The absolute state of politics at Massey Manawatū
In my homeland of Hawkes Bay, through the humble suburb of Taradale, there flows a river. This river was long ago named the Tūtaekurī River, and in the longstanding tradition of Māori names telling it like it is, this translates into English as Dog Shit River.
A river can be something that brings sustenance to the people of the land but in New Zealand many can be disgusting, polluted cesspools too. It is because of this that I believe the good ol’ Dog Shit River serves as the perfect metaphor for politics.
Despite the boomer stereotype and *ahem* minor statistical fact that young people are generally more uninvolved or apathetic towards voting and politics, universities still tend to bring out the most extreme of commitment to causes and controversies that students can muster.
This is because, to use another stereotype, as well as being too lazy to vote us young people are also a very idealistic folk. Some wallow deep in the mud of the mighty Tūtaekurī and we relish it. Chloe Swarbrick becoming an MP at 23 and making some of the biggest splashes around in climate change and drug policy is just one example. Even in Palmerston North, the local National and ACT candidates are 18 and 19 years old respectively.
However, the spirit of the Tūtaekurī does not seem to flow through the veins of the students at Massey Manawatū compared to students at other universities, and it is this strange phenomenon I wanted to investigate.
Other Universities such as Victoria or Auckland both have their own politics societies, alongside a dearth of political club options including but not limited to Young Labour, Young Nats, Young Act, Young Greens, TOP on campus, the International Socialist Club and so on. These other university clubs also boast much higher membership numbers, with clubs for smaller parties like Young Act at Vic having approximately 100 members.
In comparison, the Manawatū Massey Campus’ Politics Society was formerly Massey Manawatū’s only officially registered political club. It is on hiatus, as of the end of last year.
According to former social media manager Daniel Curtis, while the club was at its peak in 2018 it had six to seven active members which dropped to three or four in 2019.
“I think (Massey Manawatū students) are involved, they just don’t necessarily show it,” he said.
“In terms of protests and marches, we really don’t have much going on here, unless it’s something big that everyone can get on board upon, like the Black Lives Matter protests that happened a month or two ago, or the big climate change ones as well.”
Although not an overtly political event, I could also recall Thursdays in Black marches at Massey Manawatū campus as recently as September last year involving almost 100 people. This was proof that students here could get passionately behind causes.
The most successful political event was a David Seymour talk attended by around 40-60 people last year organised by the Political Society alongside former Massey student and now Palmerston North candidate for the Act party Jack Phillips.
Jack said that during 2019 he ran his own Young Act on the campus that was not registered or affiliated with MUSA. His club had approximately 20 registered members, with five or six of those regularly attending meetings. He believes that besides the Political Society, his group may have been the only other active political student group based on campus.
In his words, Massey Manawatū is, “the second most apathetic campus in New Zealand after Lincoln University.” After looking up Lincoln University to be reminded that it exists, I realised this was exactly as bad as it sounded, and we might as well have been the most apathetic.
But was apathy really the problem? I decided to speak with 11 different strangers I found in the library to get answers. What I found was that none could name more than two of the candidates for the local MP’s seat. This was not a good start. Thankfully, they all seemed to at least be aware of the basics around the upcoming End of Life Choice Bill and Cannabis referendums.
Most said they liked to discuss politics with their friends occasionally, and that they knew of people who were politically active locally. They agreed that Massey Manawatū students did seem overall less into actively caring about politics compared to other universities.
Many said that Victoria University’s proximity to the Beehive and location in the capital were both conducive to student political engagement. Auckland was also viewed to have an advantage due to be such a large city and hub of so much activity.
While I don’t believe this fully explains the political void here, it comforted me to learn that most people here still did independent research for the elections. So, we in the Manawatū may not be the loudest or even the most knowledgeable when it comes to politics. But at least it seems that hidden in these cold STEM degree hearts, there might still be just the tiniest little bit of passion left for abstract things like people in colour coded clothing dissing each other and sexual harassment scandals. And that gives me hope for the future.