Opinion: In the latest in our State of the Nation series, a Christchurch woman, working in the construction industry, is formulating firm views in the lead up to November 7.
What do you do for work? I work as a sales and design consultant for a company that builds new homes.
How old are you? I'm 59.
How many people live in your household? One.
What's your annual income before tax? Not nearly enough! If you put $85k, that's probably accurate.
Which ethnicity do you identify with? New Zealand Pākehā.
Have you decided who you'll vote for in November? Yes, I’ll definitely vote on the left – I'm weighing up between the Greens and Labour. Probably Labour. I'm not convinced by the Opportunity Party. And at this point, I wouldn't vote for Te Pāti Māori.
Why Labour? I’m a long-time Labour supporter. [But] I feel like Chris Hipkins is the wrong person to be leading the party at this stage. I think he's wishy-washy, and I think that they've got some really good policies, but I feel like they're being swamped a little bit by all the money that's being given to the parties on the other side [via donations] and maybe Labour's messaging isn't hitting hard enough. Although the polls seem to be looking pretty good for them.
Do you have a preferred leader of the Labour Party? Yeah, Kieran McAnulty. Kieran for the win! He's just got enough of the mongrel in him to actually get the message across. He's really smart. He's really likeable. He's funny, and he's whip smart.
So you're pretty consistent with your Labour vote? Yeah, I’m always on the left. I did vote for John Key once, when he got in [in 2008], and I just regretted it.
What do you think of the coalition government and the job they've done over their past term? I think they've done a terrible job, and I think that they're cruel. They have no concept that a government is supposed to lead all of the country, and that’s what we pay our taxes for. Our taxes are basically our contribution to being a part of society, and I think that campaigning on lowering taxes is just stupid, and it's appealing to the lowest, greediest common denominator, which, unfortunately, is quite a few people. I think taking money away from the councils is woefully bad. Honestly, you just start me up, and I'll go for ages.
Specifically, what's your impression of Christopher Luxon? I think he is completely out of touch. He has to wind back things [he’s said] all the time because he can't think on the fly. And I think that it's really easy to scratch his surface and see that he's not concerned about the people. He's only concerned about making money for him and his rich mates. And I don't think that's New Zealand. He's the anathema to what we need in New Zealand.
We have quite high unemployment in New Zealand at the moment, do you feel secure in your job? Yes. Obviously, Christchurch is the place to be if you're in the building industry. If I was living somewhere else and doing this job, I would not feel secure at all.
There is a bit of hesitancy at the moment. People are getting a little bit scared to put their signature on the dotted line, because they don't know what's going to happen for the country, and there is a lot of scaremongering about the building industry and taxes that Labour may or may not bring in and how that will affect housing profitability and things like that. But I think [most of that speculation] is inaccurate, especially if you’re buying a house you're going to live in, it’s irrelevant.
Is the cost of living crisis impacting you? Yes. Definitely. I'm not making nearly enough money. My job is mostly based on commissions.
I moved down to Christchurch last year after living in other parts of the country for 30 years, mostly because my father is unwell. I've taken a major [pay] cut. Jobs are very scarce. If I had a choice, I would be in a a salary role rather than a commission role. But there's just not enough jobs around.
The cost of everything has gone up massively, and as a single woman living alone, it's madly expensive.
So fuel, groceries... Exactly. Rent.
How much rent do you pay? I pay $550 per week.
Do you get a nice place for that? Yeah, it's quite nice.
Do you use AI at all in your work? As little as possible. I'm not a fan. I think it's bad for your brain, and it's massively bad for the environment.
I don't think that we should be having anything to do with data centres. I think that the the environmental impact outweighs the economic benefits. There are so many more things that we could be doing in New Zealand rather than just taking a really short-term, easy path.
Do you think the current government is doing enough to combat climate change? Absolutely not. They are just ruining the country.
Do you have thoughts about how we should combat climate change? I think that there are a whole lot of industries that we could get involved with that will mitigate some of [the climate damage] we're doing. Take all the vineyards that are being pulled out in Blenheim, the massive monoculture there that for years and years was great, but now the world of wine is changing.
I think that we should be growing things like hemp in that area. It's flat. It's fantastic for crops that are good for the environment. I think that we need to have a wholesale change. Get away from kow-towing to the US and places like that, and really get back to New Zealand being clean and green, And, you know, data centers are the opposite of that. There are industries that we can really tap into that look after the environment, rather than harm it.
What do you think of the National Party's proposal to raise the superannuation age to 67? It has been coming for a while because people are working longer. But are they only working longer because they just can't afford to retire?
And what about all of the manual workers, people whose bodies are ruined? It’s just seeing people as units, rather than as people who've worked bloody hard all their lives.
Do you think superannuation should be means tested? Definitely.
Do you believe te reo Māori should be taught to all New Zealand children in primary school? Yes. I do, partly because it's really good for children's brains to be learning another language. Also, we're in a really enviable position where we have a second language, an endemic language, and I think we should be celebrating that. It's criminal that we don't. It's a beautiful language, and we should be proud of that and not be embarrassed or really awful about it.
What do you think of the Government's proposed move-on orders, which would enable police to move on people who are rough sleeping or begging on our streets? You know what I think about that [laughs] - I think it's inhumane. There's a major problem in New Zealand, and it's it stems from the fact that there's poverty. There are generations of poverty now, and people can't get ahead. And the fact that this government just comes in with cruelty, rather than realising that their role in running a country is looking after everybody and providing a safety net. It just makes me feel sick.
With your dad being unwell, you've obviously spent time in hospitals lately. What was your impression of the health system? Once again, it’s the job of a government to look after all the people, and that involves having a really well-functioning GP system – the more people that can be helped at the GP level, the fewer people there are going to be in hospital. Hence, the free GP visits is a great idea. But yeah, the hospitals are woefully underfunded, understaffed.
These people work so hard. It’s credit to the workers that so many people have good [experiences] and they deserve all the praise and pay rises.
Do you support the Green Party's idea of a wealth tax? I do actually. We don't need billionaires. We don't need a whole lot of out of touch people just accumulating wealth.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The views expressed do not represent those of TVNZ.
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