WHEREVER Kelvin Davis goes, everyone knows who he is. This is thanks to his bright red, moving billboard Ford Falcon, which has the words "Kelvin Davis, MP" emblazoned conspicuously across both its sides (something I, as his daughter, am painfully aware of).
He is a Labour List MP and frequently
appears voicing his opinions on current events programmes such as Marae, Te Kaea and Te Karere.
His newspaper column, From the Back Bench, is a regular in the Northland Age. He works as the Labour spokesperson for tourism and special education, and as the associate spokesperson for education and maori affairs.
Today, Davis is not heatedly debating in Parliament, speaking at hui or attending various other functions around the North; he is sprawled across the faded blue couch in his Kaitaia home, wearing old rugby shorts and a t-shirt, relaxing and enjoying the little time off his busy schedule allows.
Before becoming a Labour List MP in 2008, Davis was the principal of Kaitaia Intermediate School, which at the time was considered one of the most "at risk" schools north of Auckland.
His work there gained the attention of the Labour Party, which needed a new candidate to stand for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate in the 2008 election.
"They had seen my work at Kaitaia Intermediate and they believed I was someone who could contribute to the Labour Party," he says.
I ask why he left his stable school position to take the plunge into the dog-eat-dog world of politics.
"I was ready to leave education," Davis says. He took six weeks to consider the offer and in the end decided to "go for it", stating he "didn't want to live life with any regrets, and maybe in 10 years' time be sitting around saying 'I wonder what would have happened if I'd given it a shot'."
Davis is seated in the back benches of Parliament, but his eventual aim is to become the Minister of Education, should the Labour Party become government.
"When you're a Minister, that's when you can really influence the direction that things go."
He believes his knowledge and background in education will allow him to "do the most good for Maori".
Davis credits most of his achievements to his ability to speak te reo Maori.
"Every job I've ever had has been the result of me being able to speak Maori." He feels privileged to be able to speak Maori, as "a lot of other people can't, and they're at a loss in terms of their Maoritanga".
"It's a privilege being able to understand what people are saying, and understand our history. It's a privilege being Maori."
The Kawakawa raised, former small-town principal has hit the big time, so to speak, and plans to use his position to make a difference to Maori and education in New Zealand.
"Everything just sort of happened to me," he says, "but then again, you make your own luck, and I worked hard as a teacher and as a principal, and I guess it opened opportunities for me to do other things."
"I haven't really set out with any great ambition, just wanting to do whatever job I had to the best of my ability, and the opportunities opened up.''
Interview over, Kelvin Davis, MP, settles back into the couch.
"Okey dokey," he says, "can I go back to my movie?"
Kelly Davis, Year 12, Kaitaia College
WHEREVER Kelvin Davis goes, everyone knows who he is. This is thanks to his bright red, moving billboard Ford Falcon, which has the words "Kelvin Davis, MP" emblazoned conspicuously across both its sides (something I, as his daughter, am painfully aware of).
He is a Labour List MP and frequently
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