Nicola Alpe: Dear team of one million - why Kiwis living overseas need to do more

We all feel frustrated after three long months in lockdown, writes Nicola Alpe. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

The team of five million business was inspiring at the start. Now it's had its day, like the nek minnit moment. I'm not sure anyone is using it with the earnest passion it started out with, but I'm going to have to use it because I'm at a loss of what else to call you.

You may feel like you are powerless right now, and for the most part I have to agree that you are. But we all are. We are all frustrated and fearful, some not so much of Covid itself but about businesses, relatives and friends who need a visit, when we will join the rest of the world in learning to co-exist alongside the virus and managing our own risk. You may not be able to get in to the country, but if we leave we don't know whether we can get back in again, or even visit other DHB regions.

Much has been made of the efforts of the team of 5 million. Much has been made about your team, albeit by a vocal and vitriolic minority, who have obviously never considered the logistics of packing up a life within days and scrambling for flights as they are slashed from schedules worldwide. But are you aware of how powerful you actually are, or could be, if you engaged?

I have my doubts as to whether one million New Zealanders are living overseas. Why? Well if there are, why was it that for the 2020 election only 72,759, or 7 per cent, of overseas citizens were enrolled to vote? It's a rather apathetic show.

I spoke to several friends and contacts living overseas, part of the Team. Many of them no longer vote in the New Zealand elections. Furthermore, many are ineligible to vote in their current country of residence. Some are fully committed to where they are for myriad reasons and have said goodbye to these shores and their politics, but many are still tied to New Zealand in some way.

Team, have you held on to your passport? Do you enjoy the security blanket of returning to live here? Have you secured New Zealand passports for your kids, believing that you're giving them an option they may like to exercise in the future? If you say yes to any of these, then I think you need to start planning your next trip to New Zealand.

Oh yes, you need to have visited New Zealand within the three years prior to an election. Unfortunately, your chance to participate in the 2023 election could be difficult given Wellington is closed to making an allowance for border closures. With 2020, 2021 and possibly 2022 out, your window is only open a crack.

Sure, actual politics are not as sexy as Omaha beach, summer weddings in the Bay or festivals, but it all matters. It matters to the future of the country you or your children have the option to call home.

Whichever way you swing, Team, it's time to reengage with New Zealand further than border closures and MIQ. They are important, but we will move on from Covid, and people have short memories. 2023 isn't far away.