How well do we really know our politicians and the personal values and experiences they bring to decisions that affect us all?
Newshub Nation's Backstory series goes behind the scenes into the lives and childhood photo albums of our political leaders.
Green MP Teanau Tuiono is an activist from way back, attending the Springbok protests in 1981 with his mother while he was a child.
He also showed Newshub Nation a photo of him at a protest at Parliament in 1996, alongside current co-leader of the Greens, Marama Davidson.
Tuiono was arrested at that protest, which he said was "not a good look for me to be honest."
"Embarrassingly for me, my grandad was there," which he said didn't play well with his image as "a good island boy."
His mother was from Northland and his father was from Atiu Rarotonga, so Tuiono described himself as both Māori and Pasifika.
Tuiono said his parent's wedding was traditionally South Auckland.
"That is, my dad was a bouncer in a South Auckland pub and my mum was trying to get in without any ID."
Though he was born in Auckland, Tuiono believes the period he spent in Atiu, where his father's side of the family is from, was very formative.
Though he was young, he said he spent "enough time there to really cement in my mind who I was, my connection to my people, and what it means to be Pasifika here in Aotearoa."
Tuiono also ascribes a lot of importance to the time spent with his grandad.
"He was a member of the Labour Party as well, so you can imagine we used to have some interesting discussions and debates."
"The culture and values that were important to me came from my grandfather. He was a knowledge holder and leader within our community."
Tuiono said he has attempted to emulate his grandad's example.
He has now been in Palmerston North for 15 years and lives with his wife and three kids, and describes himself as a "bit of a big nerd."
"I like Star Wars, Star Trek, all of that stuff," he said before showing Newshub Nation one of his "favourite family photos," - two star destroyers flying over Palmerston North.
Watch the full video for more.
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