Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Michael Barnett: Former Auckland Business Chamber CEO on the death of Nikki Kaye

Transcript

Michael Barnett: Former Auckland Business Chamber CEO on the death of Nikki Kaye · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Tributes have continued to flow in following the passing of
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Nicky Kay, the former Minister and All Consensual MP, died
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: over the weekend at just forty four years old after
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a long battle with cancer. She's been remembered as an
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: advocate for the rainbow community and a well respected MP
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: across all of Parliament. Michael Barnett is the former chief
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  Speaker 1: executive of the Auckland Business Chamber and is with me
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Michael, good morning, Brian, good morning. It's great
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  Speaker 1: to have you on the show. This is obviously some
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: very very sad news.
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  Speaker 2: It is. It's such a shame that people like NICKI
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  Speaker 2: need to go for us to remember the impact that
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  Speaker 2: they made and the things that they did. But she's
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  Speaker 2: certainly somebody that I worked with and somebody that I
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  Speaker 2: remember and remember what she did.
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  Speaker 1: What did you work with her on and what was
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  Speaker 1: sort of some of the passions that came through when
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: you worked with her.
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  Speaker 2: I think the use the word passion is a good one.
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  Speaker 2: I mean she was passionate, she was a lesson and
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  Speaker 2: of activity, she was an advocate. But for me, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's easy to talk fairness and equity in a community,
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  Speaker 2: but it's harder to give the LGBTQ community a voice,
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  Speaker 2: but she did that. It was easy for me to talk,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the benefits of cruise ships coming to our city.
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  Speaker 2: It was harder for somebody to talk about the damage
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  Speaker 2: to the environment from new ways, So it was easy
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  Speaker 2: for me to talk about congestion and congestion charging in Auckland.
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  Speaker 2: It was harder to have a conversation about the benefits
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  Speaker 2: of cycle waste, but she did. She was able to
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  Speaker 2: give a voice to those who didn't have one, and
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  Speaker 2: that was the Seme community in central Auckland. So those
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  Speaker 2: are the things that I will remember her for.
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  Speaker 1: She was a bit of a fish out of water
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  Speaker 1: in that sense in the national caucus at the time,
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  Speaker 1: and I guess part of the part of her appeal
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  Speaker 1: to Auckland Central that she was able to take that seat.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: If you have, you know, back into two thousand and
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  Speaker 2: ate a labor stronghold for so many years, and she
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  Speaker 2: took it, and she took it as a young liberal.
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  Speaker 2: She took it as a fresh new face, passionate, tons
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  Speaker 2: of energy, and she came in and she was quite
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  Speaker 2: happy to have a different opinion around transport or around
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  Speaker 2: where a port should be or as I said before,
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  Speaker 2: the LGBTQ community, same sex marriage. You know, these these
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  Speaker 2: were tough things that you needed to have a conversation about,
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  Speaker 2: and she was happy to have that conversation.
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  Speaker 1: Were you surprised at her passing. I mean I didn't.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I didn't realize personally how unwell she was.
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  Speaker 2: I was aware, and I have to say I've done
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  Speaker 2: a similar pathway, you know, with that cancer, and I
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: had throt cancer and you know, for so many years
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  Speaker 2: it takes its toll, and you know, for those that
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  Speaker 2: have been down there, you understand the pain and the
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  Speaker 2: despair and the sense of futility. For her, it's been
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  Speaker 2: something that she's carried for so many years bad She's
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  Speaker 2: done it with huge amounts of support, huge amounts of hope,
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  Speaker 2: and a huge amount of bled from herself. So I think,
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  Speaker 2: you know, as she's someone as I say, it's a
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  Speaker 2: shame when people like net to go that it takes
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  Speaker 2: their parting for us to remember the goods she did.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Michael, thank you very much for being with us
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Really appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Ryan.
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  Speaker 1: It's Michael Barnett, Formative executive of the Auckland Business Chamber.
• 3:47
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• 3:50
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• 3:53
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