Photography: Babiche Martens
Qiulae Wong knew her life would change when she put her hand up to lead the Opportunity Party last November, but nothing could have prepared her for just how dramatically.
Less than a year ago, she could tuck her daughters Malia, five, and Cleo, two, into bed every night, walk down the street unnoticed and enjoy the relative normality of life outside politics.
Today, the 38-year-old is one of the country’s most talked-about political players, with a demanding election campaign and a remarkable rise in the polls turning her family life upside down.
Yet when we arrive at the Auckland home Qiulae shares with husband Grant Anthony and their gorgeous girls, any political drama feels a world away. Qiulae is spooning yoghurt into Cleo’s bowl while Malia is thrilled to discover she’s getting the same hair and makeup treatment as Mum.
“We look the same!” she beams, admiring their matching curls.
A mum on a mission
Politics was never part of a carefully mapped-out career plan. In fact, the former sustainability consultant applied for the leadership role almost on a whim. But the seeds were planted when she became a mother and started thinking differently about the world her daughters would inherit.
“Being a mum does broaden your view of the world and it broadens your time horizon, so you’re thinking about somebody else’s lifetime, not just your own,” says Qiulae.
“I think that’s what a politician’s job is, to think as far into the future as possible. It’s one thing to feel frustrated for yourself at the state of the world and society, but then it’s another to think whether it’s going to continue to be like this for my kids. I didn’t want to look back and have done nothing to try to change it.”
While Qiulae had always admired Opportunity and had voted for the party in the past, it wasn’t until she saw an ad for the leader role that she decided it was the right time.
A 30-second decision
She describes herself as someone who “follows her intuition”, so when the email advertising the position landed in her inbox, she didn’t overthink it.
“I replied within about 30 seconds and said, ‘This is really interesting, I have no experience in politics but I’d love to understand a bit more what the role is about.’”
The job appealed to Qiulae because of her growing frustration with what she describes as the “flip-flop between the left and the right”. She had seen the consequences in her sustainability work, where businesses could struggle to make long- term decisions when governments repeatedly changed direction.
But Qiulae confesses she didn’t tell Grant about the job until the process was well underway. He laughs as he recalls the moment she finally ran the idea past him.
“She was standing waiting for me when I got home from work and she looked a bit sheepish,” he recalls.
“She said to me, ‘Babe, I’m thinking about applying for the Opportunity Party leadership role.’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’d be great,’ but on the inside, I thought it was a longshot. I only found out later that it was pretty much a done deal.”
From fringe to force
Qiulae threw herself into relaunching the party and spreading its message around the country. At the start, getting the party into Parliament felt like an ambitious goal. Nine months later, it no longer seems quite so far-fetched.
Under her leadership, the once-fringe party has climbed from polling below two percent to between five and eight percent in recent surveys – enough to clear
the five percent threshold and potentially hold the balance of power after November’s election.
All of this, she admits, has been a lot to get her head around, especially as it’s happened so fast.
“It’s been hectic – much more that I could have anticipated,” says Qiulae, who is standing for the Mt Albert electorate.
“I think I’m still running on the adrenaline of it all.”
But a desire to make a difference runs through her family history. Born in Fiji, Qiulae’s Chinese grandparents settled there after World War II, building a life from scratch after fleeing China. Her grandfather later became mayor of Lautoka before serving as Fiji’s first senator of Chinese descent.
A family built on service
Her Chinese father then moved to Auckland for high school and met her Pākehā mother at university.
“I’d always liked the idea of making a difference,” she says.
“Coming from a half-Chinese family, you grow up with a sense of service, and wanting to do something right by your whānau and community.”
Before politics, Qiulae worked in fashion sustainability in London before returning to New Zealand and joining KPMG, working across business and government, advising organisations on environmental and economic challenges.
While she’s always been a working mum, the move into politics has meant big changes. Qiulae is away from home at least three nights a week, and spends weekends door-knocking and at speaking events. Right now, there is no such thing as a day off.
“I am really aware just how much pressure this is putting on Grant,” she says.
“We have an au pair and family support, but he’s doing pretty much every morning and every bedtime. He’s been incredible.”
The reality of political life
She tells her girls that Mummy is working hard to try to make New Zealand a better place, but Qiulae says some weeks go more smoothly than others.
“I forgot about sausage sizzle day at school, so that was a disaster!”
Cleo, meanwhile, is still too young to understand why Mum goes away so often and is often clingy when she returns.
“Anyone who’s got young kids will know that when you go away and come back, it’s like they want five times as much attention because they’ve missed you so much,” she shares.
Grant says he’s immensely proud of what Qiulae has achieved, and that he’s 100 percent behind her and Opportunity. But there is one aspect of political life he still struggles with – the online abuse directed at his wife and, in the occasional case, their children. Public scrutiny is one thing, but attacks on his family are deeply upsetting.
“It’s not easy reading things about your wife or seeing racist comments directed at your children,” he says.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that. I have had to really learn how to not engage with it because obviously my first response is to take them on.”
Qiulae, unsurprisingly, is more pragmatic. She has faced “silly racist stuff” but is determined to ignore it.
“They want you to feel rattled and that you can’t do your job, and that you’re not welcome. So if you let it get to you too much, it means they win. But I think they’re a noisy minority. Most comments are extremely positive and supportive.”
Finding balance in the chaos
She has had to develop a thick skin as her profile has grown, but she’s not sure she’ll ever get used to seeing her face on billboards and being recognised every time she goes out.
“It means I have to get dressed properly – I can’t go to school pick-up without brushing my hair any more,” she laughs.
At the weekends, the family loves to head out to Parkrun – a 5km community jog with the kids in a pushchair. After, they might meet friends at the pub or socialise at home.
“You can’t beat a beer and a bowl of chips,” says Qiulae.
Away from politics and family, Qiulae tries to keep herself grounded with exercise. She runs, goes to the gym and, when time allows, practises yoga. All of these are vital for her stress release.
“For me, yoga feels like how I imagine people who are religious feel when they go to church,” she muses.
“It’s just that very spiritual calming. Finding the time, however, is another matter. “There’s no such thing as a day off now. And I’ve kind of just accepted that’s how it will be right up to the election.”
After November 7, she hopes life will settle back into something closer to normal. For now, she makes the most of the time she has at home, even if that means sharing the bed with two little girls who have missed her.
“I’m really conscious they need extra cuddles. I try to really make the time count when I am at home.”
