Garrick Cooper.

Introducing Garrick Cooper:

Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Whanaunga, UC Branch Co-president, Associate Professor, Aotahi School of Māori & Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury.

I'm standing because:

I think that this moment demands bold action to ensure that our members’ work and labour is valued, and that our sector is adequately resourced to serve our communities. Incrementalism will not cut it. We are living in a period of profound change, and here at home under the current government Māori and underserved sections of our communities are under attack – some of the attacks are particularly consequential, others are just small-minded and petty. In my view this is not the time to batten down the hatches. It’s a time to act with clarity, unity, and courage.

What I will bring to this role:

Over 30 years of service and experience in the higher education sector, a keen ear and desire to hear peoples stories, hopes and nawe. I won’t be the loudest voice – rather I will ensure that we have a strong voice that represents our collective aspirations, and a voice that translates into positive changes through solid organising and strategic action.

If I am elected, I hope to achieve:

A greater awareness of higher education’s role in delivering a skilled, talented, creative and civically minded populace. Our work serves an important contribution to ensuring Aotearoa New Zealand is best placed to negotiate an increasingly unstable and precarious world. Furthermore, it is education that has been the foundation upon which Māori communities have sought more dignified lives, liberation and Tino Rangatiratanga. To fulfil this function higher education needs to be adequately resourced. My second priority, and no less important, is to ensure greater union responsivity to Māori members. The move to co-governance on the back of hard work of TEU members and staff offers an important opportunity to build a union that responds to the needs of all members. The best way to honour that hard work is to build from it and grow – this means recognising what works and changing what doesn’t. To that end I hope to build structures and practices that ensure greater responsivity to Māori members.

I will contribute to the implementation of the TEU's goals by:

Working closely with our members, constituents and TEU staff through genuine dialogue. The value of genuine dialogue is that they can lead to much greater clarity about what actions and goals we can build and work towards together.

I invite you to get in touch with me directly at garrickteu@gmail.com or garrick.cooper@canterbury.ac.nz. Also, you could follow me on this journey together and beyond at Instagram “garrickteu” and learn more about my platform and what I stand for at Substack https://substack.com/@garrickcooper.