Advertised salaries are growing at a faster rate than inflation, and police have reopened a 2004 sex crime cold case. Video / NZ Herald, Getty Images
The Far North’s youngest-ever mayor reckons it’s time more people of his generation got into politics, saying those who think he’s too green for the job tend to be around his age, rather than those of an older generation.
Kaikohe local Moko Tepania – who was just 31 when he was elected to the district’s top job in 2022 – says despite what people may think, the older folk he met on the campaign trail were “excited” by his youth.
“There is ageism here and there, but I would say the majority of ageism comes from my own generation. People who are my age or younger, they’re like, ‘Do you think you’re old enough to do this? We would never want to do it!’” he told Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night.
“But I’ve found older generations, they put me in this job, you know? During the last election campaign, whenever I’d meet pensioners, retirees, anything like that, man, they were so excited, eh? They were like, ‘Hey, some young blood, this is what we want. I’m gonna put my eggs in your basket, mate’.
“I’ve got some really good mates now who have all got SuperGold cards.”
Moko Tepania was 31 when he was elected to the district’s top job in 2022. Photo / Tania Whyte
Tepania is one of a spate of young politicians coming up through the ranks in New Zealand, alongside the likes of Gore Mayor Ben Bell, Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick, Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell.
Tepania believes there’s a change in the wind when it comes to age dictating when one can enter politics.
“In the last term, when I was a councillor, I was co-chair with [now-Green MP] Lan Pham for our young elected members committee – a network of anyone under 40 in local government,” he told Cowan.
“Over the past lot of elections, it went from being only 3% [of elected members under 40] to 7%, to 14%, to I think in the latest election, it’s about 16% now – so it’s consistently grown election period over election period.
Tepania's approach to keeping himself healthy in the role of mayor is inspired by Sir Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Wha model. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Tepania says the number of young people who have been getting into positions across councils has “been really cool to see”, but he would still like to see more.
“In Aotearoa, over 20% of the population are between 18 and 40, so I’d love to see it at least on par because I want our councils to be genuine reflections of the communities that they serve.
“This is probably surprising, but I wouldn’t want 11 of me on my council ... I only bring what I bring to the table in my perspective. You want the table to represent the people that we serve, so you want there to be different perspectives, different people, and different backgrounds at the table.”
Tepania told Real Life his approach to keeping himself healthy in the role of mayor is inspired by Sir Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Wha model, which promotes balance across physical, spiritual, mental and social aspects of one’s wellbeing.
His Catholic faith remains a core part of his identity.
“It is very grounding to have karakia and faith and our atua in my life. I have to lean on that, and it’s something I’ve always grown up with and that I’ll have as a part of my life forever.”
“I pray every single morning and every night. I pray for everything all the time, but definitely those big decisions. I’m an academic, so you get all of the information that you need to make a decision, but then you have to go with what you know is right.
“My nan always brought us up to do everything with tika, pono and aroha – do what’s right, do what’s true, and make sure you have empathy with everything you do; faith, hope, and love.
“And so we can have all of the information in the world to make a sound decision, but I also like to pray on it and think, is it the right thing to do? Because it might be great for us to can this thing or this decision, but is that right for our people?”
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7:30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here
