Opinion: Our latest State of the Nation interview proves that warmth, visibility and listening skills go a long way in politics, with one North Island voter supporting her MP, despite deeply disliking his party.
How old are you? I'm 59.
Are you still working? Yes, I've worked full time since I was 18.
What do you do? I’m a teacher.
How many people live in your household? There's three of us. I'm a widow, but I've got a new partner who has a child from his previous marriage and that child lives half of the time with us.
Which ethnicity do you identify with? I identify as European – I was born in the UK.
How long have you lived in New Zealand? 24 years.
Between you and your partner, what’s your combined income before tax? I'm going to guess at about $190,000.
Have you decided who you'll vote for on November 7? Yes, I have. I'm going to split my vote this time, and I've never done that before.
I'm going to vote for the National candidate in my electorate because I think he's actually doing a really good job. But I really don't like the policies that the National Party have come up with, so I will be giving my party vote to Labour.
Which specific Labour policies align with your values? I like that they’re leaving alone the [education] curriculum and developing more family-focused learning.
And, actually, I know that my grocery shopping is double what it was when National took over. Shopping every fortnight for a family of three used to cost me about $200. Now it costs me nearly $400.
We don't have takeaways. We don't go out. We don't drink, and we don't smoke.
Yet, still basics like rates, water, power are just sapping the lifeblood out of myself and all of these families. There's got to be a bit of a break somewhere. I just feel that taxing the wealthy to support the lowest end is a much better way to sustain a community where we value people.
So you’ve really felt the cost-of-living crisis? Oh absolutely. I used to be able to fill up my petrol tank for $90 a week. Now it costs me nearly $200.
We've had to go meatless two or three days a week, because we can't afford to put meat into the diet.
And that’s despite having a reasonable income coming in... Yeah it is. I mean obviously because we’re in our late 50s, a large chunk of our income goes into savings, because otherwise we're not going to be able to afford to retire. So although it does look on paper as if we're quite wealthy, if you squirrel away large portions of your income for an affordable retirement, then you don't get left with very much.
What's your view of Chris Hipkins as leader of the Labour Party? I actually quite like him. I think he's an honest bloke. I've met him and he's pretty sound and makes a lot of sense.
The Labour Party has been much criticised for not coming out with policy quickly enough. Do you think that a fair critique? Well, we've still got a little way to go before the election. I think the capital gains tax [is a good idea].
As a teacher, what do you think of ACT’s promise to give teachers a clear legal power to remove disruptive students from class, and to fine those students' families up to $3000 for failing to address their child's behaviour? Paul Henry maybe needs to come into a classroom and actually see if he can manage the children, because we're talking about families that have been disengaged from education for multiple generations, and his policy is not going to help those families. It’s just going to push them further away.
I dislike all three of the coalition parties. I can’t stand NZ First. How dare they go to Parliament and call people names and then refuse to apologise for it? I think they're racist and misogynistic.
That Te Tiriti policy [ACT's since defeated Treaty Principles Bill] caused huge fractures and it just doesn't make for a very cohesive, coordinated, community-spirited country.
I’m thinking your local National MP must be doing a stellar job, what with you planning to vote for him, even though you dislike his party so much? He's very visible in the local community; you see him walking around the town. He doesn't mind anybody coming up to him and talking to him and he appears to listen to what you've got to say. The [opposition] candidate is very young and perhaps not quite as resilient.
Have you been a consistent Labour voter since you've been here? I've been a consistent Labor voter since I was able to vote.
And what's really pushed me over to Labour this time more than ever is actually this [fast-tracking] resource consent. For example, putting up thousands of houses, with no infrastructure, no supermarkets, no schools, no GPs, no dentists, nothing to sustain that community. I used to live near a community like that in the UK, and they had the biggest IV drug use in the country, because there was nothing there, and nothing for the young teens to do.
What do you think of the Government's move-on order legislation, soon to come into practise, enabling police to move on people who are rough sleeping or begging on our streets?
Well, it's not going to sort the problem out is it? All you're doing is moving it to a different part of the city. We know what the precursors of all of this [homelessness] are, so until we start to address those, nothing's going to change.
What's your view on the big AI data centres that are planned and proposed around the country?
I'm very cross. The idea of people who sit in big overseas companies leeching all of the natural resources from a country that prides itself on being clean and green. I don't understand how the Government can sit there and allow it. You know, these data farms will only provide employment for [a limited number of] people in the long term, but they'll leach all the water and they'll leach all the power. Go and dirty up your own backyard. I do use AI, but I'm very conscious of using it to ensure that the job I'm doing is the best it can be, rather than just using it for what I could use the internet for.
Are environmental issues very high on your list of concerns? Yes, they are. I mean, that's one of the reasons why we came over to New Zealand was to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. Walking, beaches, rivers, woodland. And I do everything I can to be as eco-friendly and as sparing on the environment as I can be.
What's your view of the National Party's policy to raise the superannuation eligibility to 67? Don't keep moving the goalposts – how dare you?
My job is quite physical and when I get to 65, I'm probably not going to be able to do it anymore. I'm guessing that there will be quite a lot of people like construction workers, builders, plumbers who actually can't go beyond 65, because the nature of their job is physical.
What do you think of the National Party's proposal to increase the interest on student loans for New Zealanders living overseas? Well, they've driven them over there. If people can't get a job, they're going to go somewhere else to get a job. National just keep moving the goalposts. First of all, it was the first [tertiary] year free, then it was the third year free. And now it's like, 'we're going to tax you a bit more when you get a job'. They're just making everything so hard.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The views expressed do not represent those of TVNZ.
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