Taiko Edwards-Haruru to tackle key issues as Whanganui Youth MP

Whanganui MP Carl Bates has announced Whanganui High School student Taiko Edwards-Haruru is his 2025 Youth MP.

A student who aims to foster cultural relationships, combat cyberbullying, and ensure adequate school resources, is Whanganui’s 2025 Youth MP.

Taiko Edwards-Haruru, who is in Year 13 at Whanganui High School, applied for the Youth MP position after seeing it advertised in the school notices.

He plays a range of sports in his spare time including cricket, football, rugby, golf, hockey, netball, and volleyball.

His application, which included an introduction video and sample column, propelled him onto a shortlist of 12 candidates.

They were interviewed by Whanganui MP Carl Bates, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe, South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon, and Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke.

“By involving the mayors it gave us an opportunity to really ensure we had a selection process that reflected that the Youth MP is to represent the wider community,” Bates said.

“We had a very good calibre of applications and it was really great to see the quality of young people we have across the Whanganui electorate.”

Edwards-Haruru’s application was centred around education, mental health, and cultural representation.

His goal with education was to ensure schools had the necessary resources up to a good standard.

“Growing up I went to a primary school that had books that we’d use for everyday learning from the 1980s - we didn’t have any modern books to learn from,” he said.

“That’s one of the reasons I chose education as a key aspect.”

Part of his mental health focus was to prevent and discourage cyberbullying.

“It’s essentially become a norm that needs to be phased out,” he said.

His cultural background inspired him to include cultural representation as a focus in his time as Youth MP.

Edwards-Haruru has Samoan, Cook Island Māori, Tongan, Tahitian, and New Zealand Māori heritage.

“I’m just wanting to be able to foster respect among the different cultures within Whanganui,” he said.

He aimed to go to places throughout the Whanganui electorate to meet people and connect with youth.

“I will be able to meet with the community and foster community-based relationships and just be a voice for all the youth and their ideas,” Edwards-Haruru said.

During his time as Youth MP, Edwards-Haruru will have the chance to sit in on meetings with Bates, get involved in the community and speak in Parliament.

“It’s about providing an opportunity to engage youth perspectives into Parliament and to broaden knowledge of our civic processes in New Zealand and parliamentary process,” Bates said.

Although not all Youth MPs aim to have a career in politics, Bates was the Youth MP for Whanganui in 2000.

“It gave me an opportunity to see different perspectives; I think even as a young person you can get quite caught up in your own bubble,” he said.

Edwards-Haruru will start his position as Whanganui Youth MP on April 28 and finish on August 29. He will go to Wellington for Youth Parliament on July 1-2.

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.