Labour MP Peeni Henare is eyeing up a win in the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau byelection – but first, whisky and fried doughnuts.
It’s a Panhead pale ale for me and a whisky for Peeni Henare. I tell him that I definitely would’ve picked him as a beer man, and he assures me that he is – it’s just that working in parliament for nearly 12 years teaches you a few things about drinking: it’s easier to know your limit with whisky, whereas beer can be more of a blackhole.
After all, it’s only 5pm, Henare’s work day lasts another five hours, and off-time has been at a minimum lately. On the weekends, he’s been in campaign mode at Auckland’s Ōtara markets in the lead-up to the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection, shaking hands with voters and enjoying his favourite market grub: fried doughnuts. It’s not a two-candidate race, but it might as well be, with Te Pāti Māori’s Oriini Kaipara the other frontrunner likely to take the seat left by the party’s late Takutai Tarsh-Kemp.
The race could be a litmus test for Te Pāti Māori’s popularity alongside the Toitū te Tiriti movement, or for the Labour vibe Henare says he’s been catching: “I’ve felt a Jacinda-wave – maybe not as big, but I felt a momentum, and it’s a good sign in the build-up to 2026.” He says that on the ground, “nobody ever says ‘toitū te Tiriti’ to me” – instead, constituents are concerned about work opportunities, access to good education and health services, and affordable housing. “Our people are looking to see tangible results – that doesn’t mean that we ignore te Tiriti,” Henare says. “We want the Crown to be a responsible partner, but it’s hard saying that to someone who’s got nowhere to live, who’s looking at the price of butter and thinking it’s a treat.”
A new Jacinda-esque wave for Labour? That’s the vibe Henare’s been feeling.
Henare first came to parliament in 2014 as MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, a seat he held until the 2023 election. Reflecting on the state of the party back when he first started, after Labour suffered it’s worst-ever election defeat, to Jacindamania and beyond, Henare says political life forces you to “ride the high, and also ride the lows”. Being in the Labour Party kind of reminds him of his favourite rugby league team, the Warriors – you just have to keep telling yourself it’s your year until it really is.
Henare’s the kind of man you could easily picture yourself drinking with into the early hours of the morning. He’s got plenty of yarns to share, especially from his stint as minister for defence between 2020 and 2023 – like that time he and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. Sunak had just been elected to the top spot, took the same train to the country as Henare (“he was first class, I was no class”), and boarded the train dressed in “one of the most beautiful suits I’ve ever seen – the thing was was stitched onto him”.
Their paths didn’t properly cross over until later that day, after Henare had already met up with Zelensky. But when the Ukrainian leader caught sight of Sunak’s attire, he turned to Henare and remarked, “only the British show up to war in a suit”.
THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A
How much should a pint cost?
I think a pint should be no more than $10. You might make an exception for a Guinness or a bougie boutique beer, but you should’t have to go and buy a stubby for $16.
Do you have a karaoke go-to?
I’ve got a small handful, but my favourite one is: [begins singing] I would take the stars out of the sky for you … Or ‘Wonderful Tonight’, but that’s a few whiskies deep, that one.
Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?
I like having a beer at the Duke of Marlborough, because I’m from up there, there’s deep history – there’s still bullet holes in the building – plus it’s beautiful: you can sit on the deck, [enjoy] the calm waters. They call it the hellhole of the Pacific, but I beg to differ.
Which three MPs would be on your pub quiz team?
Matua Winston, [because of his] broad knowledge and great memory recall – he tells me stories from the 70s when he met my grandparents, and he might repeat the stories every now and then, but the story never changes, which is pretty good.
And I’m going to go with Duncan Webb: he’s brainy, he’s got a great sense of humour, he’s got some quirky little knowledge too. And Barbara Edmonds because she loves her sport and history, is big on community and she’s probably better at maths.
Which MP from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?
Mark Mitchell: we’ve played rugby together, I get on really well with him, we’ve very similar interests and he’s just a choice rooster, you know?
Which current policy would you like to call last rounds on?
Any policy that is Māori bashing. I had just finished uni when Don Brash did the Ōrewa speech, and now we’re 20 years down the track and we’re still doing that, like, come on whānau … We just keep coming back to this thing, and we know why: because it’s cheap and easy politics. Any policy that race baits, I’d like to see the ass-end of it.
Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?
I’d like to see the licensing trusts come into alignment – there’s too much of a grey area and disparity in the work and financing that these trusts do. West Auckland’s very specific and strict, and it works well in that community, but for others, there’s been allegations of corruption and poor governance, and I’d love to see legislation that can tidy that up.
‘We want the Crown to be a responsible partner, but it’s hard saying that to someone who’s got nowhere to live.’ (Image: Instagram/@peenihenare)
What’s a policy area we’ve been nursing without finishing the glass?
Pay equity. I think there can be really good policy about how we manage it moving forward, and how we uplift the lowest paid, in a clear way that everyone understands.
What qualities make a good drinking partner?
Storytelling: a good storyteller can captivate this room, and if you’ve been in here, you’ve no doubt seen Winston hold court. It’s all about storytelling, instead of a projection of personality.
Have you ever had a Schnapp’s election moment where you regretted your political instinct?
I think if a politician says they haven’t, they’re lying. There are lots of things where I think, “damn, I should’ve said [this], I should’ve been better, I shouldn’t have let that emotion [take over]” … For example, trolls online – [I don’t know] how many times I’ve typed something out and deleted it all. Sometimes, you just gotta rise above it.
Up next on One MP, One Pint: Act MP Simon Court.