Hannah Tamaki is once again contesting the Tāmaki Makaurau seat, representing Vision NZ in the upcoming by-election. She previously placed fifth in the 2023 general election with 829 votes, behind Peeni Henare (Te Rōpū Reipa) and Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp (Te Pāti Māori).
Tamaki is the wife of Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki, known for his controversial views on issues like homosexuality, immigration, and many other topics. Tamaki has been at the centre of national protests, from the 2004 Enough is Enough march to more recent demonstrations against Drag Story Time in libraries.
But Hannah Tamaki is a prominent Christian leader herself and founder of Vision NZ – part of the Freedoms NZ coalition. Though she has contested multiple elections, including Waiariki in 2020 and Tāmaki Makaurau in 2023, she is yet to win a seat.
On the criticism she receives because of her husband, she says she should be judged on her own merits.
“I’m not my husband, I’m myself. [I’m] not gonna be judged on who I’m married to – no one else is, so I don’t see why I should be either.”
“I’m standing to help all people, so whether they’re people of faith or not, to me they’re very important.”
Tamaki says she has something to offer to the political landscape.
“I don’t know if I’d say I’d be the strongest voice, but I am a voice, and I think that no one can dispute the fact that we’ve worked really hard with our people – Māori people, Kiwis – right across New Zealand, not just here in Tāmaki,” she says.
“I think sometimes it takes an interruption of the normal to do some changes.”
Housing, youth employment, immigration key issues
She highlights housing, employment, and youth development as key issues affecting Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.
According to an Auckland labour force survey, Māori youth aged 15–19 had a labour force participation rate of 42.2% in December 2024, down from 43.3% in September 2024.
Tamaki says rangatahi Māori and Māori in general are falling behind in Tāmaki.
“I think [Māori are] being pushed to the back of the queue of lots of things in housing and employment.”
Tamaki is especially passionate about supporting rangatahi and encouraging iwi to invest in their futures.
“I’d really like to encourage the iwi to look for the young people that are wanting to do tertiary, wanting to go to university, wanting to do these courses – look at their track record and help them.”
Politics aside
Beyond politics, Tamaki says her community work is rooted in her Destiny Church leadership, supporting faith-based services, education, and Māori and women’s empowerment.
She helped establish Ngā Tamariki Puāwai, a bilingual Māori early childhood centre, and backed Destiny School, a Christian school for disadvantaged children. She says her campaign reflects long-standing work and deep connections with the community.
“Twenty years of the social service arm and we’ve never ever had a dollar from the Government, and yet we’ve got success.
“Not everyone that comes to those programmes actually becomes people of faith, but they actually like the tools and the support – that hapū feeling, that tribal feeling.”
Controversy not far away
Tamaki says she’s seeing the impact of rising immigration in South Auckland, even though Stats NZ data shows net migration has dropped 26% in the past year.
“We are the host people to this nation, and then we have now immigrants coming. Now I go to Manukau supermarket, and there used to be Kiwis working there.
“I go there now, and I only see – the owner is Indian, and only Indians are working there now. How about making a category where you’ve got young people coming through looking for employment – making a place for them.”
For Tamaki, the by-election is just one part of a much longer journey.
“Whether I get across the line or whether I don’t – we’ve been doing it for up to 40 years now, 27 years in Auckland. Nothing’s gonna stop us from doing it, but I think sometimes you gotta have an interruption to bring change.”
Voting for the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election closes on 6 September.
Should minor parties be included in campaigns and debates
The movement Toitū Te Tiriti released a statement last night, saying it will not platform candidates who incite hate, spread division, or target minority communities with harmful rhetoric.
Although it doesn’t specifically say Hannah Tamaki, it is strongly implied.
“In the coming weeks, an invitation will be extended to 2 out of 3 values-aligned candidates in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election to join us for a live-streamed kapu tī and kōrero. These invitations are being extended because we know both candidates have the best interests of all those who call Tāmaki Makaurau home at the heart of their campaigns.” The statement said.
The statement also took aim at Māori media and encouraged them to “reflect deeply on the responsibility they carry, and to consider the harm that can be amplified when space is given to voices that attack the very fabric of who we are,” it said.
