Tommy Wilson: Sea change of thinking needed to play the bigger game

The new dream team of young and gorgeous guns within Labour led by Jacinda Ardern, pictured with Andrew Little, could well turn the tide against National. Photo/File

Ever since I sold newspapers outside the pub as an 11-year-old, I have always read the business section of the daily paper.

I guess it was because standing outside under a single lightbulb reading the paper was a lot more pleasant than sitting inside the entrance to the "boozer" listening to and watching the ugly juice take its toll on the men inside - many of whom were my uncles, neighbours and Dad's mates.

So, I would read the paper from cover to cover and started to see a pattern in politics and business that suggested they were both games.

A lot of my mates - back then and even now, find it somewhat strange that I am interested in anything other than the sports page of the daily newspaper. My reply is "both are games (sport and business) and the more you train by understanding their rules and regulations, identifying talented players and putting your best team on the paddock - the better you get at them".

Buy Ports of Tauranga, Comvita will come back strong next Manuka season and anything the Katikati Titanium King does is well worth investing in. This means nothing to my mates but will to many astute investors, while ethical investments such as organics will be a future focus on share portfolios, as the next generation kicks in to play the business game.

The same could be said of the game of politics.

Maori are natural at playing games, especially sporting ones. The challenge is to learn how to play the business and political games, and there have been some very optimistic signs this last week of this being played out by the super coach of the Maori Party; Tukuroirangi Morgan.

Winston no longer has this game of thrones to himself when it comes to being a game changer or king maker, as his old NZ First mate Tuku has tamed Kingi Tuhetia and the Kingitanga movement by appointing the king's main man, Rahul Papa, to run against Labour's Manaia Mahuta.

Mahuta who was back-benched by Labour is perceived to have lost her mana, given she has held the seat for the last 18 years, and now it is "game on" to see who will be kingmaker on September 23.

As an observer, sitting on the sideline watching the posturing of politics in this game of thrones, Tainui Tuku has played a master stroke against both Te Winitana and Te Anaru (Peters and Little), by shifting the Kingitanga movement from a Labour power base, who were outside the tent, to a guaranteed seat at the table with The Maori/Mana Party - should National succeed.

And the odds of that happening are as good as they were at the last election.

However, the new dream team of young and gorgeous guns within Labour, led by Jacinda Ardern, could well turn the tide against National and, from a game-changer point of view, I would love to see that happen this election.

What happens the day after September 23 is where the real election action will take place.

The parallels between the political and business games from a player's point of view are almost mirrored in my opinion.

To win you need to overcome patch protection and individual egos, then form a dream team.

Locally, we as the three Iwi of Tauranga Moana, as do the Iwi of Rotorua, need to play the game better if we are to stand alongside the "super tribes". For this to happen there needs to be a sea change of thinking - by better understanding the economies of scale that allow you to sit at the big table with the other "super 14" tribes. Conversely, the longer we sit in silos - supposedly protecting the settlement putea (funds) - the sooner we will shrink to a third-division team.

Easier said than done many would say, given the cross-claims and counter-korero made during the recent treaty settlements.

Not so.

For Maori, we need only to look at the Super Tribes of Iwi who have learned to play Super 14 and let their leaders like Tuku Morgan, Mark Solomon, Ngarimu Blair and Ngahiwi Tomoana coach their teams.

It was no surprise for me to see business dealings of more than $150 million done during the recent kapahaka festival in Kahungungu (Hawkes Bay) - a master stroke engineered by Ngahiwi.

These are names of iwi and their leaders we will see more and more as success stories. Stories told in the pages of newspapers up and down the land of the long brown business crowd.

The game changer for the emerging iwi to learn from the big boys is to know when to let go and let leaders who see and understand the game lead.

Locally, Maori will be electing a new leader for the Mauao Ward to sit on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in two weeks' time. The ability to bridge-build at the big table and negotiate, should be paramount when choosing a candidate - if we are to move forward.

The game of politics and business for me are the same. If you want to win and feed your people, you must be at the table.

Tommy Kapai is a best-selling author and writer.

broblack@xtra.co.nz