[intro music]
I don't vote. I don't think my vote means anything.
I don't think it changes any opinion.
Yeah, and I wouldn't continue to even consider voting.
I just feel like what is, what is the point?
I am voiceless. No-one's gonna listen to me anyway.
[music]
The government seems to be really helping out up here
and not a lot's going on down here.
And this is why people down here don't vote because what's the point?
They're not listening to us in the first place.
What I would like is more of an advocate for, in particular, women,
young women that have left dangerous situations or toxic relationships.
For them to be embraced and empowered
rather than, like oh here we go, that's another single mum.
Oh it's a situation she got herself into. It shouldn't be viewed upon like that.
It would be really, there's a lot of talk about domestic violence, we're anti this, we're anti that
but what programme is there out there going, these women are primo. They're awesome. They're got a set of nuts, they've gone,
I'm not having this, I'm not having this in front of my kids.
I'm not having this lifestyle.
I'm not going to have my sons grow up seeing their mother feeling like this, or in tears or being hit or sworn at,
because I want my sons to grow up to be strong men.
Where's the support for those women? Where's that voice? That, I would like to see.
The whole situation's sort of heartbreaking cause you look at it and
you've got your own relationship to deal with and how you feel about that person
and then you've got the two kids to look after and you've got the animals and
I found myself staying, my last relationship I stayed in it for too long because
I found myself staying, my last relationship I stayed in it for too long because the whole, the bigger picture. I have to move house.
the whole, the bigger picture. I have to move house.
We're going to have to separate everything out.
I've got no money, so I have to go back on the benefit. How am I going to get a bond for a house?
How are the kids going to feel about us, and we have to uproot them out of school.
It's overwhelming, it's scary, it's terrifying.
And all of a sudden you're on your own
but you make that, well I, I made that choice because it was what was best for my kids.
I didn't wanna upset them and I thought if I just sucked it up,
ya know, if I just suck this up then I don't have to upset their lives.
We don't have to move house again, and go through that again.
It's just shit to be honest. It's shit.
I've tried watching Parliamentary TV, I watched it on the news, um, like the morning show.
And I hear these politicians speak and I do not understand a single thing that they are talking about.
What I care about is my kids and what's in their future and their best interest.
Maybe if they toned it down a little bit and actually spoke a language that I could understand then I would engage more.
I would probably care more.
But I simply, I just don't understand what they're talking about.
Clearly people who are on the margins of society
feel that society is not necessarily geared up to represent their interests
and that's one reason why they lack interest in politics.
The problem is that if they were to become more interested in politics and if they were to vote
then society would potentially pay a little bit more attention to their problems.
I became homeless. I had lived on the streets for seven years.
It's just horrible.
For me being in that situation it was, and I didn't know where to turn and
I had to go to the streets and ask for where do we eat? Where do we get this?
And I didn't even tell them that I had a newborn baby.
Ya know, they thought I lived in a house. They didn't realise that I lived under the bridge where the cable car was.
Up on the hill with my baby.
And then my baby turned one and then we got a house.
So, its, yeah, I would like to see them do anything for the homeless.
And seeing people begging for money.
And that could be your own brother. You know, my own brother's doing it too. Now.
And he's out there hustling and stuff and
he's been waiting for ages for being housed and it's been four years and my brother's still sleeping on the street.
I just can't put him in the house with me, with my child so,
bit heart wrenching and yeah.
It's just not fair.
When somebody says why don't you vote? It's very confronting
and you aren't wanting to say that really deeper thing which is
I don't think I can have any power to affect change.
I don't think that the people around me listen to me.
I don't feel connected here.
We find that it's pointless voting.
I mean, the government has done all these things for the Homeless Trust, the homeless people
We're not seeing anything and our services are now stretched to the lim.
It's not realistic.
So I think there are a number of reasons why Maori might choose not to vote.
One, for many indigenous peoples, they don't see themselves reflected in the kinds of colonial systems that we have.
Another reason is that actually a lot of times Maori rights and interests aren't protected by the political system that we have.
Kia ora.
The third reason is really around whether you can make a difference or not.
And again, research suggests that people who, particularly when they're younger
make some sort of political change then they're going to participate politically.
I think a lot of Maori young people, rangatahi, don't get those kinds of experiences.
My background is performing arts and sports.
I have five children and a lovely partner.
Very family orientated. We still practice our culture, tradition.
I've never been political or understand whatever goes on in the government.
Just recently when Jacinda came in, then I've sort of started engaging because
just recently, obviously, she's gonna give $24 million to our high school.
And big impact right there.
I mean, yeah I can't really say that I've been connected politically.
Cause I really haven't, it's just come recently.
So Pacific community engagement with voting in this country, I think
historically it's been non-responsive or there's been low engagement and
I think a lot of that has to do with, I guess historical mistrust.
For instance, let's use Samoa as an example.
You have a New Zealand system that stripped Samoans of their chiefly titles.
And then of course, in the late 70's, the dawn raids.
So all this imperialist kind of, colonialist activity
that worked negatively against Pacific people are still ingrained in the minds
and so when you have that kind of traumatic historical bad after-taste
you can imagine that there would be a sense of mistrust with our current government.
To get Pacific communities on board, what type of messaging are they portraying in terms of
are they really going to look after the collective?
Are they going to look after me and my family? Not me as an individual, but our families.
My sister ran for the Wainuiomata Committee Council
and then that's when I definitely voted.
Um but previous years, 20 odd years, not once.
My sister, she made me see a whole heap of information that
was important about voting.
Once she's in, then whatever our issues or things that we would like to see done
she can voice that for us.
It is important to engage in voting but I think the question, we need to flip it around.
Because we've had 125 years since women had the right to vote and we are still struggling to make voting relevant
and actually what we should be asking is:
Why is it so difficult for people to actually feel that they have a voice?
Because the moment people think, oh I can have a say
they will.
So when they see a politician that they're interested in,
an issue that they care about
they're given the resources and the opportunity and the support, people will vote.
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