A pan-political movement to transform our economy

A selfie of Loo and Gareth both wearing cool loose multi-coloured summer shirts and smiling enthusiastically at the camera. In the background is a Wellington alleyway of concrete and corrugated iron topped by a bright blue sky.

“The economy is too important to leave to the economists!”

That’s what Gareth Hughes says. After working for a decade as an MP in parliament he got thoroughly tired of the seesaw of short term policies and the arguments over the type of ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. He’s now grateful to be working on the cause of the problems rather than the symptoms. He leads the small team at WEAll (Wellbeing Economies Alliance Aotearoa). Their mission is to build a non-partisan, Te Tiriti led, people-powered movement to transform the economy around the wellbeing of our people and te taiao.

“We often think about the economy like it’s a force of nature, like the weather,” Gareth says. “But actually it’s a human-designed machine and it can be re-designed to get the outputs we want to see.”

Economics is a hard thing to talk about - it’s complicated, boring and mostly we forget it exists, like the air we breathe. But Gareth is seeing a groundswell of people across the political spectrum who are realising that something is broken and needs to change.

“Cracks are showing everywhere,” he says. “People are realising it’s not working and are open to talking about system change. I’ve talked to conservatives who are voting National who are really concerned about social cohesion… They just know that you can’t continue to have a society where people are falling through the cracks.”

The time is right for change and Gareth’s mission is to help people see the alternatives and to help uplift and connect the efforts of diverse groups around the country into one big movement for change. His small team are working with businesses, local councils, Iwi groups and community groups to uplift, connect and support their work to shift and change our systems. There is so much going on at the grass-roots level with businesses, iwi corporations, community groups and local government. The international community is excited about Aotearoa. The experience of working with all these people has cured Gareth of his cynicism and he’s feeling positive and hopeful about the future.

This is a very positive and hopeful conversation about pathways open to us and the changes already brewing.

Some helpful links

• WEAll Aotearoa: https://www.weall.org.nz/

• WEAll - the global organisation: https://weall.org/

And here are some links to the organisations and initiatives Gareth mentions in the interview for your further exploration:

• Tokona Te Raki - Ngai Tahu hub for social innovation and Māori futures.

• The Workshop - Narrative research and communication advisors - who suggested Gareth do a listening tour instead of a speaking tour.

• Sophie Handford, WEAll Aotearoa’s new Future Generations Lead.

• Neoliberalism - leave it in the 80s video.

• He Ara Waiora - a framework to help Treasury understand Māori perspectives on wellbeing and living standards

• Te Takarangi - a Tūhoe Māori reimagining of the doughnut economic model.

• Wakatū Incorporation - An Iwi owned entity with a 500 year vision

• Amotai - National registry for Māori and Pasifika owned businesses

• Article on Taranaki Maunga attaining legal personhood