Ali Muhammad.
Ōtaki electorate Green MP candidate Ali Muhammad talks fast. But then, he’s got plenty to say ahead of the October election.
Muhammad was just 15 when he arrived in New Zealand with his mother and three siblings. After spending six weeks at the refugee centre in Mangere they were sent to live in Palmerston North.
“I love Palmy. I love this part of the country. It’s not Barcelona or Madrid, but it’s home,” he said.
He’s now 23. He pulls up in a modest 2008 Toyota. He’s wearing a light brown suede suit and worn, pointy leather shoes that match. No thanks to coffee. In an hour or two he was off for the official campaign launch down the road in Ōtaki, meeting up with fellow Green candidates Teanau Tuiono and Bernard Long and party faithful at the Ōtaki Memorial Hall.
He hasn’t got long to make an impact in his adopted electorate, a seat currently held by Labour MP Terisa Ngobi. His party predecessor Bernard Long received 2135 votes compared to Ngobi’s 21,867 majority in the 2020 general election.
Muhammad’s family fled Afghanistan for Pakistan in 1990 when the Taliban took control of his home country. He was born and raised in Pakistan and has never visited Afghanistan.
When he was 5, his mother went to every school begging to enrol him. It was only when a relative became a school principal that he was accepted. After school he worked in a factory, then spent an hour at night at an English language learning centre.
His family were one of 12 families to resettle in Palmerston North. He said they were grateful to be in New Zealand, but he initially found it hard to fit in. As a teenager he became a loner. The school environment was “harsh” towards young ethnic people and he admitted to suffering from anxiety and depression.
University gave him a sense of identity and he studied hard, but it was through sport that he was able to really break down barriers. He started playing and refereeing football.
“I had some great mentors who inspired and motivated me ... training with them showed me the possibilities and changed my mentality towards a lot of things,” he said.
“I was struggling with my physical wellbeing at the time, but seeing these fit referees who travelled every weekend to referee was inspiring. I wished I could become like them. They were a great source of motivation.”
He now umpired Federation league games and national youth games and hoped to one day referee in a World Cup match.
“It’s a real privilege and has taken me to some great places,” he said.
There were parallels between referring and politics. He knows you can cop sideline criticism in both, but is happy to take on criticism - if it is valid.
“It’s fine. It can be emotional, but so is politics. It’s really helped me develop a thick skin,” he said.
Muhammad’s real name was Wajahat. Ali was one of his middle names, so he went with that because it rolls off the tongue and he realised it was easier for people to remember.
He is critical of the current refugee quota system and the reunification process in New Zealand which he said is a lottery and unfair. Some are reunited within a year. For others, it can take much longer. His own father is still in Pakistan, hoping one day to be reunited with his family.
Muhammad was 11 the last time he saw his father. He offered an opinion piece to Horowhenua Chronicle recently that coincided with World Refugee Day. He used it as a chance to address problems he saw with the reunification of refugees with family members they leave behind.
It was important that families were reconnected. It was a question of upholding human dignity, he said.
“For too long, this process has been shrouded in uncertainty and randomness, relying on a lottery-based system that fails to provide the compassionate, fair, transparent, and certain pathway that is needed. Families torn apart by conflict or persecution deserve better,” he said.
“It is imperative that the system for refugee family reunification be overhauled to ensure that it aligns with our values of compassion and fairness. This means moving away from a lottery-based approach and implementing a system that is guided by clearly published priorities and standards of acceptance. Such an approach would allow families to have a realistic understanding of their chances of being reunited, reducing the anxiety and uncertainty that they face.”
The system needed structure and certainty around time frames. It should prioritise the most vulnerable individuals and families, survivors of violence and torture, unaccompanied minors, and those with medical needs, he said.
“Refugees are not just statistics or burdens on society. They are individuals with dreams, aspirations, and talents that can contribute positively to their host communities,” he said.
He said people were more productive when they were together with family and happy.
Fewer refugees were taken into New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic and Muhammed wants to see the refugee annual quota increase from 1500 to as many as 5000 by 2026.
Seeing the challenges and struggles of displacement and resettlement gave him a unique perspective on politics and motivated him to be involved. He saw the work the Green Party had done in advocating for refugees and minorities.
Through his work as a student advocate at Massey University he met Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick.
“Listening to her I realised you can be in a position to make change,” he said.
There were initial doubts about joining the Greens, whether being so young and a refugee with brown skin would impact the party: “How would people look at me?
“There were doubts, but I am a person who likes to do things and give things a go rather than worry about the consequences and the support I have had is incredible,” he said.
He wanted to address poverty and said every New Zealander should have a guaranteed minimum income and equitable access to healthcare and education. He was concerned about climate change and wanted to see huge advances in public transport availability and affordability.
“We need more investment in communities, more housing, more infrastructure, more climate resilience, the public transport system is shambolic for a first world country. These issues are very real,” he said.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.