Lotu Fuli is a New Zealand politician who is an Auckland Councillor. In 2022, Fuli was elected as one of the two councillors for the Manukau ward.

Early life

Lotu was born in Samoa and came to New Zealand with her family in the 1970s, originally living in

Mount Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand whose name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. It is south of the Central Business District (CBD). Mt Eden Road winds its way around the side of Mount Eden Domain and continues to weave b ...

. They moved to

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tamaki River (actually an arm of the Hauraki Gulf), which extends south t ...

in 1976 and she has lived there since. She graduated from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

with a

Master of Letters The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

(M.Litt.) in 2007, with a thesis titled ''Definiteness vs. specificity : an investigation into the terms used to describe articles in Gagana Samoa''. After spending time teaching secondary schools in Auckland, Japan, and South Korea, she returned to university to achieved a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

with Honours.

Political career

Fuli was elected to the

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council. It is overseen by the Manukau Ward councillors. The local board area includes the suburbs of Ōtara, Papatoetoe, East Tamaki, Puhinui and central Manuk ...

in 2013 Auckland local board elections. She was chairperson from 2016 to 2022. On 15 June 2020, the New Zealand Labour Party published its list for the , with Fuli placed 63rd. She was bumped up to 61st following the withdrawal of

Raymond Huo Raymond Huo (; born 1964) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020. He was first elected in as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He was the third Chinese New ...

and Iain Lees-Galloway. Her list placement was not high enough to elect Fuli. In the 2022 local body elections, Fuli was elected as a councillor for the Manukau ward, a role formerly held by

Efeso Collins Fa'anānā Efeso Collins (born ) is a former elected member of the Auckland Council. He was a two-term Auckland councillor (2016–2022), in 2019 he was the highest polling candidate in the Manakau Ward. He is of Samoan and Tokelauan descent. H ...

, who ran for mayor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuli, Lotu 1970s births 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Auckland Councillors Living people New Zealand Labour Party politicians Samoan emigrants to New Zealand University of Auckland alumni Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Year of birth missing (living people)