I WISH... AROHANUI WEST
Arohanui West, 21, from Te Arawa
Whānui, was born and raised in Rotorua, but currently living in Tāmaki Makaurau/ Auckland. The former Te Rito journalism cadet has an environmental background having worked in various waste minimisation, wetland restoration and climate action roles. West believes the health and wellbeing of people and the planet are interlinked.
I WISH 10 YEARS AGO I’D KNOWN...
That wh at I wanted when I was younger woul dc hang e. Y ou hav ea vision for your life, but sometimes i td oesn’t go as you pla ni t in your head. I woul d sa y don’t rus h in to anything o rd o something just because everyone else i sd oing i t.I woul da lso probably say don’t be scared to tr yn ew thing sa n dbebadatt hem. It is actually goo dt o d on e w ho bbies you are bad at. Buy quality stuff, know what items you shoul d bu y quality ,a n dd on’t scrimp on them. Jewellery ,a good mattress, winter coats and no fast fashion .Ia ls o wi sh I had known house prices were going t og et lik et hi s–Is hould have tri ed t o buy a house when I was 11.
I WISH I COULD SWAP LIVES WITH…
In reality ,Ipr obably wouldn’t change my life with anyon e. I wouldn’t min dbe ing the bab yo fa really wealthy person, such as Rihanna’s baby. Being bor n in t o in tergenerational wealth. But yo ud o lo se a lot of freedom asafa mous person I ca n im agine. Or o fc ourse, Chri s He msworth’s wi fef or obvious reasons.
I WISH EVERY DAY I COULD EAT…
Nutella cronuts. Or I wish every day Ic ould eat kina, kina on toast. B ut I live in A ucklan da n dt hey are $40 ap ot.
THE PERSON I WISH WAS ON A BANKNOTE IS…
Moana Jackson .I would love if he was represented ono ur money because I think he i sa great example o fa great leader. He was educated, he was wise, he was humbl e, a nd h ed i da lo tf o r te iwi Māori .It hink Māori rangatira aren’t represented an d ce lebrated enough, but we have tauiwi who are.
THE NOISE I WISH I COULD NEVER HEAR AGAIN IS…
Zoom meeting s.M ore specifically ,t he littl ed ing o ft he calendar reminder that you hav eaZ oom meeting in five minutes, and it’s the absolute pani ct h at f ollows because you forgo tab out said meeting. An dt he “you’re on m ute, you’re on m ute” signal s.It hink we’ve just h ad t hree years too long o fZ oom meetings.
I WISH NEW ZEALAND WAS…
Less racist. There are people in Aotearoa who fear “co-governance”. The idea o fc ogovernance over our taonga species scares the he ll o ut o fs om e pe ople an dt hey simply will not hav ea bar of it. Thi sc oncept giv es t hem th e se n se t h at t hey’ll lo se s ome sort o fp ow er t he yh ave ov er t he environment. People who fear co-governance hav es om es ort of assumed privileg et hat our native species are thei rs t om anag e.In addition to thinking the current syste mi sd oing great, the yh ave thi sde luded idea th at s houl dc ogovernan ce c ome into effect, a llof our species will die.
Indigeno us b iodiversit yi s declining at a far greater rate on dairy farm st ha ni t i sat Te Urewera, but I see far more peopl ec omplaining about Tūho ea n d “c ogovernance” than I see about dairy companies. So why are peopl ec oncerned over Te Urewera, when there are far more realisti cc oncern se lsewhere? Could i tbe that because Te Urewera is govern ed b yT ūhoe, people feel entitl edt oh av ea no pinion ?U nder Māori governance, indigeno usb iodiversit yh as been protected, maintained, o re nhanced to a greater degree than under a nyl an dde velopmen tp olicy an da ny governmen tt hat has hel dp ower.
But still, non-Māori contin uet o undermine mātaurang aMā ori until scientists prove it is true. M ywi sh for Aotearoa i st o return Māori lan dt o Māori an dt o allow ust o practi set ino rangatiratang aa nd care for our lan das we know how.
I WISH I COULD LIVE IN…
A TREE HUT, BY A CLEAN RIVER, SURROUNDED BY NATIVE BUSH IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. WITH A BIG FOOD GARDEN. AND I WOULD HAVE A CONTAINER HOME, AND IT WOULD BE A LIBRARY AND I WOULD DO POTTERY AND PAINT. AND I WOULD REPLANT NATIVE PLANTS SO THAT I COULD WATCH THE TŪĪ AND THE KERERŪ ALL DAY.