Joseph Bergin

There is no greater thing you can do than to serve others. 306 Joseph Bergin He is intelligent, principled, socially and politically connected, and for almost a decade now Joseph has been a committed advocate for the ‘youth voice’ in local body politics, being a youth himself. He is also a big fan of the North Shore; it is his home, full of long standing associations with the Catholic Church, social groups, community organisations, and local government networks. There have been clear early signpost influences, supporters and in 1984 (well before Joseph was born), which informed the famous mentors who have steered Joseph towards a deep empathy, care, ‘Live Aid’ relief concerts. These images conveyed to Joseph a harsh, and responsibility for others. There is a religious foundation to his brutal, broader world reality. Seeing that level of international life, work, and sense of purpose, fostered by his schooling and the poverty was hard. You shouldn’t be able to see someone’s ribs like that. family’s long relationship with St Mary’s Catholic Church. In the While at school he set up an initiative called the Human Rights Catholic faith, we think of Jesus not just as the head of the faith, but Consultation Committee, responding to international requests for also as the servant king. There is no greater thing you can do than to donations and care parcels, which were channelled through the serve others. national Catholic newspaper. The seventh child of parents who were also from families of I remember that there were little projects and social injustice seven children, Joseph was born on the North Shore. In his early initiatives that we tried to get involved in and from an early age I years, Joseph was immersed in the realities, challenges and benefits guess that kind of reality pushed me to think there is a lot of injustice of family, an active school life, faith, service, and community. that needs to be sorted out. He has lived in Hillcrest, Birkenhead, Milford, and Hauraki, and Another profound realisation, but this time about poverty was educated at St Joseph’s Primary and Rosmini College. here in New Zealand, came while attending a YMCA youth camp Growing up, Joseph was influenced by his father and elder at Camp Adair. There he befriended young people in the care of sister’s experience of working for World Vision. On the walls of the Children, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) and heard their family home were photographs taken during the Ethiopian famine personal stories. 307 Rosmini head boy Luca Brown and deputy Joe Bergin and high school friend Blake Rosmini final senior prize-giving; Joe Bergin head boy Joe Bergin, September 2010 Greenhalgh, September 2010 and Benedict Choi, September 2010 You think that poverty only exists on the other side of the world, ocean with a kettle, just small projects—let’s see what we can tangibly then you realise it actually exists just down the road as well. do; and see if we can do it. This experience impacted on Joseph’s sense of responsibility He then learnt of the youth leadership initiatives sponsored to give back to those in need here in his own home country. From by North Shore City Council: Converge, Youth Bank, and the there he became interested in knowing more about what was Shore Youth Council. He became a member of the Shore Youth happening locally in his community, and so he volunteered as a Council, the chair of Shore Youth Bank, and then a member of youth representative on the Birkenhead-Northcote Community the Foundation Youth Advisory Panel—the forerunner to Board’s Parks and Recreation Committee. This led him to attend the present day regional Youth Advisory Panel for Auckland youth forums run by Jill Nerheny. Council. He also became a youth representative on the Takapuna At the youth forums he contributed to discussions about local Community Board. community projects such as the need for playgrounds in Tui Park Joseph became a member of the executive board for the and Shepherd’s Park, which the youth wanted to put forward to Youth Bank (later known as Youth Fund), which operated under the Community Board. It wasn’t anything big, not like let’s boil the the Youthworx Charitable Trust, because he like the level of 308 autonomous decision making power that the Trust had. He was also impressed by the vision of the Fund: for youth, by youth, with youth in mind. In every instance I was seeing, that if you invested in young people early, it paid back tenfold. At Rosmini College, Joseph became deputy head boy, and a community ambassador for the school. Interests at school included playing the saxophone, basketball, classics, economics, English, history, human science and arts-based subjects. He also got involved in the debating team, and most enjoyed arguing someone else’s case, which sparked ideas of a future career. He fundraised for Caritas, the Catholic Church humanitarian relief agency in New Zealand, and for World Vision, leading the school’s participation