Chris Penk on the Nature of Optimism
by Victor Perton
“I get knocked down, but I get up again.”
I asked Chris Penk, New Zealand's energetic and insightful Minister, what makes him optimistic. Chris wears many ministerial hats: Minister for Building and Construction, Minister for Land Information, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, Minister for Veterans, Associate Minister of Defence, and Associate Minister of Immigration. He also serves as MP for the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate.
Chris shared this unique and creative take on optimism:
"My favourite epithet on the nature of optimism is the wise words of the philosopher-poet collective 'Chumbawamba'. I refer to the celebrated line in their magnum opus 'Tubthumping':
'I get knocked down but I get up again.'
"It was a generation-defining anthem of the late 90s and the soundtrack to many a protest and pub crawl. Apparently.
"More importantly, it commits to persistence in the face of adversity and acknowledges the repetitive reality of that commitment. Inspirational stuff."
I love the originality of Chris’s response to a question I have asked thousands of people.
The brilliance lies in its simplicity. Optimism is the essential catalyst for persistence and resilience. It is the force that enables us to rise not just once, but every time we fall.
Where pessimism stalls, optimism moves. Where despair weakens, optimism strengthens. It is optimism that breathes life into repetition, the repetition of standing back up, trying again, and believing that the next step still matters.
I am intrigued, too, by the leadership lessons Chris must have learned in the early stages of his career. After his initial studies, he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy, serving on the frigate HMNZS Te Kaha, and later in the submarine squadron of Australia’s Navy. It is a background steeped in discipline, endurance, and mission focus; foundations that surely shaped his resilient and optimistic outlook.
Interestingly, "Tubthumping" made its way into New Zealand politics, used by New Zealand First leader and now Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters as an election campaign anthem during the 2024 New Zealand election. Its message of defiance and comeback has clearly struck chords across generations and party lines.