Political lessons from Sport

Watch sport and you'd see that hīkoi coming

Tiana Metuarau’s iconic sign from this week’s hīkoi

I have spent the last three years talking about the intersection of sport and politics. I’ve had to as the topics are so tightly wound up in each other, it’s hard to tell one story without telling the other. The sports we play, who gets to play them and who gets celebrated for doing so is all political.

It’s the zoom out, the examination of the cultural context, which is always the most interesting part of sport to me. It tells us what values we hold the most dear. It tells us what attitudes are still so entrenched. It tells us who we aspire to be.

Sports governance in our country is still largely undemocratic. Instead sports are run by are royal courts, with leadership anointed from dynastic houses (aka top teams and provinces). We are to bow and scrape in reverence to the prestige of their blazers.

Just like the current English King, whose took his golden seat in front of subjects who now display the physical effects of his kingdom’s austerity, our monarchs are often ill equipped to see beyond themselves. This means that ground won on our sports fields can tell us more about societal shifts than the latest political polling. These boardrooms have been bolted shut by tradition but even they are not immune to progress.

That our current political rulers and many of their consort commentariat were so out of step with the hīkoi that arrived on Tuesday, has me asking - have they watched any sport recently?

The star of the Rugby World Cup, alongside the Black Ferns, Joanah Ngan-Woo’s hand and the charismatic Ruby Tui, was the poi. After Dame Hinewehi Mohi’s suggestion, they flew in their thousands. Caregivers at the tournament will gratefully remember the stations set up for kids to create their own. While fans will recall the scrums knotted around poor volunteers as folks desperately tried to get their hands on one.

It’s not just in women’s sports either. The relationship between Māori and league is well established. King Korokī was the first patron of New Zealand Māori Rugby League, forging a bond between the Kīngitanga movement and the sport. Today, 45% of the NRL and 48% of the NRLW, identify as Māori and Pasifika. So the Warriors and their sell out season, have Māori to thank. It was their vibes that helped pull the bandwagon through the gate.

Then of course in the brightest of sport spotlights this year, it was Māori culture taking centre stage for Aotearoa, New Zealand. Our Olympic team embraced tikanga and the world took note. Clips of haka and waiata were widely shared, while Finn Butcher threw out an iconic Mana Wave before paddling to gold.

In all of these moments, it was Māori leading and Tangata Tiriti (non-Māori citizens) happily joining them. That’s the promise of te Tiriti o Waitangi in action. A mark of progress for our nation. While some still whined in the comment section, more felt a real sense of pride.

Back in 2017, New Zealand Rugby campaigned hard and failed to have fans sing Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi during the British & Irish Lions tour. In 2022, it was that same waiata that Tui spontaneously karaoked with the crowd. What passed between these two dates was a period in which Māori were used less as a political football and more as political partners. It was far from perfect but it was a start of something new.

But how then did we elect the mess we are now in? Once again, it’s the economy, stupid. Just like every other nation around the world, the previous Government was tossed out after painful inflation. National’s campaign contained the regular dog whistles of the centre right. But even they had called this current Treaty Principles Bill “divisive and unhelpful”.

Their fold in coalition negotiations was trademark pākehā New Zealand. Happy to trade in a relationship with Māori for their own personal gain. What they didn’t realise was the way in which the game had changed. They are still calling pistons when the rest of us were confidently running a 1-3-3-1 (those are rugby attacking shapes, lol sports).

Tikanga Māori entered offices spaces, the spiritual homeland of “Middle New Zealand”. As token as the reciting of karakia at the beginning of staff morning tea may feel. As frustrating as kupu hollowed out of their meaning when substituted for corporate lingo (No, manaakitanga doesn’t mean customer service, Craig). As limiting as the last minute invite to local kaumatua to bless the opening of a bridge. All of these tiny steps, helped Tangata Tiriti start to climb over the colonial mythmaking about Māori.

It feels nice to thank people, learn new words and understand more about the place we live. It’s these small touches, that add up to big change. One we are seeing around the sports grounds. One that has been missed by political pundits.

I write about sports so I write about politics. Perhaps more political writers should write about sports. They may then have a better idea of the score.

With you,

Alice

PS. Just as I finished writing this, the Black Ferns have announced that Mike Delany has quit as assistant coach. He had been involved with the side primarily focused on attack. Given our lacklustre performance, it is not a complete shock that there is a reshuffle going into World Cup year.

This does leave an interesting question mark as to who will step in and what impact they will have on the events to come. PLEASE let us see some women’s names on the shortlist, I beg of you.