in the charity's annual 40-hour famine appeal. Joseph relished the camaraderie of his schoolmates. At the time of his graduation, he even designed a graduation ring for his year, and continues to wear it today. He took to heart the motto of the school, ‘Legis Plenitudo Charitas’, which translates as ‘Charity fulfils the law’. Today he still remains connected with school buddies through his involvement with the school’s ‘old boys’ network’. Joseph credits his headmaster, Tom Gerrard, as his greatest influence in his school years, and as someone who recognised his potential and gave him so many opportunities. He was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. In 2010, aged 18, in his last year of school, and three weeks out from sitting his NCEA exams, Joseph became the youngest elected local politician in New Zealand and the youngest elected member of the Auckland Council. In response, a column in the New Zealand Herald asked ‘Is this the best the Council can do?’ He also established the new emergent youth board for the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. Joseph was motivated not so much out of his own ambition, but more from his own frustration with the system he had encountered at North Shore City Council when trying to organise youth-focused events through the Shore Youth Council. He had 309 a similar process on a national scale for funding youth projects, and were seeking models for how to do this. The Board position put Joseph immediately among numerous recognised and seasoned leaders of the time, opening up an unusually powerful network for a very young man. Assid Corban, at 83, was the oldest. It was like talking with Plato, says Joseph. George Wood, Ann Hartley, Dianne Hale and Kevin Schwass, have all, along with other ‘key players’ on the Shore, mentored Joseph in his new role. Local issues being addressed included future proofing the proposed harbour tunnel for rail, Auckland transport integrated ticketing (now the HOP card), centre plans for North Shore villages, and the Takapuna strategic framework. Around that time, the Government was looking for Receiving the 2010 Local Heroes Medal, March 2011 submissions on the restructuring of Auckland Council and Joseph was among a number of youth associated with the Auckland Youth been dismayed when attending Council meetings, realising that, Council who were asked to respond to the Royal Commission as a young person not yet eligible to vote, he had no other way enquiry from a youth perspective. At the time, around 42 per cent of influencing policy and decision making apart from getting of Auckland’s population were under the age of 25. Joseph was involved. In response to his grinding dissatisfaction, one of Joseph’s involved in developing and presenting the combined Auckland friends gave him a nomination form for the local board election for Youth councils’ submission to the select committee on Auckland’s his birthday. governance, and was a member of the Foundation Youth It took a rigorous three-month campaign, funded largely Advisory Panel. from his own earnings, fundraising donations, money left by his It was a substantial piece of work, and at around 16 and 17 grandmother, and a bank loan. He was later awarded the North years of age, understanding the restructuring proposal, and the Harbour Club AIMES Award for youth achieving excellence in Royal Commission process was difficult for the young leaders, but recognition of his services to the community; the award enabled the result was a submission recommending a youth representation him to pay back his bank loan. body (like the Pacific peoples, ethnic peoples and independent In his new role, Joseph had to withdraw from Youth Fund, Māori statutory board) to be incorporated in the legislation. We as there was a conflict of interest in being on the Local Board, were saying that if you are under 18 you don’t have a vote, and that’s to which Youth Fund was making applications to for funding. the most basic expression of political involvement. So if we don’t have However, later on he was consulted by the Ministry for Youth a vote, there should be some [other] level of input. His presentation to Development about how Youth Fund was organised, and the commissioners appeared to go well and have impact, but the group process of decision making. They were looking to establish was in fact later belittled by commissioner Henare when he said, 310 First Devonport-Takapuna Board, November 2010 (ahead of the first Devonport-Takapuna Local Board meeting) Auckland City Council Archives Council City Auckland © BACK ROW (FROM LEFT): Joseph Bergin, Kevin Schwass FRONT ROW (FROM LEFT): Jan O’Connor, Chris Darby, Dianne Hale, Mike Cohen, 311 Whilst studying, he worked for two years at Kiely Thomson Caisley and summer clerked at Kensington Swan, while putting 30 hours a week into local board work and, campaigning for the North Shore Ward seat and for the Local Board.

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