Families living in campervans, workers spending their house deposits and communities watching loved ones leave for Australia.
asserted
ones → live → Australia
As New Zealand heads to the polls, voters are asking what happened to the promise of a better life.
asserted
what → ask → life
For generations, New Zealand has offered a simple promise: work hard, look after your whānau, your family, and build a future here.
asserted
Zealand → offer → future
But for many, that promise is getting harder to keep.
asserted
promise → get → many
About 350,000 people, including non-New Zealand citizens, are estimated to have left New Zealand over the past three years, with almost half of them moving to Australia.
asserted
half → include → Australia
For those who stay, frustration over the rising cost of living is spilling onto the streets.
asserted
frustration → stay → streets
In August, hundreds of people marched on parliament in protest at soaring bills from Tiaki Wai, the Wellington region's water provider.
asserted
hundreds → march → Wai
Ahead of the November 7 election, Māori and Pacific communities, which are among those hardest hit by unemployment and homelessness, are asking whether politicians can give them a reason to stay.
asserted
politicians → hit → reason
Katherine Taniwha's family knows how to build a home.
asserted
family → know → home
Their son Eli builds houses.
asserted
son → build → houses
Now all three live in a campervan while Katherine, 62, undergoes treatment for blood cancer.
asserted
Katherine → live → cancer
She says she takes her chemotherapy tablets at night to sleep through the side effects.
asserted
she → say → effects
David has had to cut back his working hours so he can take his wife to appointments and weekly tests.
asserted
he → have → appointments
As their savings dwindled, Katherine says they sought housing assistance but were told David's campervan counted as their home.
asserted
campervan → dwindle → home
"They said, 'You don't qualify.
asserted
You → say → ?
David has an RV.
asserted
David → have → RV
That's your home,'" Katherine says.
asserted
Katherine → say → ?
The family has lived in the campervan for more than two years.
asserted
family → live → years
David says he has sometimes had to borrow money just to get to work and put food on the table.
asserted
he → say → table
"We don't really have that much to stretch out anymore," he says.
asserted
he → have → much
"I almost have to beg for some money at work just to help me get to work or help put a little bit extra on the table for my wife and son."
asserted
me → have → wife
For Katherine, it's a situation she has come to accept.
asserted
she → come → Katherine
"This must be how it is now," she says.
asserted
she → say → ?
At the 2023 census, about 112,500 people were severely housing deprived across New Zealand, a figure some housing organisations say has only grown, with Māori and Pacific people disproportionately affected.
asserted
people → deprive → figure
"By almost every measure, things have gone backwards quite significantly in the past three years," Paul Gilberd, from Community Housing Aotearoa, says.
asserted
Gilberd → go → Aotearoa
Katherine wants politicians to see that reality for themselves.
asserted
politicians → want → themselves
"Get your hands dirty.
asserted
hands → get → ?
Don't say you're doing your best, 'cause your best isn't enough apparently," she says.
asserted
she → say → best
Unlike Australia, voting is not compulsory, although enrolling is.
asserted
enrolling → enrol → Australia
At the last election in 2023, about 2.9 million voted, just over 78 per cent of those enrolled.
asserted
million → vote → those
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is seeking another term for his National-led coalition with ACT and New Zealand First.
asserted
Luxon → seek → ACT
Labour, now led by Chris Hipkins after he succeeded Jacinda Ardern in 2023, hopes to return to government, potentially with support from the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
asserted
he → lead → Greens
But New Zealand's electoral system works differently from Australia's.
asserted
system → work → Australia
Voters get two votes: one for their local MP and another for a political party.
asserted
Voters → get → party
The party vote largely determines how many seats each party wins, making coalition negotiations central to who governs.
asserted
who → determine → seats
One of the system's most distinctive features is its seven Māori electorates: voters of Māori descent can choose to enrol in these electorates, where they elect their own local MPs, or join the general electoral roll.
asserted
they → choose → roll
Both groups also cast a party vote.
asserted
groups → cast → vote
About two-thirds of New Zealand's Pacific population lives in Auckland, many in the south, making it a key electoral battleground and a familiar stop on the campaign trail, despite traditionally being a Labour stronghold.
asserted
it → live → trail
At Johnnie Timu's Brown Pride gym, there's frustration with politicians who turn up during elections but struggle to connect with the people they're trying to reach.
asserted
they → be → people
"They always come out in community, but they make a big racket out of it," Johnnie says.
asserted
Johnnie → come → it
…and 48 more, not listed.
The Aporia