RIP Roger Bridge
Chris Lynch reports:
Roger Bridge, a much loved, and long-serving member of the National Party and former chair of its Canterbury West Coast region, has died.
Bridge was widely respected within party circles for his dedication, loyalty, and tireless commitment to regional organisation and grassroots politics. …
Brownlee said he was 'Always impeccably dress and devoted to jaguars. He was a most loyal friend for more than 30 years.
'His generosity was legendary and many will atest to that. He was on the first working group as a church appointee on the original Cathedral restoration committee. After a time as regional vice chair he became our national party regional chair in 2001 and joined the party board in 2003 serving in both rolls to 2020.
I knew Roger well. I attended uncountable conferences with Roger, and numerous dinners and drinks. He was a huge supporter of local MPs and party members.
Good friend Kate Freeman writes:
Farewell, dear Rog. A true old-school Canterbury gentleman; generous to a fault, and oh so wickedly such good fun. …
Over that time he navigated candidates and MPs, Ministers and Prime Ministers through mazes of political issues and of course the Canterbury earthquakes. He caused the odd stir too as many political players do.
But he was so much more than a wiley political operator, businessman and philanthropist. He was a friend.
His door was never closed over those years.
He didn't bat an eyelid at piling a newborn Amelia into the back of his beautiful new Jaguar for letterbox dropping. Or hesitate to offer you a bed to stay if you were in town. And without fail, he was a willing dining companion. His generosity was legendary.
But perhaps equally splendid was his library. He was ridiculously well read. I once suggested to him that if I were to have a mental breakdown then I'd rather like to have it in his apartment and park up in one of his ample leather armchairs and make my way through his library. It was stunning! It was a boy's library, perfect for political junkies who love global affairs. He felt there was no need to have a breakdown to wait to enjoy it. And he'd have meant it.
Kate describes him so well. He will be missed by so many.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Heat on Agriculture Minister to deliver KiwiSaver farm promise
The heat is on the Agriculture Minister to deliver this term on a pre-election promise to unlock KiwiSaver so it can be used to buy a first farm, a flock of sheep or herd of cows, and not just a house. At the moment, if you have been contributing to KiwiSaver for three years, you can withdraw almost all the money to buy a first home to live in, although there are a few exceptions. As a general rule, you can't have owned a home or land before. But there are some exceptions for second chance buyers who, for example, might have been through a relationship breakup. Federated Farmers has launched a petition urging the government to loosen the rules for accessing the retirement scheme, saying it will turbocharge the next generation of farmers and deliver on a commitment that Agriculture Minister Todd McClay made during a meeting in Morrinsville prior to the election. The minister has now said that his comments were a National Party promise, rather than a coalition promise. But McClay told Checkpoint he does intend to uphold the promise before the end of the government's term. "I hope to have an announcement later this year and yes, that would be before the end of this term. But the work is underway now," he said. "We're gonna work pretty hard on it. If there is a reason not to, I'll front up and tell them. But I'm confident that it will be done before the election" McClay said that while he is determined to stick to the pre-election promise, he wants to ensure that it does not come with any unintended consequences. "You've gotta make sure that it's fair cause there will be others in the economy that say, well, you know, I want to use my KiwiSaver to buy a business that also allows me to get into a farm," he said. "Secondly, it's around whether if you get a flock of sheep and what happens if you decide that you don't wanna go any further, and then purchase a home... then money might go back into KiwiSaver." McClay said that because of these scenarios, the overall policy responsibility lay with another minister. "As Agriculture Minister, I'm focused on what we can do for farmers... I think there's a much broader conversation than I'm willing to have as the Agriculture Minister." Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Richard McIntyre told Checkpoint the changes would help young farmers get on the property ladder. "This is a chance to allow young farmers to actually progress their way up the ladder, investing in in small scale business ownership with ultimately the goal of buying a farm," he said. "A tangible asset like a flock or herd that gets young farmers progressing up up the ladder within the agriculture sector makes a huge amount of sense." He said although the promise hasn't yet been delivered, he still has faith in the Agriculture Minister to deliver. "We've still got a lot of confidence that we're gonna get this over the line. It's just taking a little bit more work and a bit more pressure than we'd like it to." McClay said this government had already delivered the majority of what Federated Farmers had called for prior to the election, as well as intending to fulfil this final promise in some form. "We announced probably 25 pieces of policy and [Federated Farmers] had a list of 12 that we had already put out. Of those, 11 have been delivered on fully or are now under way with law changes." National MP for Rangitīkei Suze Redmayne submitted a members bill late last year, which will achieve some of what Federated Farmers is calling for, but it is yet to be drawn from the ballot.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Heat on Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to deliver KiwiSaver farm promise
