Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Kiwi author Max Harris to talk politics at Escape! festival

Bay of Plenty Times
27 May, 2018 03:48 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

It's a juggling act but Max Harris is keen to see younger people voting. Photo / Supplied

It's a juggling act but Max Harris is keen to see younger people voting. Photo / Supplied

IN 2014 Max Harris, a 26-year-old Kiwi working in Helen Clark's office at the United Nations in New York, fainted. He was diagnosed with Loeys-Dietz syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that often enlarges the aorta, likely to fatally weaken it. At the end of that year he had successful heart surgery.

In his 2017 book The New Zealand Project, Harris writes, "What would you do if you came this close to death and were then offered seven years of funding to do anything you wanted? When I told an audience at an early discussion of this project that my answer was 'write about New Zealand politics', they laughed. But to me it made sense."

Harris, whose PhD at Oxford University is on executive power in the age of Brexit and Donald Trump, is coming to Tauranga for next month's Escape! festival - and although watching from afar, is giving the Labour-led coalition Government a cautious pass mark.
"The new Government has been more vocal about values of empathy, kindness, and manaakitanga — and has started building a set of social policies to realise those values. They deserve credit for that.

The challenge is still to unwind some of the deeper causes of rampant individualism, which include a tax system that fosters inequality."

As a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University Harris gained a master's and a bachelor's degree, and also has a law/arts conjoint degree from Auckland University.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He has worked at the Supreme Court as a clerk for Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, as well as short stints at the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet (as a speechwriting intern) and the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

Harris is keen to see younger people voting, but admits there is no one answer to mobilising this age group.

"There are different reasons why young Maori, young recent migrants, young Pasifika, and younger people in lower socio-economic brackets don't vote," he says. "Part of the solution is rebuilding community so people feel they have a stake in the election.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Another part is presenting a politics that takes young people's futures seriously — by addressing long-standing problems such as incarceration, climate change, or inequality, even where they require political courage."

Although his detractors may dismiss him as an idealist, Harris is comfortable wearing that badge.

"I think it's important to be practical and specific about the changes we want in politics. But there's also a need for idealism and ambition, because it's through having high hopes and big dreams that we can mobilise people into action.

"It's through having ideals that we decide how our politics is falling short of what we need, and where we want to go in the future."

Max Harris talks about The New Zealand Project on Friday, June 1, at Baycourt and on Saturday, June 2, leads a panel discussion with MP Todd Muller, financial journalist Bernard Hickey and social affairs writer Emma Espiner. Tickets from www.ticketek.co.nz or Baycourt. See the full Escape! programme at www.taurangafestival.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM

The man apologised to his victim, but pleaded not guilty.

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

07 Jul 06:38 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP