Erica Stanford
National Party
mine. I don’t know if I quite hit the mark, but I certainly used her as a role model.
What is your view on the euthanasia bill?
The reason I voted in support was, in part, because I wasn’t expecting it to come up so quickly. I’m a brand new MP, I’ve only had five minutes in my seat and I haven’t had a chance to talk to my electorate yet. Really, the only option open to a lot of us was to support this so we now have a chance to go back to our electorate and get their views before we proceed. But the select committee process is going to be robust, and it’s going to allow New Zealanders to have that discussion that we need.
Tell us about your upbringing and family. Would anything surprise us?
Probably not particularly, it was pretty bland. I’m the daughter of an immigrant, my father came here when he was a young boy, from Holland. All my values are from my parents, but especially from my father — his attitude towards working hard and reward for achievement and personal responsibility. My commitment to my community comes from [my mum]. She did a lot of work for the community when I was young, and that really had a big impact on me. The thing that would surprise people? I played the bassoon for many years, and I was quite good at it in high school. It’s a terribly dorky instrument but if I wasn’t a politician I may have been a musician.
Would you like to see more Te Reo spoken in New Zealand?
I do. I love the language. I studied it at university. I am out of practice. But I’m teaching my kids at the moment — my young children, 10 and 5 — how to pronounce things correctly. We played Monopoly the other day and I taught my young son how to say Taupo and Tauranga, and my daughter actually voiced something for a promotional video she did recently and she had to say Hauraki Gulf. I’m really proud to teach them how to say those words correctly. I think that should be taught to a certain extent in primary schools. So we respect the language. Whether or not we make it compulsory all the way through, I’m not so sure.
Is there a growing urban-rural divide in New Zealand and, if so, what has caused it?
I don’t really think that there is. I think that sometimes in politics we like to try to make it appear that there is, for political gain perhaps. But I don’t necessarily think there is, no.
What will you be doing to unwind this summer? Where will you be?
I will be on the Coromandel hopefully for a couple of weeks, if I can squeeze it in. Spending time with my family, with my kids. They have had a difficult time adjusting to me being in Parliament and being away three days a week. Especially my older one, she is just about to turn 10 and I won’t be there for her birthday. That is upsetting. And they are really missing me. So I look forward to spending some quality time with them.
Did you have a favourite beach or holiday place when growing up?
I grew up on the Okura estuary, a part of the Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve. It is a magical place. It is a protected marine reserve bordered by an original native coastal forest, the Okura Bush. It is a spectacular area. And Long Bay Beach is just