Kerre Woodham: You need to know how to play the system to enact change

I've always thought that if you want to change the system, if you feel that the system, whatever it might be, doesn't work for you, the best way is to change it from within. When you live in a democracy, that is one of the beauties of a democracy. You don't have to riot in the streets, you don't have to depose tyrannical dictators, you can use the ballot box to effect change.  

You can also enter the system and change it from within. But only if you take the time to learn how the system works, and only if you're prepared to settle for incremental change rather than spectacular seismic show-stopping change.  

Plenty of people think they can go into Parliament and make a real difference and retire hurt, basically, realising that the system is too big for them to grapple with, that they're not best suited for Parliament. That's across all parties. I remember my own former colleague, Pam Corkery, entered Parliament with the Alliance Party, thinking instead of talking about making change, she'd enter Parliament and try and make the change from within. But she was frustrated – the system stymied her. You’ve seen it with New Zealand First, you've seen it with National, you've seen it with Labour.  

And as Eru Kapa-Kingi has pointed out, activism and politics are completely different beasts. Kapa-Kingi is the driving force behind the protest movement Toitū Te Tiriti, largely responsible for last year's nationwide hikoi to Parliament that drew tens of thousands of protesters. Yesterday, the movement announced it was distancing itself from Te Pāti Māori.  

Eru Kapa-Kingi, he's the son of Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and a former party vice president, said yesterday that Toitū Te Tiriti was not a lobby group for the Māori Party. He went further, claiming Te Pāti Māori had a problematic leadership style, which amounted to effectively, he said, a dictatorship model, as reported by Te Ao Māori News.  

I thought Te Ururoa Flavell spoke really well this morning on the Mike Hosking Breakfast, outlining the problem with activists entering Parliament to advance their goals.  

“I mean, the statement that he's made is politicians need to stop being activists and activists need to stop being politicians, which I think is a fair call. So and in that regard, trying to separate out the movement that he set up, Toitū Te Tiriti, he said that's their focus around the obligations to the Treaty of Waitangi and keeping those at the forefront of the New Zealand society. And then the second part of course is what is the point of a political movement in Parliament and how can they best achieve goals for the best interests of the nation.”   

Right now, Te Pāti Māori are incompetent and impotent politically. They have their core base of voters, much the same as the Greens. The Greens, it's hard to see how effective they could be in Parliament as part of a government.  

Dame Tariana Turia's Te Pāti Māori was not an impotent political force. Dame Turia understood how politics worked. She entered Parliament on the Labour ticket but resigned in 2004 over the Foreshore and Seabed Bill to set up the Māori Party, Te Pāti Māori. She understood politics, she understood the importance of compromise.  

As the Spinoff said in her obituary, an architect of Whanau Ora and Smoke-free Aotearoa, Turia's legacy is one that belies a waning art in politics, knowing when to compromise and how to make it count. In no way was she a sell-out. She stayed true to her own beliefs, she stayed true to acting as a voice for her people, but she knew how to work the system from within. She knew how to make the system work for her and the people she represented.  

Labour would need the Greens and Te Pāti Māori to form a government based on current polling. Yesterday Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Te Pāti Māori looked like they're quite a long way away from being ready to play a constructive role in any future government.  

And again, I'd say the Greens would struggle too. Since the former co-leader James Shaw left Parliament, and again, that was a man who understood how Parliament worked, how politics worked, the gentle and powerful art of compromise. But since he's left, there's been the sacking and/or resignation of four MPs —Elizabeth Kerekere, Darleen Tana, Golriz Ghahraman, and Benjamin Doyle— and the party's been distracted with issues advanced by activist MPs, like their anti-police stance. That takes a lot of time to deal with when they could be furthering what the party says it stands for, when they could be advancing the causes of their voters.   

