By TeKāhu

Conservative Speaker Elliot Ikilei has stunned members of the Pasifika-focused podcast, Mandate.

Mandate is “…a podcast dedicated to rediscovering what it means to be a man in today’s ever-shifting world. Each episode, the boys hit the table with an expert to explore the issues and pathways to rejuvenate men in both society and the community.” (Youtube information). Previous guests have included guests such as Kevin Mealamu, Ali Lauitiiti, Tyree, Nick Tuitasi, Poetik and Bass, Barney Wikiteria, Ronji Tanielu and more.

Donning a Trump 2024 cap, Ikilei spoke on topics including youth crime, family breakdown, academic and media relationships with the government, racism, LGBTQIA+, welfare dependency, colonisation, the war on masculinity, youth work, Christianity and more. He also discussed the “allegiance factor” of Pasifika in voting for the Labour party, stating that:

I don’t understand the allegiance factor that crosses the Christian factor…Labour is the most anti-Christian party we’ve ever had”

He brought up various political leaders including Louisa Wall, Aupito Sio, and Jenny Salesa, encouraging panellists to respond to the question: “What have they done for the community?”

A number of the topics Ikilei discussed were confronting, and his episode contained the first warning of the series:

“The following content contains sensitive themes.

Viewer discretion is advised.

If you need to talk to someone here at Mandate please message us on our @mandatenz Facebook or Instagram pages.
If in NZ contact Feel free to call us on 0800 265 069”

For nearly two hours, Ikilei kept the panel in thrall with facts, history and statistics that had the panellists repeatedly state that they were now questioning what they had been previously instructed in.

The podcast had laughs, anecdotes and historical data, with poignant moments and profound engagements between the panellists.

One viewer on social media wrote:

This was probably my favourite one. Shout out to Elliot for giving a different perspective on a lot of things we as pacific islanders have been led to believe. All the topics were spot on, Marxism, the war on masculinity, blindly voting for Labour because im brown. Blaming everything on racism when anything bad happens. I agree, why is he labelled as controversial? Thank you for this one”

Full discussion below: