Political work a privilege but leaves little time for family
Kieran McAnulty
Age 33
Labour list MP based in Wairarapa since 2017
Junior Whip
Three things you like, three things you dislike
I like sport, rugby and cricket, darts. Outside of sports I like socialising. I like the outdoors. I like going to the beach. I love my politics but sometimes it’s nice to just forget about it for a bit.
I hate crumbs in the bed. Someone’s had a piece of toast or something and it’s like you’re sitting on a piece of sandpaper.
Give us one fun fact about yourself
impersonation of a bugle. When I was a kid I used to do the Coronation Street theme in class just for a bit of a laugh. But I haven’t done that for 20 years.
What issue would you like to see passed in a member’s bill?
The one thing I would like to see happen — but it is certainly not government policy, I just want to make that one very clear — is I would like New Zealanders to elect their own head of state. I don’t think the political environment allows for it at the moment, I don’t think there’s an appetite for it.
If you could be fluent in a second language, what would it be?
Definitely te reo Mäori. It’s unique to this country, it’s really special. We attend a lot of events in this job where I’d like to know what’s being said because often tikanga Mäori, the processes that we are participating in, are quite a beautiful thing. When the words are translated what they’re saying is really profound, it would be wonderful to be able to understand that.
What were your highs and lows in 2018?
It’s a bloody great privilege being in this job and also, who knows, it might only be a threeyear job so I’ve been making the most of it — head down, arse up. The flipside of that of course is that you do miss out on the family time and time with your mates.
What’s your view on the personal use of cannabis?
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t tried it. Twice I’ve tried it and both times I was crook and I’ve never tried it since. But a lot of people do like to choose it. I’m pro-decriminalisation. I’m open to the arguments for legalising it but I haven’t formed an opinion on that yet.
Have you ever had an inspiring teacher?
I had a teacher at school, Mrs Hills, she’s Dr Hills now. I imagine that most people that go through her classes would point her out as the one who was inspiring. She taught me the confidence I needed to make a speech.
Brexit. Good, bad or don’t care?
It’s a disaster. I’ve just been over to London on a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association trip. It doesn’t matter what the topic was . . . it only took [two] minutes to get to Brexit. And it’s tearing the country apart.
If you could take an MP to dinner, who would it be, where would you take them and what would you talk about?
Outside of the Prime Minister, of course, probably Greg O’Connor, because story time with Greg is something special.