Dr Rajen Prasad is the 11th in a family of 14 children. He has two adult married children and lives in Auckland with his wife. He has held a number of front line positions in social policy and social work. Rajen understands what happens to individuals, families and communities when matters go wrong. He has lived and worked in West Auckland, Porirua and South Auckland and has spent most of his professional life developing solutions to address New Zealand’s social interests and needs.

Rajen is a former Associate Professor in Social Policy and Social Work from Massey University. He was New Zealand’s Race Relations Conciliator from 1996 to 2001 and served in 2003/4 as a Member of the Residence Review Board. He was the founding Chief Commissioner of the Families Commission from 2004 to 2008 before becoming a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party at the last election in November 2008.

Rajen believes that his extensive and privileged experiences with many individuals, families and communities, in Race Relations and in the Families Commission has provided him with a special perspective on how policies work out in practice. Thus he wants to spend his time as a Member of Parliament to ensure that experience is not wasted but is used to contribute to the laws and policies of the 21st century.

Rajen is committed to working for a society in which all citizens can live with dignity and have control over their destiny. Such a society can only result from a partnership amongst all citizens. He believes in the value of an ethnically diverse society in which all our cultures are understood and respected, where discrimination of any kind is eliminated and where we are all enabled to participate in and contribute to the fullest extent.

Rajen is committed to consulting people regularly and to working for the type of long term change that comes from taking into account all of the factors that affect a particular issue. Dr Prasad is the party spokesperson for Community and Voluntary Sector, Associate Spokesperson for Social Development and Employment with responsibility for Child Youth and Family and for family policy. He is also an Associate Spokesperson for Ethnic Affairs.

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