Trevor Mallard has ended his career as an MP this week after 38 years. Much has changed. We sat down to chat through his storied history and get his insights.
Trevor Mallard ended his career as an MP this week, a very long career stretching back 38 years to 1984. They say the past is another country but in many ways 1984 really is. It also a very different Parliament and a radically different electoral system.
The House sat down with Trevor Mallard recently to chat through his career and memories, his views on how Parliament has changed, and his insights into how the place works. The interview turned out to be pretty expansive and so we have split it in two. This article particularly focuses on the more history-oriented elements. Next weekend we will focus on Parliamentary skills and insights.
Below you can:
Watch the Parliament TV video of Trevor Mallard's valedictory speech to MPs.
Listen to the boadcast version of part one, (immediately below in fact).
And with next week's article you can listen to the full interview.
listen to the broadcast version of part one.
Trevor Mallard delivering his valedictory address in Parliament. Around him are children (including four of his grandchildren), whose presence in the chamber would have been impossible before he was Speaker.
We began with place, family and political influences.
'You can't even take the boy out of Wainui'
Having recently resigned as Speaker Trevor Mallard described himself with a cheeky smile as "a humble backbencher of Wainuiomata."
Wainuiomata is an elevated suburb in a valley behind the eastern hills of Lower Hutt; an old dry lake-bed that is traditionally a working class area with a surprising number of churches.
Trevor Mallard went to primary school there and despite periods elsewhere, he chooses to live there still. I put it to him that many folk on an MP's salary might find somewhere fancier.
"I really like living in Wainuiomata. I think that's because community is important to me. And I feel like I'm part of the Wainuiomata community. There's lots of kids who I went to school with who are still living there; and I see them, I see their children and grandchildren, and in a few cases, great-grandchildren. And so there's a sense of belonging. And there's something special about Wainuiomata - you go over the hill, and you know you're there."
It also is apparently a great place to have a good garden. He says he gets in trouble for talking the suburb up though. People worry it will get too popular.
He also doesn't mind being recognised and being stopped to chat. Just the opposite…