My whānau and I have always been thankful to the Labour Party's policies and social security measures, as well as education and health reforms, and this is what inspired me to join Labour, firstly as a party member, secondly as a grassroots volunteer for Phil Goff in 2014, and subsequently as a candidate in 2017. But being a candidate is never a smooth journey. In 2017, I found some people who refused to shake my hand, not because they did not believe in my political ideology or that of my party's policies but because my skin tone did not match that of theirs.