Former deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni is her usual gentle self as she chats to Woman’s Day ahead of filming Celebrity Treasure Island. Cool, calm and collected, her main aim is to be as genuine as possible.
“In politics and also just generally, I’ve always thought it’s important to be your authentic self. It’s crucial to not try to be anyone other than who you are,” shares the Waitara-born politician, 46. “In this game, that’s important to me too.”
Looking back on when she was first elected to Parliament in 2008, becoming New Zealand’s first MP of Tongan descent, Carmel says she had to learn that lesson the hard way.
“I was quite a young MP and it all happened so quickly. It took me a while to actually work out how I operated in that space,” she explains. “When I didn’t get re-elected, I realised I didn’t have to pretend to be anybody else. Then, I took three years out. I had time to think and just grow a little bit.
“By the time I got back in to Parliament [in 2014], I’d had a chance to assess my own skills. I reflected on what I bring and what my strengths are, then I could apply them as who I am. That was when my career as a politician really started to flourish.”
When the government changed last year, the transition from deputy PM to opposition was a challenge. However, it wasn’t anything Carmel, who’s still deputy leader of the Labour Party, couldn’t handle.
“I’ve been in opposition before,” she says. “You always want to be in government. You become a politician so you can make change and make a difference in people’s lives.
“However, the other side of it is that you’re there to fight against things that you don’t believe in or that you think are detrimental to the communities you serve. So we’re just in that part of the cycle where we’re doing more fighting than anything else. That opposition voice in any democracy is really important. It’s not about ego, but about protecting the people you went into politics for.”
Carmel set a goal of becoming an MP after seeing the injustices that her family and friends went through in Taranaki when she was young.
“During the ’90s in small-town New Zealand, our freezing works shut down,” she explains. “The whole community had always worked there, then all of a sudden, there weren’t any jobs. My parents ended up unemployed. The National government of the time was saying everyone needed to get out and work. But it was like, ‘Work where?!’”
During that time, there were also cuts to benefits, continues Carmel. “Going to school and seeing so many of my friends dropping out along the way, I would wonder why this was the case. Then I had my own experiences with injustice and marginalisation, and I wanted to fight that.
“I remember when I was on a benefit and going into an MSD [Ministry of Social Development] office to renew it. My Work and Income case manager asked me what I was going to do after I finished my training. I told him I was going to complete a Bachelor of Education and a Diploma of Primary School Teaching.
“He sat back in his chair and looked at me, like, ‘Yeah, right!’ I remember thinking, ‘Is he seriously questioning my ability to get this qualification and to step outside of being a solo mum on a benefit?’ And he certainly was.”
Now as a female politician of colour, Carmel – who has a blended family of four children with her poet husband Daren Kamali – says she still regularly experiences discrimination, misogyny and racism, but she tries to focus on the positives.
“I’ve been supported by so many people across different communities, so I don’t want the impression to be that it’s all trolling and bullying,” she says. “I need to turn my mind to the affirming side of things as well.”
It’s this positive frame of mind that she’s taking with her into CTI. Having copped a bit of flak from taking time out from her political work to go and star on a reality show, Carmel makes some good points.
“We’ve always had actors, sportspeople, comedians, models and drag queens represented on reality TV,” she says. “Politicians are part of the fabric of our society as well. I wouldn’t call us celebrities, but we’re often well-recognised faces. So, if you’re going to cover off New Zealand, why shouldn’t a politician be represented too?”
She mentions David Seymour and Rodney Hide, two ACT Party leaders who set the precedent on Dancing With The Stars. But when asked if she took any inspiration from incoming deputy PM David’s turn on the dancefloor, she laughs, “Well, I won’t be doing any twerking!”
Celebrity Treasure Island premieres 7.30pm Monday on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
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