Mariameno Kapa-Kingi is the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, elected in 2023 after more than three decades working in iwi health and social services — including suicide prevention, homelessness, and whānau wellbeing in the North. She was drawn into politics to fight for Māori voices, thinking, and aspirations, knowing that too often that is exactly where she is needed. Every decision she makes, she says, is measured by one thing — whether mokopuna will inherit a better situation than the one we have today.