*This is an opinion piece and does not represent the opinion of The Times and any of its subsidiaries.*
Election night in Dunedin. It was stressful as hell. The Change for Te Pōti Māori bus had been riding across New Zealand, campaigning for a new MP. But our projection was showing we’d lose. Māori Television predicted a narrow National hold. Early results were showing me in the lead, but I wasn’t so sure. I wasn’t gonna make any speech until the results were finalised. Across the nation, the Greens had made gains. Almost all of our constitiuency candidates had won their seats. We looked to increase our vote and caucus. But Te Pōti Māori was on a knife’s edge. I knew how hard loss was, this was the third time I’d run for Te Pōti Māori, and I hadn’t won once. Then, the final declaration. AnswerMeNow1, 50.28%. That number will stay in my head until I die. I was braced for a loss, but it didn’t come. There was a sense of the whole thing just being surreal, too good to be true. But then my supprters cheered and my wife cheered and my children cheered. And I knew it was true. But our battle wasn’t over. I’ll admit, I wasn’t around for negotiaions with Reform as much as I’d like to have been. In sort of cruel irony, the majority of my time that could have been spent figting for progressive deals for our tangata whenua was spent actually preparing to represent our tangata whenua. My office as a list MP had been in my hometown of Christchurch, but Te Pōti Māori spans the whole country, so I felt that I needed more offices. We bought one in Auckland and one in Wellington. I was spending the majority of my time there. But I still played a part in negotiations, and I’m glad we didn’t compromise on our principles. Then, there was the night of alpine-‘s announcement. /u/imnofox and I were in Bowen House, watching the news with the constant updates. We’re both admittedly different people, and that showed. When the words “Liberal” left alpine-‘s mouth, however, we both knew what was happening. We looked at each other for a moment. My face was one of shock, then sadness. imnofox just looked at me and said “that’s a relief.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Then, imnofox got a call. Jeanette Fitzimmons, former Greens co-leader, had invited us and the caucus to her farm in Coromandel. We were game. The flight from Wellington gave us time to prepare a speech. And then we gave one. I was still in shock that we had lost. But we had. Nothing could change that. But forming a strong opposition that holds this government to account is a hell of a consolation prize.
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