He’s an electorate-only candidate in the safest of safe Labour seats, but the outspoken artist/wrestler isn’t campaigning to get himself into parliament – it’s all about the party.
It’s an early afternoon in South Auckland, and Herbs’ ‘Dragons and Demons’ is vibrating through the stereos inside the Wanderers Club in Māngere. It’s been said that this pub was once a favourite watering hole of former prime minister David Lange, but today, it’s the locals bearing gap-toothed smiles and jugs of beer who have the run of the joint. Looking somewhat out of place is Michel Mulipola, the Green Party hopeful wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the trans pride flag and the slogan “protect the dolls”. He sips from a mason jar filled with water as he maps out the plan to make this red seat bleed green, but God forbid that results in him becoming a parliamentarian.
Since its inception in 1969, the Māngere electorate has only ever been represented by a Labour Party MP (including Lange). Incumbent Lemauga Lydia Sosene won her seat with the biggest margin of any Labour candidate in 2023, and she’s likely to romp home again this year. Though Mulipola is an electorate-only candidate, he’s happy to let her win. Being the next local MP would be the “worst-case scenario”, he says. “I don’t want to be an MP, I don’t want a portfolio, I don’t want to be in parliament. My goal is to grow the south-side Greens and create a sustainable movement for this election and beyond.”
Mulipola, known online as the Bloody Samoan, says Labour loyalty is inherited among the many Pasifika families living across South Auckland. But his conviction that “Green policies serve our people best” has seen him reluctantly rise to replace the party’s original Māngere candidate (Timoti Te Moke, who is now running as an independent), and “flip the script” in terms of running a campaign. He knows the Greens have sometimes been “detached” from Pasifika and Māori communities, “which is why it was a good idea for me to run. So they can see themselves.”
Mulipola says he’s been trying to “find the right delivery system” to “create the shift” in political allegiances. At his first community event, he and Green Ōtāhuhu candidate Te Whatanui Skipwith sat cross-legged in a circle with voters from their neighbouring electorates and listened to them speak about their communities. “It’s not all doom and gloom,” Mulipola promises – more of a chance to acknowledge what’s working and what isn’t. “I like to refer to it as tangata lālanga, the woven people; all of us woven together in the same struggle,” Mulipola says. “It’s like the woven sail of a waka – flexible, strong and tightened, to get us where we need to be.”
In Māngere, voters’ concerns range from the cost-of-living crisis to more local issues, such as Māngere having some of the lowest tree coverage in Auckland. Then there’s Te Ararata stream, central to Māngere, which has seen new housing developments pop up along its edges. While families in this electorate are desperate for more (affordable) homes, some mana whenua are worried about the impacts on the stream. “These developments are needed, but they need to be considerate of te taiao,” Mulipola says. “All of these things are interconnected… Nothing really exists in a void or vacuum that doesn’t come into contact with anything else.”
It’s a shame that someone with so much care for their neighbourhood wouldn’t want to represent it in parliament. But that would mean Mulipola would have to give up the dream he’s living already, of being an artist who moonlights as a professional wrestler and is in the top 8% of Tekken players worldwide. He’s hustled a childhood love of art and comic books (X-Men in particular, which Mulipola figures might have also inspired his political values) into an award-winning career that has included projects with Marvel and WWE. Most recently, Mulipola was working from a South Auckland garage as a story artist on Moana 2. “I want to show young people that there’s so many ways you can be something, while still being in the community,” Mulipola says. “You can work for the biggest company in the world, and still keep it in the hood.”
But there are other downsides to being a public figure in the political space. When Mulipola’s candidacy was announced, there was backlash to social media posts he had made earlier – in particular, one about David Seymour being a “piece of shit” that the Act Party leader cried foul over. Mulipola took it in his stride. “They don’t give a damn about South Auckland. The fact that they were willing to attack me… showed me they were afraid of people like me,” he says.
There are ways to be a political advocate without having to take a seat in the House of Representatives and play by parliament’s rules, and Mulipola doesn’t mind staying in his lane. He’s happy to be an adviser if arts and culture minister Paul Goldsmith comes knocking, but once the campaigning is over, it’s back to normal life for Mulipola. Which looks like working with schools to get rangatahi engaged in the arts and help them understand that “expression is the opposite of depression”.
“I felt like I never really had a voice, but the more I create, the more I expressed myself, the more power my voice gained through the arts,” Mulipola says. “Now, I can’t shut the hell up.”
THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A
How much should a pint cost?
As a non-drinker, I have no idea.
Do you have a karaoke go-to?
I’m notorious for my karaoke choices at Māoriland Film Festival. I do have a few in my pocket, but the one that hit the hardest last year at Māoriland was ‘Hot to Go’ by Chappell Roan. This year I sang ‘Bring Me to Life’ by Evanescence. Everyone was cracking up. Here’s the thing: I actually love singing songs by women, because I love the idea of someone who looks like me singing it. Let’s break down gender barriers.
Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?
I do like an Ollie’s thick shake [in Royal Oak, Auckland], expensive as they are now. They use actual ice cream and a bit of syrup, and you can get flavours like orange chocolate chip or banana chocolate chip. I also like to hit up Night n’ Day.
Which three candidates would be on your pub quiz team?
I would have Donald Mackenzie Mayo [Green candidate for Tāmaki], because he organised a quiz event for the MET Greens [Maungakiekie, Epsom and Tāmaki candidates] a couple of weeks ago and came up with the most stuffed up, amazing quiz categories. He gave us song lyrics in alphabetical order, and you had to figure out where everything went. It was so cooked, but it was amazing.
[Green MP] Scott Willis could be good for sports. And then, because there needs to be more categories about te ao Māori, I’ll put Hūhana [Lyndon, Green MP and candidate for Te Tai Tokerau] in there.
Which candidate from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?
I can’t really think of any, because my mouth would get me in trouble. I can’t really do pleasantries, and my integrity doesn’t allow me to associate with people that have been harmful to my people. Even in the work scene, it just doesn’t feel right to me. I’d have to politely decline.
Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?
Not necessarily alcohol-related, but I loved Kahurangi’s [Carter, Green MP] good samaritan bill. I’m definitely a big fan of anything that makes the people safer. And I would like to see more regulation around alcohol, because for a legal substance, it’s caused some of our most horrific social harms.
What’s a policy area we’ve been nursing without finishing the glass?
It’s the arts and culture stuff, right? When our arts thrive, our society thrives… I would love to see an implementation of what Ireland has now made permanent, which is the universal income for artists. They made it permanent after a trail period, because they found that the money generated by artists having time to make art – rather than working to survive – paid for itself very quick. I guess that’s why I find myself aligned with the Greens; when you look after people and the planet, they have time to create.
What qualities make a good drinking partner?
Someone that’s not sloppy. As someone who doesn’t drink, I’m always happy to be a sober driver. I would much rather people enjoy themselves and get home safely, and my job is to make sure it happens like that.
Have you ever had a Schnapps election moment that made you rethink your political instinct?
No, I think I’ve been very adamant. My great grandfather was a secretary of the mau movement, so my activism and steadfastness is inherited from my tūpuna. I think I’ve been very 10 toes down on a lot of my positions, but I’m not opposed to new evidence if it presents itself.
Up next on One Candidate, One Pint: Max Harris, Labour Party candidate for Tāmaki. Read more One Candidate, One Pint interviews here.
