Getting involved in politics
You can get involved in politics and change-making at any age, and there are more ways to get involved than just voting every few years. Here are a range of different ways you can get involved and make a difference!
Sign a petition. By collecting signatures on a petition you can easily show that a lot of people care about an issue and that government should address it. You can only sign a petition once, but you can sign as many petitions as you like, and you can share the petition with friends and family to help it gain momentum. Find petitions to sign on the Parliamentary Website or on Change.org
Start a petition. If you can’t find a petition about the cause or issue you want to address, you can create your own on the Parliamentary Website or Change.org. You will need to tell people about the issue and why they should care about it, and then you can share it around for people to sign. Read more about starting a petition here.
Write to an MP. You can write a letter to any MP in New Zealand, you can find their contact details here. You can write to MPs about things like issues you care about, current laws being voted on in parliament, or share your personal experience of something. If you are writing about a specific issue, you might want to find out which MPs are involved with the issue, for example if you were writing about homelessness you might want to write to the Minister of Housing.
Visit your local MP. Every area of New Zealand has it’s very own electorate MP, whose job it is to represent the people of that area. You can go visit them at their office and speak directly to them or one of their staff. This can be really effective for issues that effect your local community.
Go to a protest. Like petitions, protests are a great way for showing government that a lot of people care about something. Protests can be harder to ignore as they are so public. Anyone can attend a protest, but because there are such large crowds involved it’s a good idea to take make someone with you, or let people know where you are and when you will be home.
Make a submission. Anyone can make submissions on things like Bills, which are new laws or changes to laws, and inquiries in parliament. This means you can send in a letter saying what you think abouit, and then this is reviewed by the select committee whose job it is to look into it. Submissions are only open for a specific amount of time; you can find what submissions are open here.
Join a cause. There are lots of groups who work towards making change, like Make it 16, or Auckland Feminist Action. Joining causes like these is a great way to learn more about the issue, and work as a team to make a difference. You can find groups like this through clubs at your school or uni, looking into who organized a petition or protest about the issue, or talking to charities who are involved in the issue.
Volunteer. Find a group or charity who are involved in the issue you care about and volunteer for them. This is a great way to learn more about the system and work with an established organization who are already making change.
Talk to your friends and family. Talking to the people around you about important issues can help to spread awareness and contribute toward important conversations. This is especially important around election time, when you can talk to people about different issues and what different parties' policies are on them. This is a great way to educate others and get more people involved in politics.