\u2018I\u2019ve made many mistakes\u2026 It\u2019s sort of hard to distinguish one from another.\u2019<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something disarming about Paul Goldsmith. It\u2019s in the way the minister for everything (justice, public service, treaty negotiations, arts and culture, and Pacific peoples included) peers over his glasses, answers \u201cyes\u2026\u201d as though he\u2019s admitting to a crime, delivers dry one-liners and stresses odd syllables as he does it. You\u2019d take him for a red wine kind of guy; really, he\u2019s a pale ale man. Spend an hour over a beer with him, and you find there\u2019s more to Goldsmith than first impressions let on.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s known for his Epsom ties, but Goldsmith is a Mount Roskill boy from a \u201csimple background\u201d, born to a school teacher and a nurse. His first love was music; he\u2019s been tickling the ivories since his school days and is also a dab hand on the guitar and trumpet. Music took him to Japan as a 16-year-old, where he toured in a string group and played the double bass until his fingers hurt. It was his first time overseas and then he had his first drink. \u201cWe all got blind drunk on the first night on sake. It was total chaos. It\u2019s amazing we survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldsmith was led to politics \u201cby a series of coincidences\u201d\u2013 he went from a National-voting family to the \u201cleft-wing paradise\u201d of the University of Auckland, where he earned an MA in history. His first job out of uni was as a historian with the Waitangi Tribunal, and he soon rediscovered his conservative roots after going on to work as a press secretary and speech writer for then-local government minister John Banks (\u201cthat was my first encounter with politics, and I\u2019ve been hooked ever since\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u2018People do tend to pigeonhole. That\u2019s one thing you learn in politics: you can\u2019t afford to take it all too personally.\u2019<\/p>\n
After bouncing around other ministerial offices, including that of Labour\u2019s then-foreign affairs minister Phil Goff, Goldsmith spent a decade as a writer. He\u2019s penned and co-written a dozen books in his time, including a biography of his former boss Banks and a history of taxes. Unlike many authors, Goldsmith\u2019s career worked out financially, because \u201cI tended to write about people with resources\u201d. He says he\u2019s met plenty of people who would be dream subjects of \u00a0future biographies, but he shan\u2019t name them: \u201cI don\u2019t want to blow my negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a stint with Auckland Council in the late noughties, and in 2011, Goldsmith entered parliament. As he nears the end of his fifth term, there\u2019s plenty for the minister to reflect on. Like the highlights: when he campaigned on being \u201ctough on crime\u201d in the 2023 election, law and order was one of the biggest concerns for voters. Now, for the first time in three years, law and order doesn\u2019t appear in the top five issues New Zealanders face, according to Ipsos research<\/a>. Then there are\u00a0 the lowlights: namely, the entirety of the \u201cpretty grim\u201d 2020 campaign. \u201cThat added many years to my life, and also reduced my life expectancy by many years,\u201d Goldsmith sighs. \u201cI survived. There were moments when I didn\u2019t think I would.\u201d<\/p>\n In that time he\u2019s also watched his children \u2013 daughters (\u201cmy three queens\u201d) and one son \u2013 grow and leave the nest. While at times the Goldsmith kids have adopted their father\u2019s interests, mostly in terms of music, shaping them up to be political nepo babies never quite worked. \u201cI tried to get one of my daughters to deliver some pamphlets once, and she said, \u2018You know, nobody reads these things,’\u201d he says. Seeing their lives unfold, however, \u201cis like reading the most fascinating novel you could ever read\u201d.<\/p>\n After so many peaks and valleys, does he still think about that time Tova O\u2019Brien turned his fake M\u0101ori heritage into a soap opera<\/a>? Yeah, it\u2019s probably a bit shit to have the nation laugh at your expense, but does he look back on it and appreciate being part of an incredible moment in New Zealand\u2019s political history?