven that over and over again.

"I will give my life for these people," O'Keefe said.