Awanui

And then on my mum's side I'm from the Whānau, from Te Tai Tokerau.

So Awanui, um, uh, Te Hapua, Ngāti Kuri hard.

Started our Ngāti Kuriki Tāmaki rōpū down here in Tāmaki Makaurau and have always had a huge passion for all of my iwi.

I've actually just put my name in the hat to run for my Ngāti Paoa iwi trust again.

Your party wants to restrict immigration.

Uh, at Business New Zealand's election conference, you said, quote, "Where I come from in Awanui, we have three vape shops, and there's only 130 people in Awanui.

That's what motivates New Zealand First to call time on immigration, unfettered flows, and we're not changing our mind." Connect the dots for me.

What do vape shops in Awanui have to do with immigration?

I'm a politician, and I know that there's an approved business list enabling people to bring in migrant labor into certain businesses.

Why are there 50, 60, 70, 80 vape shops listed as an approved business? That's just a scam.

Well, first, who's the minister capable of approving vape shops going on a list of approved businesses to attract new migrants? That falls within the immigration portfolio.

Yeah, but, but i- if, I mean, you've got...

I mean, imagine how, was it your mum? Was she one of 14, was it?

No, well, Dad was one of 17 children, one of those big rural families north of Kaita in a little township called Awanui.

Yes.

Oh, I know Awanui well.

We used to have a little place up at Waipapakauri.

Oh, okay.

yeah.

And, oh, look, I found it a bit dislocating when I was 12 or 13 and dispatched to St Stephen's Anglican Maori Boys School through our church and the support of my parents, but it certainly set me on a trajectory which I've never ever failed to recognize.