‘Raised’ by Helen, now he can vote
Eighteen years after his first ‘political encounter’ Max Long has voted in a New Zealand general election for the first time.
He was too young to remember when, in May 1999 as a fourmonth-old baby he was lifted up by then Labour Party leader Helen Clark at the Plunket Society’s Banquet for the Babies event at the Beehive in Wellington. Fortunately the moment was captured and the photo published in The Dominion. A few months later Clark was elected became prime minister.
After casting their votes on Monday, Max’s dad Jeremy Long posted the old newspaper clipping on Twitter along with a photo of Max and the words ‘‘18 yrs later’’. One of the first to respond was Helen Clark herself, simply stating ‘‘Love it!’’.
Max said to receive a reply from Clark was ‘‘pretty cool’’.
‘‘I would have been about six or seven when I came across the old newspaper clipping in a drawer at home,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a cool photo, and funny because Helen Clark does appear to look a little horrified while holding me.’’
He says that since that time he has not been around any other politicians. ‘‘The closest was when John Key came to our school to talk at assembly, in 2015.’’
Nevertheless, Max, who is in year 13 at Ka¯ piti College in Paraparaumu, does maintain an interest in politics and democracy.
However, despite his encouragement for his peers to follow suit, unfortunately they do not share in his civic engagement.
‘‘They seem to find it boring or difficult to understand, which it’s not really, once you start following it a bit,’’ he said.
‘‘I was keen to vote, too. Dad and I often talk about politics. I guess we’re alike in that and also both reasonably Left wing.’’
In addition to college, Max works as a waiter part-time at a Waikanae Beach cafe. Next year he intends to work full-time to save money, with his plan to go on to study business management at the University of Canterbury.
‘‘I like things entrepreneurial, but basically, in time I want to have my own business.’’