Last month’s elections in New Zealand heralded significant change, promising to bring to power the country’s most conservative government in decades. But alongside the rightward shift from six years of Labor Party leadership to an expected National Party-led coalition, the incoming parliament will also feature the most-ever Māori members, most of whom are in the opposition.
It’s a striking contrast that 21-year-old Māori MP-elect Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, set to be New Zealand’s youngest lawmaker in 170 years, is well aware of.
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As race issues took center stage across the nation during election season, Maipi-Clarke’s family home was vandalized by a man who shouted slurs. Among the National Party’s priority plans is to ax the Māori Health Authority, which is tasked to bridge the gap between the health quality of indigenous and non-indigenous people. And the right-wing ACT Party, which is expected to partner with the National Party, had earlier proposed a referendum that would reconsider the role of the Māori people, who make up about 17% of the national population, in policymaking.
Maipi-Clarke, who will represent the indigenous-advocating Māori Party when the new parliament opens later this year, says Māori have withstood tides of oppression before, and she, like her people, won’t buckle under renewed pressure. “When it was hanging on a string just on the last thread, we still survived seven generations with the suppression towards our people,” she says. “We will always look after ourselves and everything surrounding us, so we will always look after others as well.”
Much about Maipi-Clarke screams Gen-Z, albeit perhaps over-accomplished for her age: she runs a community garden, she’s active on Instagram and TikTok, and she authored a book on using the Māori calendar for physical and mental healing. She lacks legislative experience, but politics runs in the family: her great-great-great-great-grandfather Wiremu Katene was the first Māori minister to the Crown in 1872; and her aunt, Hana Te Hemara, was responsible for delivering the Māori language petition to parliament in 1972 that paved the way for its widespread adoption in New Zealand.
When Maipi-Clarke decided to stand for election, many probably didn’t think she stood a chance. Her Hauraki-Waikato electorate was already represented by Māori political veteran (New Zealand’s Mother of Parliament) Nanaia Mahuta, who was also the country’s first female Māori foreign minister in the most recent Labor Party cabinet.
“I guess for me the competition wasn’t my opponent,” Maipi-Clarke tells TIME from her home in Huntly—a quaint town some 53 miles southeast of Auckland. “I think she’s amazing at politics and she’s been so inspiring for me to go through politics. But my competition was the people who weren’t engaged in politics.”
Maipi-Clarke spoke briefly with TIME about her campaign and election as well as her hopes and fears heading into what looks to be a tumultuous parliament.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Do you think that the Māori community has become more active politically in recent years?
Personally, Māori people have always been political, but political in their shape and form—not so much in the Westminster government that we have in New Zealand. So it’s kind of translating to that to our people, how this affects us. And ever since Te Pāti Māori [the Māori Party] has had a comeback since 2020, and was able to get our two co-leaders in Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer into parliament, there’s just been this whole new wave, and people who never thought would be into politics are now into politics because of our party.
Has there been enough voter movement from the youth demographic and do you think that enabled you to secure a seat in parliament?
I think for a long time we kept hearing, “Oh, young people don’t vote. You guys are lazy.” But really, all different types of different people were saying this. And I thought to myself, why would we vote? These people in politics are not telling our stories. They’re not representing us. So I didn’t blame younger people for not voting. And we still have a lot more to do but I think this is a great start for people to be engaged in translating that language of politics and how it affects them.
You’ve said you view yourself as a kaitiaki (guardian) of the Māori language and tradition. In what ways do you plan to guard Māori language and tradition?
I think when I look at a politician, there’s been so many things already that I’m trying to challenge the status quo—from the title that you give to the thing that you hold, from what I wear to the kind of language I’m talking, it’s always being in touch with my people and in touch with the people that I represent. Because far too often, I see politicians talking and they’re completely out of touch with our reality that we face.
So I think, for me, being a guardian is: one, hearing what our people are going through, because I may not know all the stories; two, advocating and talking on that openly within parliament and in the chambers and in policy transformation; and three , actually finding different ways of engaging.
Are there any specific priorities or legislative agenda that you want to pursue as an MP?
Usually an MP in Aotearoa [New Zealand] will focus on one thing but for us in Te Pāti Māori, being the only indigenous political party in Aotearoa, we have to cover everything. I’m looking at our Te Tiriti o Waitangi [Treaty of Waitangi] because other parties said that they want to have a referendum on that.
Looking at the two main priorities for me coming into this was our indigenous ways of looking after our environment and looking after younger people who would usually go into gangs or who don’t feel connected to the culture. So those are probably my two top priorities, but like I said, there’s so much to cover.
How does mātauranga (Māori knowledge) shape your framing of the legislative agenda you want to pursue, in regards to the climate crisis, and inclusivity?
For me, I feel like there’s not enough representation of the LGBTQ community, the takatāpui whānau, within politics. There’s not enough representation of Pacific peoples as well. So there’s a lot of those minority groups that aren’t represented in politics, but also the lack of attention from a lot of other parties towards these communities and secondly towards climate change. So I guess there’s so much mātauranga and knowledge out there on how we can be inclusive and how we can really solve the climate crisis, how we can engage indigenous ideas in systems.
So mātauranga—knowledge from not just Māori but indigenous people specifically within the Pacific and our great migration to Aotearoa—allowed us to be scientists in our own ways, it allowed us to calculate our environment, allowed inclusion. It was a whole other perspective that colonialism actually wiped out through the Tohunga Suppression Act. I think this generation from our elders have reinstalled that mātauranga, and now within these spaces, now we can talk about it and how our systems can be solutions.
How do you feel Māori-specific legislation may fare under the leadership of the National Party?
It’s going to be very interesting, and I think we’re in for a hell of a ride. Because they’re looking at taking us back 180 years with subjects like putting a referendum on the treaty from the coalition partners, ACT, who have a really racist rhetoric coming out of the party. So it is quite fearful for our people. But even if it was a Labor Party government or National Party government, Māori have been in opposition for 180 years, so we can hold our line strong. But this political election was so nasty, so racist, especially to our whānau [family] and the LGBTQ community. So, looking at the most vulnerable and minority demographics. It’s been quite challenging for people to digest. So even if they don’t create legislative change, what’s coming out of their mouths is very detrimental to a lot of people in Aotearoa.
Do you think the region has been struggling with recognition and equitable rights for its indigenous and first people citizens? Australia recently failed to approve an amendment recognizing the rights of indigenous citizens in its constitution. Are you concerned about a rising trend in Oceania against indigenous people?
Absolutely, definitely concerned, definitely fearful of our rights as indigenous people, like our Aboriginal whānau. That was, and always will be, indigenous land over there. I’m concerned for us here in Aotearoa, with the potential referendum on our treaty; concerned for whānau on the island of Tuvalu that’s going to be underwater; concerned about different indigenous cultures all the way to Palestine. I mean all indigenous cultures are at a great risk, and I think the only hope that we have is our elders teaching us and the next generation being unapologetic around how we still stand up and hold that front line.
It’s up to all humans whether they care or not. I think if you care about Māori culture, you have a great appreciation for the way that we look after: we look after our land, we look after our people, we look after our culture and our language. We will always look after ourselves and everything surrounding us, so we will always look after others as well.
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