Between Greens and Te Pāti Māori: education, indigeneity, and feminism

The respondent wanted to clarify, in the context of his later reflections on feminism, that he identifies as a man.

If you had to vote today, who would you vote for and why?

I’m tossing up between the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori (the Māori party), though I would also be happy with Labour. I’m less excited by the prospect of National being in charge, especially in coalition with the Act party. Some of my reasons relate to my broader, fairly socialist political perspective; others relate more specifically to my job as a teacher, and as someone who cares a lot about the teaching profession. It’s often hard to gauge which is which, and to separate out those two kinds of reasons.

As a teacher, I’m concerned that charter schools will be a big part of National’s agenda, as it has been historically. From my socialistic perspective, I’m generally opposed to charter schools. I also have concerns about the direction that National would want to go in terms of assessments and the NCEA curriculum. My school has been piloting some of the NCEA roll-out package, which admittedly didn’t start out great; National has criticised it heavily, and I largely agree with their critique. The problem was that, until recently, there was minimal involvement in that process from teachers and markers, who are the experts in each subject. Whether that was the Ministry’s or Labour’s mistake, the good news is that the process has now become a lot more teacher-led, in a way that I’m less sure National would replicate. Now there is good momentum, and I don’t want to see all that reversed. A National Government would make my job as a teacher a lot more difficult. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know how things work under the Labour system, and I don’t really want it to flip-flop back.

In terms of my wider political ideology, I think and care a lot about issues around youth, mental health, criminal justice, kaupapa Māori, the rainbow community, and so on. I tend to agree more with the Green party on these issues. I was reading through the National party website recently, and noticed they don’t have a policy on the rainbow community or on women’s issues. That is troubling. Maybe they have a policy in the works, but the fact that it’s not there now suggests either that they don’t see it as important enough to put on their radar; or they’ve made the call that it’s too divisive to talk about. But no: this is a justice issue … you have to raise it. Compare this with the Greens who want a Ministry for rainbow issues, and who are campaigning for improved mental health for rainbow people. Those mental health issues are the result of rainbow people being marginalised, ignored and being made to feel less than. And it feels like National is reinforcing that messaging when they choose to ignore the issue. So the two approaches seem diametrically opposed.

Can you tell me more about how you might decide between the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori?

I’ve been reflecting deeply about the importance of supporting indigeneity, about how I can use my privilege, power and vote to uplift the voice of Māori. I see that as really important.

But I also have a vulnerable concern. I think my feminist-liberal ideation is more fundamental to me than my anti-racist ideation. But then if I’m giving my vote to Te Pāti Māori, what happens if they end up putting forward policies that are more conservative or even—to my white perspective—seem sexist? There is a sense in which historically I like what the Māori Party have stood for. But there’s still an element of asking myself, can I trust the Māori Party with my feminist and liberal priorities? Part of this is also a fear of relinquishing power, and I find that really confronting. At the same time, Te Pāti Māori isn’t big enough to get into Parliament by itself, so in that sense there is maybe less of a risk.

The other thing about Te Pāti Māori is that, as I was reading through their website recently, it seems that they don’t have the extensive list of policies that the Greens have. I generally want to see that all the issues I care about are represented, and the party has a policy response to them, even where I don’t fully agree with it.

What are your perceptions of people who vote for National?

One of my family members will probably vote National, and they take an economic perspective on these things. That’s related to their business, and to the fact they own two properties in Auckland. So there are advantages that will benefit them. But they would also think that National will get the economy back on track in a way which will benefit other people too. It’s a very pragmatic perspective, which fits their priorities and mindset. They are sweet and in some ways socially-minded, but conversations about minority groups don’t land as easily with them. I get that pragmatic economic perspective. For me, it’s partly that economics is not one of my top priorities; it’s important, but it’s not my job to think about it too deeply. The issues around teaching are much more of a priority for me. Though I know other people see different issues as essential.

What about your perceptions of Act voters?

I have a few family members who will vote Act. They are vaccine resistant, and also strongly libertarian and concerned about Government interference. They also care about people, obviously, but their priorities are different—it seems to me that their first priority is themselves, their family unit, and their freedom and agency. And that includes their freedom not to have to adapt or change: they have their ways of doing things, and no one should interfere with that. Support for the Act Party has increased significantly since the pandemic, because Labour’s approach pushed on people’s libertarian buttons. One of my family members lost their job because she didn’t want to get vaccinated, and she was very angry with the Government for interfering with her personal life. I get that frustration. But every fibre of me is also wanting to say, ‘take one for the team’. I mean, her family owns multiple properties; they have so many rights and freedoms and so much privilege … so why not just take one for the team? And if someone chooses not to get vaccinated, that’s their choice; but then they have to take the consequences of that choice as well. I don’t want to be polarising, but the libertarian ideal does feel selfish—because it is self-focussed. At the same time, I think it’s good to have a libertarian voice in Parliament. I care about democracy, about their voice being represented. But I personally have concerns with the libertarian approach, and I wouldn’t be hugely happy with Seymour being deputy Prime Minister.

Can you say more about how your perception of Act differs from National?

Unlike with the Act Party, I do at least think that National’s focus on the economy can be understood as being about people, genuinely trying to help people. I’m not convinced by their approach personally, but I know that other people will be. So I can’t just say they don’t care about people. Still, my gut-level reaction to National voters is to ask, ‘have you thought about other groups such as gay people, women, Māori, and so on?’ For me, at a deep heart-level, I do feel that there are people who are not represented in the National Party, and people who are not represented by the party. But it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they get in. I’ll gripe and moan for a couple of weeks. But within the broad narrowness of New Zealand politics, it doesn’t hugely bother me. (In fact, compared with other countries, anything that comes out of New Zealand politics will be fine). And we’re a democracy still, so if National puts through something I find abhorrent, I have to believe that others will find also find it abhorrent and we will be able to push back in one way or another.

How do you think voters on the right, including these family members, see you?

They all think I’m a commie, which isn’t necessarily false haha!

How do you feel about political discourse in NZ, what’s working and what’s not?

I do feel like there are storm clouds gathering, with the increasing influence from American and some post-Brexit politics. It has created a tension in our politics, an expectation that we might start to treat our debates here more like debates in the States. I’m worried that we are getting too divisive and binary. Lots of people have very high-intensity feelings about politics— me included! I also found the disinformation around the cannabis and euthanasia referenda worrying, especially with new technologies emerging that make this even more of an issue for democracy. But I’m excited to see if we can make the voting age 16, and I’m supportive of that. I do also think our education around politics is generally good compared with other countries and that’s reassuring.