<\/p>\n Goldsmith\u2019s face turns slightly, and he blabbers through a few \u201cI- I- I-\u201cs and \u201cwell, well, well\u201ds as he remembers O\u2019Brien\u2019s farewell party from parliament, where she labelled the story a \u201chighlight\u201d of her career. \u201cSo I felt honoured in that sense,\u201d Goldsmith says, \u201cbut what I did point out is that everybody was saying how wonderful she is, but there was nobody speaking on behalf of the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOther people\u2019s anguish is always entertaining,\u201d he laments.<\/p>\n Before he goes back to his apartment to eat a pie prepared by his wife, there\u2019s something I need to show Goldsmith. There\u2019s a beautiful family portrait of him and The Spinoff team from last month\u2019s NZ Media Awards ceremony, where he was a guest. Despite the broad smiles, he says there\u2019s something he\u2019s feeling slightly bitter about. \u201cI noticed you all hung around to get a proper photo without me,\u201d Goldsmith says, glumly.<\/p>\n Maybe a role with our team could be in his future, Goldsmith suggests. Well, considering it\u2019s pretty en vogue for people with National ties to lead news outlets<\/a>, my suggestion is that maybe he could even buy The Spinoff.<\/p>\n Goldsmith finishes his drink, sets his glass back on the table and says: \u201cWell, it\u2019d be cheap, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A<\/p>\n How much should a pint cost?<\/p>\n $8.<\/p>\n Do you have a karaoke go-to?<\/p>\n Can you guess? If I had to, I\u2019d go for Lady Gaga\u2019s \u2018You and I\u2019. I just love it. I\u2019ve actually done it on the third floor [of parliament] in opposition years.<\/p>\n Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?<\/p>\n My kitchen.<\/p>\n Which three MPs would be on your pub quiz team?<\/p>\n You\u2019d want a variety of people. I have a feeling that Bishop would be useful, he\u2019s got a good sort of handle on things. You\u2019d want an older sort of crooner as it were, somebody like Gerry Brownlee. He\u2019d be useful. And then you\u2019d want someone from the younger generation\u2026 Well, let\u2019s throw in Tamatha [Paul, Green MP]<\/a>. She would probably be quite useful because she\u2019d have a different perspective on things.<\/p>\n Which MP from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?<\/p>\n I could have a drink with Willie Jackson, I suppose. He\u2019s a good chat; we could have a cup of tea.<\/p>\n Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?<\/p>\n Well, we\u2019ve changed quite a few<\/a>, and we continue to do so. One thing that I have changed is the reality that quite a few people like to have a beer or a drink while they listen to music, but we make it a bit too difficult for smaller venues to get their licences. So we\u2019ve lifted the threshold of the size of an audience, before you have to go through the palaver of having a special licence. That was one small blow we struck for freedom in the music industry.<\/p>\n What\u2019s a policy area we\u2019ve been nursing without finishing the glass?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve got so many irons in so many fires. But if I could pass the bill that concluded the Ng\u0101puhi treaty settlement, that would be good.<\/p>\n What qualities make a good drinking partner?<\/p>\n The problem with most politicians is that they\u2019re more on broadcast than receive. So it\u2019s always nice to have somebody that will listen from time to time, but also somebody that can actually come up with decent stories.<\/p>\n Have you ever had a Schnapps election moment where you regretted your political instinct?<\/p>\n Well, I\u2019ve made many mistakes. Yes \u2013 mistakes, I\u2019ve made a few. It\u2019s sort of hard to distinguish one from another. But there are a few myths out there about mistakes that I didn\u2019t make. Like, I didn\u2019t take down one of my signs in Epsom, like people claim.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of the early scrapes I got into. We were trying not to win the seat, but it was all complicated. Someone put up a fake sign on a piece of grass in Remuera, and I drove past and saw it. It was illegal, so I pulled over, picked it up and somebody was hiding in the bushes and took a picture of me lifting the sign. And, lo and behold, I was taking down my own sign<\/a>.<\/p>\n These are the sorts of things I\u2019ve had to deal with. I\u2019ve been the subject of numerous stings.<\/p>\nPaul Goldsmith hearing the news that he is M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n
Paul Goldsmith. (Photo: Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n