We caught the 6.25am flight, which I do reasonably regularly and always give him a kiss good night the night before, because for an 8-year-old the only time he willingly wakes up at that time is Christmas, his birthday or Easter.
While waiting to board we bumped into the ball of energy that is Sir Ian Taylor. Fin was wide awake at meeting an actual knight and delighted that, yes, Ian does have a sword.
We had a few hours to kill before heading through to Carterton, so we had breakfast in Oriental Pde and took a walk around the waterfront and Te Papa. We soaked up an hour wandering around the statues and sculptures, looking at the old crane, climbing the tower in the playground and reading all the inscriptions on the padlocks.
Wellington is all the evidence I need that public spaces filled with urban art, play and meet areas are a smart investment in creating an attractive, liveable city. If they could just do something about the wind.
At Te Papa out of all things he was most excited to discover obsidian is an actual volcanic rock — not just a rare and sought-after block in minecraft. He can also recite all the key features of the giant squid, such as that its eyes are the size of soccer balls and tentacles are two metres long with nasty hooks at the ends.
With a little more time left to kill we had an impromptu tour of Parliament. Fin knew sometimes when I went away for work it was because I had been helping Minister for Manufacturing and Small Business Andrew Bayly.
So it was really cool that Minister Bayly made time to meet us and show us around his office. Having a stash of lolly jars and a picture of his adventures in Antarctica on the wall won serious points with Fin.
At the time I didn’t think Fin enjoyed the tour, as he spent most of the time mute and standing slightly behind me peering around my waist — but he said afterwards he was terrified that if he said the wrong thing he might get arrested.
I was surprised. I didn’t realise how much of an impression government had made on him. He seems to have an idea of how government should behave. Which I’ll get to.
On the way to Carterton we had a bit of a chat about how to behave at Great Nana’s house. Explaining that he would need to speak up because at 92 Nana was a bit hard of hearing and that she wasn’t going to be able to chase him around. I needn’t have worried as Nana still managed to beat both of us at three out of five rounds at Last Card.
We all settled down to watch the 6 o’clock news together, something I’ve never done with Fin and will now make a habit of. There were pieces on the proposed repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act with video footage from the foyer of Parliament, where we had been earlier in the day, Minister Paul Goldsmith’s removal of te reo from his Australian Matariki invite, and the disestablishment of the Māori Ward in the Kaipara region.
"Why are they trying to remove Māori? When I was at school in Dannevirke half the kids were Māori. By now we should know better" says Nana.
"Why are they fighting Mum?" I explained as best I could, which was pretty easy actually as even an 8-year-old could grasp from the video footage of the council board table that the voting odds were stacked against the Māori Ward based on the demographic composition around the table. And so we had a good lesson about diversity and representation.
As always there were pieces on job losses, poverty, drugs, armed robberies, murder and child harm. As well as the generally sad state of international affairs in Gaza, the Ukraine and the rapidly heating up US election campaigns.
"It’s all just such doom and gloom. I don’t know if I’d want to bring children in today’s world dear", said Nana after the news and once Fin was out of earshot.
This coming from someone who was born during the Great Depression, has lived through World War 2, the Cold and Vietnam wars, civil rights movements and incredible leaps in technological advancement. You would have hoped that her perspective was one of gradual advancement.
"Bad news gets more eyeballs than good news Nan", I replied. Because, present newspaper excluded, it does seem as if there is no time spent on today’s mainstream media on the good that’s happening. I do often wonder whether the overwhelming emphasis on negative in the media is in itself a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As for Minister Goldsmith’s removal of te reo.
During the 2022 Prime Ministers Trade Mission to Australia Dame Pania Tyson-Nathan taught and led us in Waiata throughout the mission. Fin and I caught up with Dame Pania and fellow "C-Listers" on our final night in Wellington.
Collectively our experience was that New Zealand’s embracing of our Māori culture and proud use of te reo is positively recognised globally and a point of difference to be proud of.
Earlier the day prior, when we were walking along the waterfront Fin had started singing Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi quietly after seeing the traffic lights with the Māori icons doing the haka.
It was pretty special and I’m incredibly grateful I knew all the words and could sing along with him. Ngā mihi nui
• Sarah Ramsay is chief executive of United Machinists.
