One Candidate, One Pint: Labour's Te Pūoho Katene wants the mandate to carry the mana of the people

'In election time when things are getting dirty and acerbic, people forget that our communities, particularly Māori communities, vote on hope.'

Some things in politics never change. It's been said that 160-or-so years ago, chief Te Rauparaha drank free of charge at Wellington's famous Thistle Inn pub. And today it keeps his Ngāti Toa mokopuna, Labour candidate Te Pūoho Katene, satiated while on the campaign trail. But this thirst requires something a little stronger than the lager in hand.

The 42-year-old (with no skincare routine, believe it or not) reckons he's "Forrest Gumped" his way here, but that downplays his own mega-boffin abilities. Ten years ago Katene received a Fulbright Scholarship to Stanford University in California, later being accepted into the Obama Foundation Leaders Program (he shares an anecdote from that time with reference to "Barry and Michelle"). Katene actually began his working life as a marine biologist, with his career taking him as far as Japan, and previously toiled in parliament as a private secretary to former primary industries minister Nathan Guy of National.

Te Tai Hauāuru, currently held by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, is a huge stretch of a seat. It extends from Katene's hometown Porirua all the way up to Tokoroa, taking in all of Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki and a chunk of southern Waikao, meaning Katene's campaign is less of a trail and more of a road trip. At the bottom of the electorate, locals worry how they'll survive with shrinking services in their communities. At the top, industry collapse has left more than 150 residents out of jobs. "We owe it to the different communities not to erase their complexities," Katene says, though these issues share the same core: "sheer need".

Which brings Katene to what he hopes will be a central focus should he be elected to parliament: "kūmara economics". He quotes the whakataukī that money is a lot like the vegetable – "its value lies in its ability to feed people". His vision is a future where Māori could "economically emancipate ourselves" from government, supported by their own financial resilience instead of "having to go to a table with a begging bowl". Katene points to community responses to Cyclone Gabrielle and other climate disasters to prove Māori communities know how to best serve their people. "We're done being dependent on systems that don't work, with patriarchal systems that tell us to be good Māoris."

Katene has a kete full of what his team call "TP-isms", whakataukī and other sayings to leave you scratching your chin and thinking "this guy definitely went to Stanford". He quotes CS Lewis when remembering the imposter syndrome of studying in the US ("humility... is thinking of yourself less") and repeats a phrase learned on campus: "You write your values in pen, and your strategies and tactics in pencil." Other sayings come straight off the dome. "The mandate to carry the mana of people is a large responsibility," Katene says. "I always say mandate isn't owned, it's leased, and rent is due every day. You might win it on November 7th, but you don't own it."

The Venn diagram of the campaign "playbook" between the general and Māori seats is "no perfect circle", Katene says. For one, the sheer size of these seats means you're constantly en route. And while some Māori seat holders have grown accustomed to their longevity, Katene says younger Māori need more pathways to becoming kaitiaki for their communities. "We don't vacate the seats... At some point you need to realise the kaupapa does better with you no longer there," Katene says. "I think that's something that we've struggled with; holding on too long."

Katene and I caught up the day before the passing of former Te Tai Hauāuru MP for Labour Adrian Rurawhe, who had held the seat for three terms between 2014 and 2020. His successor already had him in mind: "When we talk about leadership styles and not being a braggadocio kind of personality, Adrian's a good example," Katene says. "He's a real humble leader, a lovely man who cares about people. It's nice to know you can go through three terms [in parliament] and still maintain integrity."

THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A

How much should a pint cost?

I think about $8.

Do you have a karaoke go-to?

The one that I always come back to is 'Tell It Like It Is' by Aaron Neville.

Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?

I'm a whisky drinker. I might have one sitting outside by the ocean after a long day.

Which three candidates would be on your pub quiz team?

[Labour's Tāmaki candidate] Max Harris, really smart guy. A fine product of Wellington College. And Rhieve Grey [Labour's Mount Maunganui candidate]. You want CVs? He's got two masters from Oxford. He's just a beautiful man to me... We actually met at Oxford, I sponsored a few students and took them across with me on an experience. It was me, Rhieve and Hana-Rāwhiti [Maipi-Clarke, Te Pāti Māori MP for Hauraki-Waikato].

And I'm going to go with Sophie Handford [Labour's Kapiti candidate]. She's awesome, she's got heart in spades, and she's got so much experience.

Which candidate from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?

I've got a lot of time for Mahesh [Muralidhar, National's Tāmaki candidate]. I used to run a Māori startup accelerator, helping our startups grow to global exporters, and Mahesh used to give us his time to speak about his experience, the work he's done, what to keep an eye on when you're growing your company.

He is selfless. Politics aside, I've seen that he is a good man. I used to be a private secretary in parliament, and what I've seen is, generally, people are trying to make New Zealand better. We just disagree on the how. In election time when things are getting dirty and acerbic, people forget that our communities, particularly Māori communities, vote on hope.

Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?

I've always thought about the number of bottle stores we have in poor communities. Part of this is taken from Michelle Obama's focus on food deserts. These things happen almost insidiously, by design, and it's entrenching [anti-social] behaviours in vulnerable communities.

It's the same thing when I go out into Porirua, [and see] the number of loan sharks sitting around the WINZ office. I called the mayor and said, "What the hell is going on?" They're predators waiting for our people.

What’s a policy area we’ve been nursing without finishing the glass?

Easy: recognising the state of Palestine. I mean, this is insane – there's a genocide going on, and we need to pull up our big boy pants and join the rest of our allies like the UK and France, who have put sanctions on them. I can't sit here as a Māori and watch what's happened, and not recognise colonisation. I think it's disgraceful that it's taken this long for us to do it, and I think we need to get on with it.

What qualities make a good drinking partner?

It's interesting stories. It's great when you have someone who can say, "You know, I was mountain climbing on Mount Vesuvius one day..."

Have you ever had a Schnapps election moment where you regretted your political instinct?

I don't think I regretted my political instinct, but I have questioned my view of how important everything is. I remember going out door-knocking in Taihape, and about three of every 10 houses just weren't interested. They say, "It has nothing to do with me. I've never voted." These people are my age and in their 50s, and I stopped and thought, "Am I outside of the norm in terms of how important I think this [election] is?"

There's clearly something being lost in translation for the people who are the most hard hit by the decisions of this parliament, of this government, who just don't see themselves in it. And so sometimes you do feel crestfallen by some of the comments about how helpless people can be. But then you're thinking, "Well, if I'm not at this table, who's going to speak for that person?"

Up next on One Candidate, One Pint: Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, Opportunity Party candidate for Wellington Bays. Read more One Candidate, One Pint interviews here.