Politics are at the forefront of people’s minds in a local body election year – most of all your local politicians, such as Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking. For many students, Dunedin living is a temporary situation, nestled in North D for three years before jetting back to Te Ika-a-Māui, probably. But the former OUSA President dug her heels into the Ōtepoti terrain to continue advocating for students on a national level, who she believes get an unfairly bad rap.
Critic Te Ārohi had a kōrero with Rachel to talk about the issues closest to home and her everyday mahi to solve them.
To start at square one, an electorate MP represents their voting district (in Rachel’s case, Dunedin) and argues on behalf of their local causes within Parliament. Rachel’s office is located in Dunedin, and when she’s not jet-setting to the capital for big-wig events (she “can’t live without” the Air New Zealand app), she’s available for her constituents (you, if you live in Dunedin) to rock up and draw her attention to local issues – and pet her dog, Alfie the Cavoodle. Like how a class rep might complain to your lecturer on our behalf, but on a national level.
As a university town, a huge proportion of Rachel’s constituents are students – a group that she has a long history with. Her very early beginnings are rooted in her former family home, which is now the Property Services building on the University of Otago campus (beside the Leith bridge). She was a toddler when she was first around the Dunedin campus, and just never really left. You can often still find her at Precinct, grabbing a chicken flatbread, or at her most loved beach, St Clair. “Probably an element of laziness too,” she laughed.
Rachel eventually graduated Otago University with a double degree in Law and Ecology. But before that, Rachel was a student activist. She got involved with OUSA in her first year, battling Lockwood’s sharp increase in fees and compounding interest on student loans. Helen Clarke, on behalf of Labour, had later come in and stopped the compounding interest. “My friend and I had dressed up as a cow, because Lockwood had done his PhD on cows.” Rachel recalls trudging down Main Street as the backend of said cow (name a better entrance into student politics).
She became AVP of OUSA in 1996. Back in the day, that role had a constitutional requirement to have passed all second-year law papers. In a tale as old as time, Rachel failed Property Law. At the time, Critic actually cottoned onto this pretty fast, referring to Rachel’s failure – on the front page, no less – as a ‘Brooking Disappointment’. Rachel kept her position as AVP, but she described the experience as “embarrassing”, citing part-time work and a full-on schedule as the reason why she failed property law (relatable queen). It didn’t hold her back – she ran for (and became) President that year, running with cheesy slogans such as “You Can Rely On Rachel”.
Earlier this year, the now-MP ran a booth at the OUSA Tent City during O-Week which invited students to speak about the issues at the forefront of their minds (failing to title the booth ‘You Can Still Rely on Rachel’). Top contenders included climate change, renters’ rights, public transport, and upholding Te Tiriti.
Issues identified by students are things she’s already had boots on the ground for. For one, Rachel’s the spokesperson for the environment and has been working hard against the Fast Track Bill, and recently commented to Critic Te Ārohi in support of student activists who protested a fast-tracked coal expansion in Westport, saying, “Being a student is a great time to be involved in causes. There is a long and important history of students being at the forefront of positive change.”
While Rachel has a passion for student issues, she admitted to Critic that they’re not always the easiest to advocate for. “There are some difficulties [with people thinking] students just want to burn couches,” Rachel said. “I’m sure there’s some people who do some silly things. But students are young, and who hasn’t done silly things in their life? That’s not a reason to not treat student issues seriously. Another thing is to treat students like adults – you have people coming in who want to place a lot of rules around students for safety. There’s a balance there for looking out for students, but also not bossing students around.”
In terms of what Rachel likes in advocating for students, she told Critic that she just loves working with them (aw). She explained, “Students have an energy about them, and are often very positive about what will be happening in their futures and want to do something positive. We also have students who are really worried about their world, to do with climate change, and things that are being reported in left-wing international mainstream media. We could be very close to tipping points that will make a massive impact on the world. Especially for Pasifika students, it’s very real for them.”
With local body elections coming up this September, Rachel wanted to urge students to get amongst and vote on behalf of future generations of breathas and sheathas who might reap the rewards. “Getting into a voting habit is important,” Rachel explained. “People have fought for the right to vote, and it can easily be taken away.” Local body elections affect things like recycling, good community festivals, parks and parking. For students, Logan Park is something that comes up often – shall Baseline get a new home? If you think not (or yes – maybe you’re a peaceful Forth Street dweller), you may want to have your say.