Youth MP Payton Matthews-Runga on representation and shaking up Parliament

Payton Matthews-Runga says becoming a Youth MP was “really empowering as tangata hauā Māori wahine”.  

“It’s crazy to believe, because we have no representation in the house... I loved that it could be me to finally do that,” says the 17-year-old hailing from Manurewa.

Matthews-Runga started getting into politics during the 2023 election after noticing the lack of representation of disabled people in the chamber and felt like they needed a voice that reflects the community.  

She also attributes becoming disabled as a turning point in her activism and political motivation. “Before my injury, I was really clueless to everything. I didn’t pay attention to anything that didn’t involve me, and that sounds really selfish. But I think a lot of young people don’t care about things that don’t involve them personally.” 

As 2025 rolled around, so did the Youth Parliament, a triennial event that is advertised by the Ministry of Youth Development as a “unique opportunity for young New Zealanders to learn first-hand about our democracy, influence government decision-making, and have their voices heard.” 

Looking up to MPs such as Kahurangi Carter, Benjamin Doyle and Chlöe Swarbrick, Matthews-Runga was set on applying for the opportunity. That’s when she met Carter herself at a noho marae for disabled people at Terenga Paroa Marae, where the MP encouraged her to apply. 

Throughout the three-day event, pushing for change was only the beginning. Many rangatahi from around the motu were prepared to use this opportunity to voice powerful opinions, with Payton Matthews-Runga as one of them. 

Hers was the first speech of 123 in the general debate segment of the programme. She opened with fire: “They only want to fix the education system that educates non-hauā and well behaved rangatahi; because to be honest they don't see tāngata hauā as important tāngata that need and deserve help.”  

This energy was brought into the Parliamentary Working Group discussions, a new feature added in 2025. The groups allowed rangatahi with interest in specific topics, ranging from gambling, revitalisation of te reo, and biodiversity, to bring their community’s worries directly to the Government.  

It was almost a no-brainer for Matthews-Runga to bring her real-life experience to the working group focused on improving the education and employment opportunities of disabled people in Aotearoa.  

In the working group, Matthews-Runga both surveyed and interviewed several disabled people she knew personally and in the broader community. Funding transparency and continued support past secondary school were the two key issues she hoped to bring into the discussion.  

Matthews-Runga was hoping the suggestions they made to the Government would be taken into account. “Funding for disability support has always been a strong talking point for me, so I knew that it could be a good topic to discuss in such a majorly important place,” she says. 

When asked if she was nervous challenging politicians on the subject matter, she simply replied: “It wasn’t too scary because I’m really one of the only ones in that house that was well informed on the matter... So nobody could get up and challenge me on what I was saying.” 

Matthews-Runga's tenure for this year’s Youth Parliament concluded in late August. She hopes that insightful conversations for disabled people around Aotearoa kickstarted something positive for the future. 

“In a lot of the speeches, you could see, and you could feel that we were connected. No matter if we were poorer, richer, or different ethnicities, or sexualities, they all wanted the same thing,” says Matthews-Runga, proud of the work she put forward for the event. 

University is the next step for Matthews-Runga, hoping to major in psychology and minor in political science. She hopes that by studying psychology, it will help her connect better to the people she hopes to serve, aspiring to one day become part of the “adult” Green Party. 

Matthews-Runga had one message as she finished off her run as Youth MP: “Just be who you are. Don’t change, you don’t need to change.”

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