Absolutely, Positively, Wilde

With a bid for the South Wairarapa mayoralty on the horizon, after more than two decades in the crucible of central and local Government Wilde is perhaps proving that politics runs in her blood or maybe it’s more an acute reminder of her desire to foster change. “If you’re serious, you’ve got to do something that will make a difference,” she tells us in this exclusive interview.

When it comes to experience within the lion’s den of central and local government, few New Zealanders boast more political fortitude than Dame Fran Wilde.

As synonymous with the Fourth Labour Government as the Wellington City mayoralty, the list of battles she tackled head on – usually with notable success – during the tumultuous 1980s and 1990s is the stuff of legend. And she’s been fighting the good fight in other levels of office in the years since.

 But reeling off a list of achievements won’t get you anywhere with Wilde. She bats career bullet points away with a sharp laugh, always keen to talk instead about challenges that lie ahead.

She grins broadly when I mention the Fran Wilde Walk – the name given to the main pedestrian approach into Sky Stadium on Wellington’s Waterloo Quay.

“Oh yes, well that was [former Wellington Mayor] Kerry Prendergast who orchestrated that. I certainly didn't call it that!” she laughs. “I sold everything for sponsorship. Every single part of that stadium I would have sold for a sponsor to make it work. But then later on, Kerry decided to call that part of the complex the Fran Wilde Walk. I had no idea they were going to do it.”

Regardless, it’s proof positive in concrete and steel of the drive Wilde has for change. Under her leadership the Wellington Regional Stadium Development Trust committed to a multipurpose stadium for the city, designating the portside railyard site as the ideal location. Totally committed to the cause, the Trust was able to implement the entire project, from blueprint to building work, in an impressively short space of time.

“We had good people, not just on the stadium project, but through my time as mayor,” she says. “It’s always a small team, but it’s vital to have a good one.”

Such was the breadth of the agenda Wilde took on during her 1992-1995 mayoralty, it’s easy to forget she held the office for only a single term before retiring.

While the stadium remains perhaps the city’s most visual reminder of the period today, other successes included commissioning the Moa Point wastewater plant, encouraging fibre installation, reinvigorating tourism, and introducing a new district plan that enabled people to live in the central city.

Another win – one recognisable at a national level – was Wilde’s work to establish ‘Absolutely Positively Wellington’ as the city’s tagline.

“That started as a little campaign that Saatchi & Saatchi had put together for The Evening Post. The idea behind it was to inject some positivity, to give Wellington small business a boost.

“Everybody loved it, but we thought it could be used more broadly. I got the councillors to agree that we needed to look at our brand and we all liked ‘Absolutely Positively Wellington’. The Evening Post agreed to give it to us, so with the help of Saatchi’s, we rebranded our whole vehicle fleet, our public notices, everything.

“We did it over time, but it caught on straight away. There aren’t many regional campaigns I can think of that resonated quite like that did.”

The power of the word has always been important to Wilde. On leaving school she trained as a journalist, following in the footsteps of her father Maurice Kitching, ending up in the newsroom at the Evening Post before moving on to Radio New Zealand, among other organisations.

But politics beckoned, with Wilde destined to make news rather than simply report on it.

“I got involved in the Labour Party, as did many young people my age in the early 1970s, as a reaction to the excesses of the Muldoon Government. Muldoon just got worse and worse and some of us were saying, ‘Well, what can we do?’ And if you're serious, you've got to do something that will make a difference. And the only thing was to get him out of office.

“I ended up being selected for the Wellington Central seat for the 1981 election. It wasn’t considered winnable, but we did win it with the biggest swing in the country that year.”

In 1983 Wilde was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for State Services by leader David Lange. The following year – on the evening of June 14 to be precise – the opportunity to achieve what had spearheaded her initial desire to enter the political field, arrived.

“Well, Muldoon went on national television and called a snap election. He hadn’t consulted, he just announced it. He went up to Government House where there was a dinner going on. I recall Geoffrey Palmer was at the dinner and then all of a sudden, the then Governor General was interrupted in the middle of it. There was Muldoon outside, drunk – we’ve all seen the footage from that night, that fact’s indisputable – and he says, ‘I’m calling an election.’”

 The 1984 general election remains one of the most significant in New Zealand history. Hoping to catch the opposition Labour Party under-prepared, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s announcement of a snap election in one month’s time backfired spectacularly, with a heavy defeat for the National Party.

Yet, despite pervasive economic uncertainty and an audible chorus of dissatisfaction within both Muldoon’s cabinet and out on the street, Wilde realised plenty of work would still need to be done to secure a victory for Labour.

“The night the snap election was announced we swung into action in Wellington Central – it was on!” she recalls. “We had a huge electorate machine in those days and were able to get organised. By the next morning, we had stalls set up around the city encouraging commuters to enrol to vote. We had these posters printed saying ‘Don't let the government steal your vote! Enrol here!’ We were all over town and we managed it in a few hours overnight.”

Wilde retained the Wellington Central seat at the subsequent general election on July 14. Yet, one of her biggest battles – one that would engender outrage and even death threats from some corners of New Zealand society – remained ahead.

