MP Profile: Judith Tizard

Ask Auckland Central MP Judith Tizard about her accomplishments in her eighteen years as an MP and the plucky Labour politician is quick to blow her own horn.

‘I think my most significant achievement in the past eighteen years has been to serve as an MP for eighteen years,’ she said. ‘That’s not something you can achieve in just a few months. It takes at least a decade.’

But that’s not all the former Minister for Auckland is proud of. Tizard also cites her recent victory in a long-standing feud with Parliamentary Services to move her Ministerial car park closer to the elevators.

‘It’s not as if I drive when I’m in Wellington but what if I did?’ Tizard asks indignantly. ‘Do they expect me to wander around underground searching for my car for hours?’

She is dismissive of allegations that she does not play a prominent role in the party and is not ‘part of the loop’ when it comes to her fellow MPs and Labour colleagues.

‘I have great friendships with many Labour MPs including Helen Clark and several others,’ Tizard says. ‘And I saw that Phil Goff in the Koru Club the other month.’

She also says she enjoys working with her staff, although when pressed she could not remember any of their names.

‘Helen can remember all these fascinating trivial details like the name of her private secretary and what her PA looks like but I’m just not Wonder Woman like she is.’

‘And of course I have a close relationship with my fellow Labour Party comrades Taito Phillip Field and Tariana Turia. They call me up almost every day for a chat and a gossip.’

‘A big part of success in politics is staying in the loop and keeping lines of communication open.’

Tizard is also keen to point to her other successes. ‘Every year I spend more on domestic air travel than any other MP except the Prime Minister. I think that speaks for itself.’

‘I also receive more death threats than anyone except the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. If you provoke that kind of reaction you know you’re doing something right.’

Its understood that while most threats directed at Helen Clark and Michael Cullen are from members of the public Tizard is exclusively threatened by current and former members of her own Ministerial staff.

Many have suggested that at least part of her success is due to her membership of the prominent Tizard family but the Auckland Central MP rejects this.

‘People who claim that are simply jealous naysayers. I’d have risen to where I am today no matter what powerful political dynasty I was born into.’

And she throws her head back and laughs when she is asked what she does to earn her $120,000 salary. ‘The demands this job places on you are unending,’ she replies. ‘The Labour Party has a conference every year and then we have an election every three years. As you can imagine my schedule is just hectic.’

Despite the busy lifestyle and rigors of constant luxury travel Judith Tizard swears that if she could go back and do it all again she would.

‘Eighteen years of service was a small price to pay when you think about everything this country has given me. Its quite incredible really.’

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