Peeni Henare puts his headphones on a few hours before he is set to do a political debate. He does not want anyone to talk to him as he tries to get in the zone.
Henare has had a few debates recently as he tries to convince Aucklanders on
Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: A day on the campaign trail with Peeni Henare
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Labour MP Peeni Henare gets out and about as part of his campaigning for the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection next month. Photo / Julia Gabel
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Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board member Harry Fatu Toleafoa jests with the crowd about the traditionally low voter turnout in South Auckland, saying they were the last to turn up to vote but the first to complain. This was often because of a sense of distrust of the state, he said.
The “young, brown population” were at the wrong end of many statistics and one way to change that was getting more people from their community into Parliament.
“If the state is not going to help us, our communities will.”
Toleafoa told the Herald the way Henare and Kaipara had conducted themselves in debates was beautiful – “it’s a different, refreshing style of politics where we can advocate for our communities but it’s underpinned by respect”.
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Having more Māori and Pasifika in Parliament was a way of “bridging that gap in the trust between communities and state because you see more of your people in House – whether that is Uncle Peeni or Aunty Oriini”.
In the 2023 general election, the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate had the lowest voter turnout of seven Māori electorates. There are around 43,755 people enrolled to vote in Tāmaki Makaurau with almost half of those under the age of 40.
The electorate includes much of the south, east and western suburbs, but not the North Shore.
Henare is slightly concerned people might be confusing the byelection with the local body elections after several Aucklanders asked him if he was campaigning to be mayor.
Never fear, though, his right-hand man, Labour MP Shanan Halbert, always has a stack of “Vote Peeni Henare for Tāmaki Makaurau” flyers handy.
During a visit to the recently built Te Pūtahi Māori o Manurewa school in South Auckland, Halbert hands out flyers to a couple of staff members working in the corner.
“This is like the rebirth of a leader,” Halbert says quietly.
Henare held the seat for almost 10 years before he was dethroned in 2023 by Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp by 42 votes. Her death this year after battling kidney disease has prompted this byelection.
If Halbert is Henare’s right-hand man, then Willie Jackson is his left. Henare says he struggles sometimes with the idea of walking up to strangers and coaxing them to vote for him.
That’s a job he likes to leave for Jackson wherever possible.
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This weekend, Jackson will drive around Auckland with a loudspeaker on the top of his truck telling people to vote for Henare.
“He is a bit whakamā [shy] with that. He has been especially brought up; he’s a master in the language and Māori culture and part of that is humility,” Jackson says.
“He has a humility that very few politicians have. He’s not an out-the-front type of politician ... my job is to not only introduce him but to fight for him sometimes.”
A 15-year-old student at the Manurewa kura said he liked Kaipara and Henare because they were both “pro-youth, pro-Māori”. Henare’s speech to the students was inspiring, he said.
He was concerned about issues affecting Māori, such as the now-defeated Treaty Principles Bill and the cutting of Māori words from junior education books.
“I find it frustrating, not really being seen by anyone else. As a child from the south side, I don’t really feel seen much from Parliamentarians at the moment, having no one to back us up.”
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He said he came from a traditionally Labour-voting family, but recently Te Pāti Māori had caught his attention.
“I think the opinions of my family right now is Labour has done a lot for us. Me personally, I think the Māori Party can bring us forward into the future.”
He said he liked Te Pāti Māori because they “push boundaries”.
“As we saw last year, when they did a haka in Parliament that was never seen before. Breaking rules is great. I think rules are meant to be broken. A lot of things have been [unfairly] put in place for us Māori and I do think it is time to break those boundaries.”
Henare visits a garden run by Auckland mana whenua Ngāti Whatua. The 80ha block grows plants and vegetables for the council, top-rated Auckland CBD restaurants and for public purchase.
Henare grabs his gumboots from the back of his car and sits down on a bucket in the garden in his suit. He untangles weeds from native grasses with roots so long and deep they are used to hold up embankments.
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Kaipara and Henare have spoken in debates about their deep-rooted connections to their people – it’s why they have both put their hat in the ring for the mandate to represent many Auckland Māori in Parliament.
A decision on who the Māori roll voters of Auckland want to fill this role will be revealed on September 6.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.