After the election - now what?

A woman votes at Al-Madineh School, Māngere, in the New Zealand General Election of 14 October, 2023. Photo by NZ Electoral Commission. Some rights reserved. CC BY-ND 3.0 DEED.

New Zealand has a new government, a coalition, after an extended period of post-election negotiation between three political parties. Across the motu, news media, professional bodies, activists and citizens are analysing, commenting and speculating on what this may mean. Will the fields in which they work and the causes for which they campaign change? And how should organisations like GWC, mission-driven and not-for-profit, respond?

GWC’s vision for barrier-free education for all women doesn’t change. Nor does our mission, to break down barriers, prudently steward our resources and promote our mission to strengthen communities. It’s equally important that we continue to be guided by our values: to make things happen and care for the future by doing the right thing. We are still propelled by inclusion. As Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw notes in a LinkedIn post, values-led organisations should

continue to advocate for and use the collective/ all of us/ self transcendent values that most people in most communities want to prioritise when the context and systems allows them to [and] remind people these are in the main "all of our" shared values regardless of politics.

This is not the entirety of the plan, however, since as policy changes, human outcomes changes and new approaches are needed. New policies may mean barriers to education for girls and women come to exist in different ways, quickly or over time. The priorities of our partner institutions may change as tertiary funding changes, with or without the outcomes of a higher education funding review, and as an organisation we will need to remain attentive and responsive to these changes.

The extent to which the incoming government plans to dismantle the explicit commitments to te Tiriti o Waitangi across the public service is only proposed at this time, but if early moves signal the forthcoming direction, it will be all the more important for public-facing voluntary organisations, like GWC, to amplify their own commitment and to ensure that it shapes their actions. Our why doesn’t change, but our how may. For now, we stay informed, we pay attention and we speak up.