Meet the teenage climate striker, 17, set to challenge Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern representing the Greens
- Luke Wijohn, 17, running for parliament in the New Zealand general election
- Climate change activist will contest seat of New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern
- Could become NZ’s youngest ever MP but has no long-term political aspirations
- Brainchild behind School Strike 4 Climate students marches across the nation
A young climate change activist hopes to make history by running for parliament against New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, just months after finishing school.
Luke Wijohn, who turns 18 next week, has been endorsed as the Greens candidate to run against Ms Ardern in her Auckland-based electorate of Mount Albert at the general election in September.
If elected, he will become New Zealand’s youngest ever MP, currently held by James Stuart-Wortley, who was 20 when he was elected in 1853.
The youngest currently serving MP is 25.
Luke Wijohn (pictured) has been selected to represent the Greens in the upcoming election
Wijohn has deferred a university scholarship to focus on his political aspirations.
‘Climate change and inequality are the two biggest threats to lives of dignity in New Zealand,’ he posted on social media on Wednesday.
‘I’m running for the Greens because we are the only ones with the policy to provide New Zealand with thriving communities free of the climate crisis and poverty.’
‘National AND Labour governments have tried to ignore the people, the kids, and the science. They have prioritised exploiting our planet over protecting our future.
‘The Greens are the only party with the consistency AND policy to make the changes this country so desperately needs. With your help, we can beat the climate crisis and inequality in New Zealand, so that all people can have decent lives.’
Luke is running in the Auckland-based seat of New Zealand Prime Jacinda Ardern (pictured)
Luke Wijohn (right) sees climate change and inequality as the biggest issues facing Kiwis
The outspoken activist is no stranger to being in the headlines.
Wijohn was responsible for the School Strike 4 Climate marches held in September, where thousands of students across the nation took to the streets to protest about climate change.
He has also discussed the climate crisis on breakfast TV and national radio and lobbied the government on the Zero Carbon Bill.
‘During the climate strikes adults would tell us that nothing is going to change until my generation was at the table, and we’re running out of time,’ Wijohn told Newshub.
He realises the daunting task ahead of him and is ‘pretty sure’ he won’t unseat the prime minister from her seat.
He’s more focused on lobbying for the party vote and getting more Green MPs into parliament.
‘The Green Party has achieved so much with only eight MPs. I dream of the amount of change we can get with even more MPs,’ he told Stuff.
He’s yet to turn 18 but that hasn’t stopped outspoken climate change activist Luke Wijohn (right)
Politics aren’t a long term ambition for Wijohn, who cares more about changing the world than becoming prime minister.
‘I’ll be brave in parliament because I won’t be protecting my career as a politician,’ he said.
‘I want to get in there and use being an MP as a tool … to achieve the change New Zealand needs, and then get out.’
Ms Ardern was a list MP for nine years before she won the seat of Mount Albert at the the 2017 general election with almost 65 per cent of the vote.
The New Zealand general election will be held on September 19.
Luke was still at school when he organised the School Strike 4 Climate marches (one pictured) attended by thousands of student protesters in September