Attending the NZ Labour Party Annual Conference

Recently I somehow ended up going to the NZ Labour Party Annual Conference.  I have been a financial member for a time and had wanted to be more involved, so when an email arrived in my inbox asking if anyone was interested in attending I put my name forward and waited to receive the ‘thank you for your enquiry, unfortunately….’ email.

But instead, the opposite happened.

For some reason the New Plymouth Branch said yes.  I was not expecting it, didn’t even feel like I even deserved to be there and didn’t know what reactions I would likely get from other members of the LEC and the branch members themselves. I was incredibly nervous, but attended zoom meetings in preparation and went to a couple of in-person meetings to get to know some of the members beforehand.  The first meeting, I’m pretty sure I ran out of the meeting as fast as I could once it had finished.  What a way to make a great impression…  But I can honestly say, they were the most supportive (and patient) bunch of people I have been lucky enough to get to know.

At times I blurted out to much lived experience, the conversation went something like:

Them - “Hi nice to meet you.  Why are you here?  What makes you want to be involved?”

Me - “Well it all started when my aunty passed away from domestic violence, mum then went through it as a single mum as we struggled in poverty and then I repeated the cycle and my daughter fell from a two storey window in another incident….”

Cue awkward silence…

Might need to work on my delivery a little bit.

The real reason I was there is because like so many of you, I care about the state of our country and the people it is affecting. I have started my DV support services and ACC advocacy business Zsarina to try and reach the people that like me do not fit into a particular space and have to constantly fight to get anywhere in life.  And I don’t know about you but I'm incredibly tired of explaining myself and fighting impossible systems that are not even designed for you to be able to get ahead.  I'm tired of everyone thinking that DV or ACC or Disabilities look a certain way and you should be punished because of those experiences.  Another part of me is also hopeful that maybe we can learn from these experiences and make actual change, not just the change that looks good on paper, and maybe we can turn this all around.

I didn’t know what to expect once I got to the conference.  Would it be all suits and people with arrogance and importance?  Will it be full of people who talk the talk but have no idea about the actual walk?  Would I even be able to physically go as anyone who has been through abuse will know, your body is wired to see everything as a threat even when there is none, so anxiety and fear can override your system and make it impossible to actually show up.  Lucky I have been putting in some work to calm that system and be able to show up.

NP LEC were absolutely amazing.  They were such genuinely real and supportive people I couldn’t believe how normal it all felt.  Every single person at that conference from all walks of life was there because they cared, right through to Chris Hipkins (or Chippie.  P.s I think he looked at me once so I'm pretty sure we’re besties now).  Just so damn normal and real.  I somehow ended up walking into a place where real people from all walks of life are doing incredibly hard work for the people of New Zealand who cared and worked so damn hard to make the place a better place for everyone in New Zealand, not just the elite.

Overall I was completely humbled by the whole experience.  So very humbled and so very grateful that someone like me, your average jo blogs from nowhere land, got to experience something so great and be around so many incredibly strong and authentic individuals that I can still continue to hold hope for my children and my grandchildren and future generations to come, that there are people out there who are not only talking about change but are completely committed to creating real change for everyone no matter who you are, or where you come from.  I can say 100% and with absolute conviction and honesty that the NZ Labour Party are not just saying it for status or TV or numbers on a Poll. They are a party that REALLY cares.

I cannot say thank you enough to everyone I met along this little adventure, I look forward to so many more and putting in the hard mahi that comes with it.