#JuCo
Judith Collins, affectionately known as JuCo by her Young Nat contingent, is an MP who continually touts the importance of “hard work” in getting yourself up in the world. She has recently been the subject of a fair amount of spotlight, as the New Zealand representative at the UN Universal Periodic Review (on human rights), the main MP involved with the family law reforms, and, of course, the subject of the Oravida scandal that left some calling for her resignation. Todd Dickens, however, thinks very highly of her …1. If you could summarise your evening in a paragraph or two, what would you say? Describe Judith for us?
Bloody sensational. Judith is a superb woman, and although she is well known for her style and persona, it will always take you back a wee bit in person. For someone who is so bold, she holds a striking sincerity that does get conveyed across the camera very well.
She spoke on her portfolios and on life in Parliament itself, giving an analysis of her fellow MPs that goes a tad further than the famous 140 characters will allow. Fascinating stuff for us Pols Majors. She was also asked a bit on her younger life. She completed her Masters while practicing law in her 20s, and, at the same time, owned a restaurant. She would be up at 6am everyday to bake cheesecake to be served, and would often cover shifts if need be. Because “that’s what you do when you’re young and want to get ahead ...” She doesn’t align to ideologies so much, but is a woman of firm principles. I admire her work ethic immensely.
2. Did Judith have anything to say about student policy?
She focused on her own portfolios, which was what we had requested; her general words to the Young Nats were mainly that of praise. Thanks for the work we do in both policy and campaigning for the Party, it is obvious the amount of effort many Young Nats put in – and it is great when that is recognised.
3. Recently Judith has been in the news for the Oravida scandal. Did she have any wise words about the affair?
She cares very deeply about the export market that is NZ dairy.
4. Unfortunately, Judith has blocked me from Twitter, meaning my banter fix is seriously restricted. Are there any gold quotes you can remember from the night?
She mentioned being able to remain contrite for a week, but there is work that needs to be done. If as many people were so determined, my God, we’d have a productive wee state.
gareth.org.nz
Gareth’s talk focused on three “disruptive technologies,” or technologies that have the potential to completely shift paradigms within their respective fields. The first, solar, is something the Greens have advocated for years, and comes with its own recent policy package; the second, the internet economy, was accompanied by the revelation that Gareth has been working on an Internet Bill of Rights (to be released by the time this is published). He’ll be crowd-sourcing response. The third, 3D printing, was approached to the extent that he argues New Zealand should be investing in the technological apparatus before the market becomes saturated and to keep us ahead of the curve. It’s also really cool to look it.1. The IPCC report came out yesterday, heralding a wide variety of responses – what do you think is the most critical thing NZ must do at this stage?
Well we’ve got to reduce our emissions. We’re on a track to increased emissions in New Zealand. We’ve got the highest per person rates in the world; we’ve got a Government that’s gutted the carbon prices, pouring tens of millions of dollars down oil wells, and borrowing billions for motorways. We actually need to act, reduce our carbon, and I believe that’s where the business opportunities for the country lie as well.
2. The US and China aren’t doing enough, and NZ only accounts for 0.2 per cent of emissions. So why should we act?
Well we should act because we’re a much smaller percentage of the world’s population. So actually we’re using an unfair share of the earth’s atmosphere to put out pollution. Now, also, everyone only pays a small amount of tax. Anyone could also use that argument, “I only pay a small amount of tax, why should I bother, so maybe I’ll stop.” We don’t allow that in the tax sphere, and when it comes to this global challenge, which seriously risks our civilisation, we’ve all got to take on our fair share; and if China and America aren’t going to act, New Zealand needs to act as an exemplar. If even New Zealand won’t act, it’s going to be very hard for the rest of the world to act, too.
3. Being a student and being sustainable is often seen as “too expensive.” How do the Greens propose to reconcile this disconnect?
Well, I think we can help students save money and be more environmental. For example, our solar scheme, where tenants can approach their landlord to make it easy to get solar panels. We’ve subsidised insulation in the past; we’d like to see more energy efficiency advice given to people. Because, actually, there’re a tonne of ways you can save money by using less carbon or having less of an environmental footprint. It’s about giving people the advice.
4. The IPCC report also said we may have to sacrifice some native species if we don’t act, and Tim Groser said climate change should be left to “natural processes” – so which three native endangered species would you save?
I’d try and save all of them, of course, but the species I love are the Rockhopper Penguins, which we know are impacted by climate change; they’re some of the funkiest penguins with the most attitude out there. Obviously our iconic world’s smallest Maui’s dolphin, which are sadly also going extinct from fishing impacts, and then the tuatara, because this guy has been on the planet for literally hundreds of millions of years; older than the dinosaurs. It would be a tragedy to see him go extinct, on our watch, because of our actions.
5. Reject, (re)elect, realign: Nick Smith, Ruth Dyson, Andrew Williams.
Well, I would reject Nick Smith … re-elect Ruth Dyson, realign Andrew Williams. [Where? Where’d you realign him to?] Where? Well, I’d like to see NZ First support more environmental initiatives, I understand they’re voting against our Members’ Bill to clean up the Black Drain; the Tarawera River. It’s disappointing not to have their support on this Bill.