"A Privileged Background"

Giving back, to the right side of the tracks.

You're a rich girl, and you've gone too far
'Cause you know it don't matter anyway
You can rely on the old man's money
You can rely on the old man's money

It's a bitch, girl, but it's gone too far
'Cause you know it don't matter anyway
Say money but it won't get you too far
Get you too far

Straight off the bat let me be clear that what follows is not a criticism of the circumstances of the arrival of our new Finance Minister. None of us choose our parents, or where we arrive, but they do shape us to a large degree.

This is about a girl from a wealthy background, who seems to have had little contact with the non-wealthy during her time - and it’s showing.

There’s nothing wrong with coming from a privileged background, it’s more a matter of how people choose to use that advantage. My greatest political hero, Tony Benn, came from a wealthy background, but spent his whole life fighting for those who hadn’t been so advantaged.

You might have seen a meme of the quote above floating around the internet recently, with the killing taking place in Gaza, that’s the guy. He died almost a decade ago, aged 88. A proud socialist who battled right until the end.

Hearing of his death then was one of those moments that really hits you. Not perhaps for a great number, but certainly for myself, and others who admired him. I can’t recall if I’ve included this video in a newsletter before, apologies if I have, but it’s a very powerful watch.

Sadly though, not everybody born to advantage considers those less fortunate. With some you wonder if they’ve ever even met people that are struggling. A few don’t even seem to know how much groceries cost.

I listen to Nicola Willis berating those with less, championing those with more, and I find it hard to comprehend how someone could be so removed from other people’s lives. Why someone would go into politics if it wasn’t to help people?

Some of you might remember that I went and saw her speak at our local high school. It felt a bit like we locals were being visited by someone from another planet. Not just because she dressed so differently, looking like she’d come for a board meeting not a meet and greet, but the way she spoke so condescendingly. As if speaking to people not capable of much in the thinking department.

Maybe that’s unfair, perhaps if you or I spent our time talking to rooms of her supporters we might do the same. In any case you can read about that here if you missed it the first time around:

Nicola did an interview with the Australian Women’s Weekly last year which described her upbringing:

“Hers was a privileged childhood. The eldest of three, she grew up in Wellington's seaside suburb of Point Howard and went to the local Muritai Primary School in Eastbourne. Her father James Willis, a commercial lawyer, worked at the big-city firm Bell Gully, while her mother Shona Valentine was a well-known journalist and member of the parliamentary press gallery, a smart, talented woman who gave up her job to raise her family.”

Many of us grew up with mum staying home to raise the kids, we were lucky. I’m not sure if the mums that had other ambitions were so lucky, but for most of us who grew up in the decades between the war and Rogernomics that was pretty standard stuff. Not now though, having a stay at home parent these days is a choice for the wealthy and impossible for many.