Tamaki Makaurau by-election: Q+A with Kelvyn Alp

DTNZ talks to Kelvyn Alp, the New Zealand Loyal Party candidate for the Tamaki Makaurau by-election.

In a video posted on social media yesterday, Alp told voters the choice was clear. “While mainstream media props up two establishment hacks, I stand for real change. I am your greatest weapon. Your votes are my ammunition. Load me up, and I’ll do the firing. Let’s forge the only way forward – together.”

In the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, the choice is clear. While mainstream media props up two establishment hacks, I stand for real change. I am your greatest weapon. Your votes are my ammunition. Load me up, and I’ll do the firing. Let’s forge the only way forward – together.… pic.twitter.com/FJfszb5rj2

— NZ Loyal (@NZLoyal2026) September 3, 2025

1. Have you got any Maori ancestry?

Yes, I’ve got Māori ancestry. My great aunty is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa from Ngāti Maniapoto. My stepfather is Johnny Hita from Ngā Puhi. I was whāngai into Ngāti Tahinga and given the additional hapū name Hauturu, part of the Tainui Waka. I also connect to Waitaha through the Macfarlane line.

That said, I don’t put lineage on a pedestal – deeds define a man, not his blood. I reject separatism and racist ideology. Māori and non-Māori aren’t enemies, despite what some push to keep us divided. United, we’re a force to dismantle the destructive powers controlling us all. Division only serves their interests.

2. What are the main issues facing Maori in the Tamaki Makaurau electorate?

Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau are hit hard by systemic failures: housing costs and shortages forcing whānau into overcrowded homes or homelessness; health disparities with higher rates of chronic diseases, mental health struggles, and limited access to care; education gaps leaving tamariki behind in underfunded schools; unemployment and low-wage jobs in a rigged economy; cost-of-living pressures making basics like food and power unaffordable; cultural disconnection for urban Māori distant from iwi lands; gang violence and crime fuelled by poverty; and environmental threats to whenua and wai. These issues slam Māori hardest but affect everyone. The real problem is a system designed to keep us all down while elites profit.

3. What are your main policies that would address issues of concern for Maori in the electorate?

My policies cut the nonsense and deliver for everyone, Māori included, without pitting groups against each other.

• Housing: build affordable homes on underused land, slash bureaucratic hurdles for community projects, and tax foreign speculators to fund housing initiatives for all Kiwis, including Māori whānau.
• Health: expand free primary care, mental health support, and preventive programs in high-need areas like South Auckland, incorporating kaupapa Māori approaches but accessible to everyone.
• Education: boost funding for trades training, cultural programs, and resources in low-decile schools to equip kids for jobs, not debt.
• Employment: push living wages, back local businesses over corporate giants, and create job pipelines in green tech and infrastructure, prioritizing local hires.
• Cost of living: freeze prices on essentials, audit corporate profiteering, and redirect taxes to help struggling families.
• Gangs: fight root causes with youth programs, rehab, and economic opportunities, not just punishment.
• On historical grievances: genuine Treaty claims should be redirected to King Charles, not handled by a corporate government with no place in the discussion, as per New Zealand Loyal’s Treaty of Waitangi policy. My focus is unity – policies that lift everyone without favouritism or division.

4. The mainstream media have focused a lot on the Labour Party and TPM candidates, calling it ‘a two-horse race’ from the beginning. Have you been invited by any mainstream media outlets to participate in debates?

Not one invite from the mainstream media. They’re fixated on Labour’s Peeni Henare and Te Pāti Māori’s Oriini Kaipara, sidelining candidates like Hannah Tamaki, Sherry Lee Matene, and me from New Zealand Loyal. It’s straight-up gatekeeping, turning debates into a scripted show for the establishment.

5. Is the exclusion from mainstream media events and debates good for our democracy, and for Maori?

No, it’s a disaster for democracy and a disservice to Māori. Locking out candidates stifles diverse voices, rigs the system for the usual suspects, and robs voters of real options. For Māori, it pushes the false idea that only certain parties represent us, burying the issues that matter under establishment noise. Democracy thrives on open debate – exclusion keeps power in the hands of the few and screws us all.

6. Any other issues you would like to address?

The biggest issue is the manufactured division between Māori and non-Māori, fuelled by globalist elites, corporates, and their political puppets to keep us distracted and weak.

If politicians acted in the people’s best interests, we wouldn’t need separate systems or policies that look like favouritism – everyone would be lifted up.

Historical grievances matter, but they shouldn’t come at anyone’s expense. Genuine claims belong with King Charles, not a corporate government, as outlined in New Zealand Loyal’s Treaty policy. We need to unite as Kiwis, reject the division game, and take on the real enemies: corruption, inequality, and foreign interference stealing our sovereignty. Together, we end their control. Vote for unity and action, not more of their lies.