Non-voting mum’s journey to the polls
The Herald follows Hinekia Fitzgerald as she tries to make sense of the local body elections and candidates
Hinekia Fitzgerald has never voted in local body elections, but that’s not to say the future of her city doesn’t matter to her — she’s raising three of its youngest citizens.
The 33-year-old Auckland mother wants her voice to be heard, she’s just not sure how to make it heard, nor how it can make a difference.
Her challenge, and ours, during the next nine days is to untangle the process enough for Fitzgerald to understand what her vote is for and how to make sense of the many people asking for it.
The Herald is today launching a video-led series in which we follow the journey of one person who has never voted in local elections to see if her mind can be changed.
If Fitzgerald can be convinced, can others? Especially those least likely to vote: non-European renters under 40.
“I don’t even know what I’m voting for,” she said.
Fitzgerald, who is Maori and lives in a rental home in the South Auckland suburb of Papakura, told the Herald she did not vote because she could not relate to those who wanted to represent her.
She’s heard of outgoing Mayor Len Brown, but not the two men who have represented her in the Manurewa-Papakura ward for the past six years. (Calum Penrose and Sir John Walker.) To Fitzgerald, candidates are faces on billboards she cannot relate to.
“Nothing will change for me. My life will remain the same and, to be honest, I don’t even know what I’m voting for.
“There’s hardly any women, there’s hardly any Maori and me as a Maori woman . . . they won’t be able to relate to me in any way.”
But Fitzgerald — whose grandfather Brian Joyce was a long-time Papakura councillor and whose aunt Hine Joyce-Tahere served a term on the Papakura Local Board — wants to know more.
There’s hardly any women, there’s hardly any Maori, and me as a Maori woman . . . Hinekia Fitzgerald
The Papakura Marae Whanau Ora kaiarahi (teen parenting co-ordinator) is open to joining the roughly four in 10 Kiwis who vote in local elections, and hopes others learn alongside her. “If people maybe read about it, because I am really just a normal person like them, just trying to work to provide for my family, so . . . if maybe I start to vote people may follow.”