“After the general election I was made Whip for our caucus, together with Michael Cullen. Since I wasn’t a Minister, I was able to introduce a Private Members Bill. I’d been working on gay law reform since entering Parliament three years previously and I introduced the Homosexual Law Reform Bill, to decriminalise sex between consenting adult males.”

The polarising Bill was vehemently opposed in several sectors and became a major issue.

“It was a tough campaign but absolutely necessary. I had to travel all over the country, attending community meetings and doing talkback radio – fortunately there was no social media in those days. I received thousands of letters, many quite terrible and threatening, including death threats – I became very worried about my children’s safety.

“But at the same time, there was huge support from many people too. During the time the Bill was before Parliament we managed to break down common stereotypes, helping persuade MPs that they were politically safe to vote for it. I’m very proud that it’s nearly 40 years since it was passed into law.”

During the same term of Parliament, Wilde would shepherd through the Adult Adoption Information Bill. While not as contentious as gay law reform, it was nonetheless a difficult issue for many, but was passed by Parliament, allowing adopted children and birth parents to obtain information about each other.

Portfolios covering Housing, Conservation and Pacific Island Affairs would follow, with Wilde appointed Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control in the second term of the Fourth Labour Government, as well as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“At the same time the economy here was in huge upheaval as we deregulated and withdrew subsidies. It was a turbulent time to be in Parliament. It was never dull,” she says.

Despite the all-consuming pace of central government, Labour’s loss to National in the 1990 general election appeared as a sea change moment for Wilde. Confessing that being in opposition “wasn’t why I entered Parliament – I wanted to get things done”, a long period on the other side of the House seemed inevitable all the same.

 She entered the Wellington mayoral race and won, becoming the first woman to hold the role. She resigned from Parliament immediately after the election and led a successful Council in Wellington, with many initiatives.

 Following her decision to step down from the mayoralty for personal reasons, after only one term, Wilde thought that was the end of her political career. She took on some boards and then became the CEO of the New Zealand Trade Development Board, staying for six years and overseeing its amalgamation with Business New Zealand to form New Zealand Trade & Enterprise.

Today, Wilde’s CV features an impressive list of roles in business, having chaired entities as diverse as Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Housing New Zealand, Wellington Waterfront Limited, Auckland Light Rail, New Zealand International Arts Festival, the Remuneration Authority, Whanau Awhina Plunket and the Asia New Zealand Foundation. She has done a reasonable amount of work in infrastructure and has also been a Crown negotiator for Treaty of Waitangi Settlements.

“I’ve had a wonderful portfolio of jobs over the last 10 years or so and have been able to manage work in order to travel to see my grandchildren overseas,” she says.

And now, a return to politics? With a bid for the South Wairarapa mayoralty on the horizon, Wilde is perhaps proving that politics runs in her blood. Or maybe it’s more an acute reminder of her desire to foster change.

“When I left the Regional Council, I had no intention of ever entering politics again and I got on with my governance career. Then, last year a friend suggested I should run for mayor of South Wairarapa.

“At first it seemed like a crazy idea, but after some thought I realised it would be perfect for me. I have experience in leadership and know how to make decisions, along with a big network of relationships. Importantly, the district has big, difficult issues and I feel I can offer the clear, strong leadership required. And being mayor here would mean I could sleep in my own bed at night!” she laughs.

Together with husband Chris, Wilde has continually spent time in the Wairarapa over the last 20 years, first in a 160-year-old farm cottage which the couple gradually restored as a weekend getaway property, and latterly in a ‘passive’ residential home in Greytown, surrounded by bountiful gardens – Wilde’s only “hobby”, she admits, aside from work.

“Wairarapa is an incredible place to live. It has a host of physical attractions – a continental-type climate and vast areas of rural land. Beaches, hills to explore, award-winning wineries, and all only an hour from Wellington City. Who wouldn’t want to live here and try to make it even more amazing than it already is?”

As fervent as her enthusiasm is for what the Wairarapa offers, Wilde remains realistic about the challenges the region faces.

“Like all corners of New Zealand there are some really gnarly issues here. Wairarapa has seen population growth through migration. But slowing that is the current hold on new building consents, because of water and wastewater issues in Greytown and Martinborough. This is really affecting local tradies and other businesses. We need to get on top of deferred maintenance to get the local economy going again.

“The tourism and hospitality sectors have grown immensely, which is fantastic. We now have the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve here, for example, which gets people into the region for more than a day at a time. But we need more investment in tourism, primary sectors and other areas to create high value jobs.

“When you put yourself out there for the mayoralty, the first step is meeting people and listening to them. That's what I'm doing now – meeting and listening. I'm in listening mode, finding out what their issues are. The community spirit is very strong in each of our three small towns though.”

 After all these years in the public eye, Dame Fran still has the energy to bring about change.

“Am I too old to be mayor? Absolutely not. I still have much to do and the ability to do it. But I also have the judgement that comes with age and experience. I know that will be helpful.

“Oh, and by the way,” she adds with a smile, “I’m younger than the current and previous Presidents of the United States. Just so you know.”