Political trailblazer 'I'LL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR WOMEN'

The former politician may have taken up knitting again, but she's really needled by the Pay Equity Bill

- Elisabeth Easther

I grew up down the road from Ngāruawahia in a village called Taupiri. It was a small community under the mountain where everybody knew each other. I learned early on that there were two ways of being and two ways of knowing. Nobody was saying “bicultural means this”, it was just part of everyday life. I really drew on that in my academic career.

Mum and Dad's educations were interrupted by World War II. Dad was the local butcher and on both sides of our family, nobody had been to university. He bought Arthur Mee's Encyclopaedias and the University Society Reading Course as he wanted to give me and my brother every opportunity they hadn't had. I'm also grateful my parents and grandparents read to me. I still love reading.

I was at primary school in Taupiri when our teacher, Trevor Williams, took the Form One and Twos to the Bay of Islands to teach us our nation's history. We put on concerts and published magazines on the old Gestetner [the original office copy machine] to sell door to door. We had bottle drives and collected tea coupons until we'd raised enough money. We were billeted with Paihia Primary families – most kids had barely travelled – and we visited Kororāreka, Waitangi, the Mission Stations at Paihia and Waimate North, and Puketi Forest. I've never forgotten that week and it's probably why I retired up this way.

After two years at Ngāruawahia High School, I was sent to Waikato Diocesan School, which was a major culture shock. I'd never seen flash cars and I could count the number of Māori students on the fingers of one hand. In my interview to get in, I told the headmistress I wanted to be a physical education instructor. She said she didn't think that was my destination and to think of something else. So I said I wanted to be a diplomat, which is hilarious, as diplomacy is not central to my character.