The power that we collectively hold

Vladimir Putin and I have one thing in common (and hopefully very little more): we have both served our communities in the office of local government.

Alas, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll ever get to swap notes. Despite my lifelong interest in Russia, its history and its cultural legacy, its officials banned me from entering the country in 2022 for ‘promoting a Russiaphobic agenda.’

I was reminded of this recently at a screening of The Wizard of the Kremlin, which charted Putin’s political rise, aided by the regime’s attacks on both fledgling democracy and people’s relationship with the truth.

If you confuse people enough, they’ll never know what to believe, including any criticisms of their political leadership.

This is a story of privilege on many levels, the first being the time and money to spend at the movies in the first place, a fundamental human experience that is still denied to too many.

Secondly, as the old saying goes, art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable. We are incredibly fortunate to live in a country where artists (and audiences) have the freedom to challenge power and make the case for a better world.

To hold, as it were, a mirror up to nature.

Finally, through the subject of the film at hand, its audience in Aotearoa New Zealand was reminded of the power that still sits with all of us to choose a different path for our kids, and for the generations after them.

Which is to say, now’s a good time to ensure that as many of us as possible are enrolled to vote.

This isn’t because I think that Parliament is coming to save us. The answers to so many of life’s challenges right now are more likely to be found in community.

Parliament though, and our Government in particular, does have the power to stop making them worse, and ideally to foster the conditions for stronger, community-led change.

To share power and resources, and to push back against the decades-long drift towards the disillusionment and disenfranchisement we all see around us every day.

I don’t believe that we have an obligation to vote in elections. Too many people have been dealt a crummy hand, and know all too well that the house always wins, so don’t bother.

Frankly, who can blame them?

But the scale and pace of legislative reform over the last three years has been breathtaking.

An engineered recession where workers are sacrificed to the gods of inflation, but rather than being thanked for their service, are vilified for finding themselves out of work.

Our communities are being galvanized by a coalition government whose attacks on Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are increasingly out of step with the future direction of this country.

And where our natural environment, and our best shot at a more stable climate future, are being Fast Tracked into oblivion.

This is far from a complete list, but hopefully it’s enough to remind us all of what’s at stake, and why we need to do what we can to chart a new course.

To elect politicians, and then hold them accountable, who understand that building stronger and more resilient communities is key to our wider wellbeing, in good times and in bad.

Supporting each other, and celebrating each other, in our little island paradise here in the South Pacific.

Over the last forty odd years, across the western world, we’ve seen how invested some actors are in tearing us apart from each other. There’s a lot of money to be made in Margaret Thatcher’s maxim that ‘there is no society.’

Because they also know, in a democratic system like ours, they can never buy the power that we collectively hold.

So this November, let’s get together and use it as a force for justice.

— Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities

The 2026 General Election will be held on Saturday 7 November, 2026. To vote in the general election, you need to be enrolled by midnight, Sunday 25 October. To enrol or check and update your details, head to vote.nz/enrol