Again, like Te Pāti Māori, they have a core group of voters, people who can't imagine voting for anybody else, who would swallow a dead rat rather than vote for National or New Zealand First, who might reluctantly vote f

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
news Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be I've always thought that if you want to
change the system, if you feel that the system, whatever
it might be, doesn't work for you, the best way
is to change it from within. When you live in
a democracy. That is one of the beauties of a democracy.
You don't have to riot in the streets, you don't

(00:31):
have to depose tyrannical dictators. You can use the balock
box to affect change. You can also enter the system
and change it from within, but only if you take
the time to learn how the system works, and only
if you're prepared to settle for incremental change rather than spectacular,

(00:53):
seismic show stopping change. Plenty of people think they can
go into Parliament and make a real difference and retire hurt,
basically realizing that the system is too big for them
to grapple with, that they're not best suited for parliament.
That's across all parties. I remember my own former colleague,

(01:19):
Pam Corkery, entered Parliament with the Alliance Party thinking instead
of talking about making change, she'd enter Parliament and try
and make the change from within. But she was frustrated
the system. Stymy to her seen it with New Zealand first,
You've seen it with National You've seen it with labor

(01:44):
and as Eru Kapakini has pointed out, really activism and
politics are completely different beasts. Kappa Kingi is the driving
force behind the protest movement Tetinity, largely responsible for last
year's nationwide hecoid to Parliament that drew tens of thousands
of protesters. Yesterday, the movie announced it was distancing itself

(02:08):
from Tepati Maori. Eru Kapakinghi, he's the son of Tapati
Mauri MP Maria Meno Kappa Kinghi and a former party
vice president, said yesterday that Totu Tetiiti was not a
lobby group for the Marii party. He went further claiming
Tepati Maori had a problematic leadership style which amounted to, effectively,

(02:33):
he said, a dictatorship model. As reported by Teo al
Maori News, I thought tey Ududo of Flavel spoke really
well this morning on the microsking Breakfast outlining the problem
with activists entering parliament to advance their goals.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
I mean the statement he's made as politicians need to
stop being activists and activists need to stop being politicians,
which I think is a fair call. So and in
that regard trying to separate out the movement that he
set up to he said that that's a focus around
the obligations to the Treaty of Whiting and keeping those

(03:08):
at the forefront of the New Zealand society. And then
the second part of courses is what is the point
of the political movement in parliament and how can they
best achieve goals for the best interest solve the nation.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
That was teut Do of Flavel, former party leader of Tapatimuri,
speaking to Mike Costing this morning. Right now, Tapati Mauri
are incompetent and impotent politically. They have their core base
of voters much the same as the Greens. The Greens,

(03:45):
it's hard to see how effective they could be in
parliament as part of a government. Dame Tariana Turia's Tapati
Mauri was not an impotent political force. Turia understood. Dame
Turia understood how politics worked. She entered Parliament on the

(04:08):
Labor ticket, but resigned in two thousand and four over
the Foreshore and Seabed Bill to set up the Maori
Party to Partimori. She understood politics. She understood the importance
of compromise. As the spin off said in her obituary,
an architect of funo order and smoke free Altor Turia's

(04:31):
legacy is one that belies a waning art in politics,
knowing when to compromise and how to make it count.
In no way was she a sellout. She stayed true
to her own beliefs. She stayed true to acting as
a voice for her people. But she knew how to
work the system from within. She knew how to make

(04:53):
the system work for her and the people she represented.
Labour would need the Greens and Tapatu Maori to form
a government based on current polling. Yesterday, Labor leader Chris
Hipkins said to Pati Maori looked like the they are
quite a long way away from being ready to play
a constructive role in any future government. And again I'd

(05:13):
say the Greens would struggle too since the former co
leader James Shaw left parliament. And again that was a
man who understood how parliament worked, how politics worked, the
gentle and powerful art of compromise. But since he's left,
there's been the sacking and all resignation of four MPs

(05:35):
Elizabeth Kitty, Kitty Darling, Tana Golrez Garaman and Benjamin Doyle.
And the parties been distracted with issues advanced by activist MPs,
like their anti police stants that takes a lot of
time to deal with when they could be furthering what
the party says it stands for, when they could be
advancing the causes of their voters are gained. Like Tepati Marii.

(06:00):
They have a core group of voters, people who can't
imagine voting for anybody else, who would swallow a dead
rat rather than vote for National or New Zealand first,
who might reluctantly vote for Labor, but who are Greens
through and through. But it's knowing how to use that power,

(06:23):
knowing how to use the system, knowing how to use
that voter base that gets causes advanced. The shouting, the posturing,
the activism doesn't work within the system. If you want
to effect change, you have to know how the system works,

(06:47):
and you have to know how to play it.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
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