The Dame Dorothy Fraser Lecture is an annual local Labour Party fundraising event that celebrates women leaders.
I’d done lots of public interviews as a journalist, but not as a political candidate. Naturally, I was nervous.
Seeing former cabinet minister and Dunedin North MP Stan Rodger sitting close to the stage with his big, enthusiastic smile was so reassuring.
His wife Anne was at his side, as always, and as the evening evolved — and my heroine Helen Clark answered my many questions — I was able to continue making eye contact with them from the stage. They had mentored me for months. They were my rock.
The sold-out event went without a hitch.
That is, until the final curtains came down and someone ran back stage to tell us Covid had flared up again in Auckland and it would probably go into hard lockdown the next day. Which is exactly what happened.
That Covid roller coaster and subsequent alert levels have meant we haven’t been able to celebrate the 10th Dame Dorothy Fraser Lecture until now: 2022.
Much has changed.
Covid is commonplace but no longer dominating headlines.
The National Party has changed its leader three times.
I’ve become an MP and Dame Dorothy’s grandson Cam Fraser is now my 2022 Youth MP.
And dear Stan, my friend and mentor, is no longer with us.
He was a great public speaker himself, and over many lunches and cups of tea he shared tales about the politics of yesteryear that had led us to today.
MP for Dunedin North from 1978 to 1990, Stan was also at various times Minister of Labour, State Services, Immigration, State-Owned Enterprises, Railways and Deputy Minister of Finance.
Anne contributed hugely to his career, raising their two children Gillian and Craig, while supporting him as an unpaid electorate office manager, as was the norm for spouses in those days.
Stan would thoroughly approve of this year’s Dame Dorothy guest speaker: retiring Christchurch Mayor and former MP and Minister Lianne Dalziel, especially in a local body election year.
Stan will be with us in spirit, and Lianne in person, as we celebrate the 10th annual Dame Dorothy Fraser Lecture at King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre, Sunday, July 3, from 4 pm.
- Tickets are $25 and available by email taierilec@gmail.com or by phoning (027) 362-9953.
