\u201cPenguin is my publisher and it\u2019s all been a bit of a whirlwind in the last couple of weeks getting it all to its endpoint, which has been quite fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book was written in two parts.<\/p>\n
The majority was completed in 2023 but \u201cI was naughty a little and life took over and it got put on the backburner\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe publishers were chasing me because I am about two years late.\u201d <\/p>\n
Author Dame Fiona Kidman<\/a> gave Allan space to write the book in Wellington and was a motivating factor in her getting it done. <\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a literary genius. She has this little room where she locked me up and made me write and it was awesome. She has this incredible way of pulling stories out from people and she doesn\u2019t do anything but talk. Like talk to make you talk, make you tell stories and then off to the room you run and start writing away. I\u2019m forever indebted to her.\u201d<\/p>\n Allan has kept busy outside of writing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got three businesses. One\u2019s a consultancy that does a lot of work … advisory work to Government, local government, to private entities on policy issues of the day, but I do tend to spend quite a lot of time in climate, climate adaptation, emergency management, natural risks and hazards. That\u2019s kind of a space I really enjoy,\u201d said Allan, who was Emergency Management Minister during her tenure. <\/p>\n Her second business involves renewable energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n The third is focused on establishing large-scale renewable energy on indigenous lands in New Zealand and the United States. Her job is to \u201ctry to get the best deal for landowners\u201d, and she said it had proved \u201creally fulfilling\u201d.<\/p>\n Born in Te Karaka, near Gisborne, Allan grew up in the village of Paengaroa, near Te Puke. <\/p>\n She shifted to Whakat\u0101ne to be closer to her now 8-year-old daughter, whom she coaches in multiple sports.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got netball, we\u2019ve got soccer, swimming, jiu jitsu, athletics in the summer. Whatever she\u2019s into at the time … she\u2019s into Rippa rugby at the moment and she\u2019s just about to start k\u012b o rahi and kapa haka.\u201d<\/p>\n Allan said her lifestyle was certainly different these days and she was enjoying being away from the intensity of politics. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of crossover. I travel a lot domestically and internationally, but I still have a lot of time to be a mum. I love I\u2019ve got a big native backyard and so you get to enjoy the birds while you\u2019re working from home and you set your own pace … I went out and played golf this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite how her career in Parliament ended<\/a>, she enjoyed the help she was able to give as a politician. <\/p>\n \u201cThe thing I loved about politics was that you get to advocate for communities and I still feel like I get to do that in my life right now. <\/p>\n \u201cAt my core is advocacy and particularly speaking for or advocating the needs of communities like when I was the MP for the East Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if she would recommend politics to young people, she said there was a role for rangatahi but warned it was \u201ca really hard road\u201d for a couple of reasons. <\/p>\n \u201cOne is that it consumes your life. I think also it colours you for the rest of your life. Some people garnish a large public profile. The things that you say and that you do in those roles, they define you.\u201d <\/p>\n Allan, now in her early 40s and with a background in law, said if she had the chance to do it again, she would not have gone into politics so young. <\/p>\n \u201cI think I would have done it a little older personally \u2013 maybe in my later 40s.\u201d<\/p>\n Her legal background remains relevant. <\/p>\n \u201cI guess law kind of probably shapes everything I do. Once you\u2019re a lawyer, it\u2019s the way that you understand the world. It\u2019s the way that you see the world. I think it\u2019s one of the reasons that made me a good politician, because I could understand how law was made and you could understand the levers of Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n Her book gives readers a good insight into the inner workings of Parliament. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll find a pretty free and frank reflection of the politics behind politics. You also get an insider\u2019s view into Whakaari<\/a> [White Island tragedy], Covid, the Christchurch terrorism events, the numerous cyclones that impacted Te Tair\u0101whiti \u2013 you get to see the politics of that and also the personal reflections. You get a bit of an insight into my life and why I decided to run as a politician as well.\u201d<\/p>\nKiri Allan has kept busy since resigning from politics and says she is enjoying her life based in Whakat\u0101ne these days.<\/p>\n