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The heat is on the Agriculture Minister to deliver this term on a pre-election promise to unlock KiwiSaver so it can be used to buy a first farm, a flock of sheep or herd of cows, and not just a house. At the moment, if you have been contributing to KiwiSaver for three years, you can withdraw almost all the money to buy a first home to live in, although there are a few exceptions. As a general rule, you can't have owned a home or land before. But there are some exceptions for second chance buyers who, for example, might have been through a relationship breakup. Federated Farmers has launched a petition urging the government to loosen the rules for accessing the retirement scheme, saying it will turbo charge the next generation of farmers and deliver on a commitment that Agriculture Minister Todd McClay made during a meeting in Morrinsville prior to the election. The minister has now said that his comments were a National Party promise, rather than a coalition promise. But McClay told Checkpoint he does intend to uphold the promise before the end of the government's term. "I hope to have an announcement later this year and yes, that would be before the end of this term. But the work is underway now," he said. "We're gonna work pretty hard on it. If there is a reason not to, I'll front up and tell them. But I'm confident that it will be done before the election" McClay said that while he is determined to stick to the pre-election promise, he wants to ensure that it does not come with any unintended consequences. "You've gotta make sure that it's fair cause there will be others in the economy that say, well, you know, I want to use my KiwiSaver to buy a business that also allows me to get into a farm," he said. "Secondly, it's around whether if you get a flock of sheep and what happens if you decide that you don't wanna go any further, and then purchase a home... then money might go back into KiwiSaver." McClay said that because of these scenarios, the overall policy responsibility lies with another minister. "As Agriculture Minister, I'm focused on what we can do for farmers... I think there's a much broader conversation than I'm willing to have as the Agriculture Minister." Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Richard McIntyre told Checkpoint the changes would help young farmers get on the property ladder. "This is a chance to allow young farmers to actually progress their way up the ladder, investing in in small scale business ownership with ultimately the goal of buying a farm," he said. "A tangible asset like a flock or herd that gets young farmers progressing up up the ladder within the agriculture sector makes a huge amount of sense." He said although the promise hasn't yet been delivered, he still has faith in the Agriculture Minister to deliver. "We've still got a lot of confidence that we're gonna get this over the line. It's just taking a little bit more work and a bit more pressure than we'd like it to." McClay said that this government has already delivered the majority of what Federated Farmers had called for prior to the election, as well as intending to fulfil this final promise in some form. "We announced probably 25 pieces of policy and [Federated Farmers] had a list of 12 that we had already put out. Of those, 11 have been delivered on fully or are now underway with law changes." National MP for Rangitīkei Suze Redmayne submitted a members bill late last year, which will achieve some of what Federated Farmers is calling for, but it is yet to be drawn from the ballot. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Distant noises of other voices
As Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon receives no shortage of advice. Quite apart from his Cabinet and caucus colleagues and coalition partners — let alone suggestions from the ever-helpful Opposition or media — he has several staff members whose entire role is to advise him on the issues of the day. Then there are the lobbyists, business leaders, interest groups, local government leaders and other influential people who are fortunate enough to capture the PM's attention and offer their two cents' worth. Even the general public can advise the prime minister — ultimately at the ballot box, but also through correspondence or even in person should they be lucky enough to be in the vicinity when Mr Luxon embarks on one of his weekly visits out to the regions. Not all advice is welcome, of course, and Mr Luxon may well have wished not to hear from former Labour prime minister Helen Clark and former National Party leader Don Brash when they chimed in last week with some salient words on New Zealand's relationship with China., There is little chance of Mr Luxon ignoring them, though, given that they chose to drop him a line via full-page advertisements in the nation's newspapers rather than sending him an email or letter. The nub of Miss Clark and Dr Brash's letter — which was also signed by former National MP and speaker Sir David Carter, former New Zealand ambassador to China Carl Worker, and Beijing-based New Zealand businessman David Mahon — was that they thought New Zealand's foreign policy was taking a concerning direction. "In recent months, you and Foreign Minister [Winston] Peters have made a number of statements which we consider to be positioning New Zealand alongside the United States as an adversary of China," they said. "We see no upside and very considerable downside in the situation which has developed... we do believe that a military relationship with the United States directed against China has many risks for New Zealand." The former politicians were, mainly, referring to Aukus Pillar Two, a defence arrangement with Australia, the United Kingdom and United States, which New Zealand is still mulling over whether to join. Signing up would no doubt please countries with which New Zealand has long-standing relationships and alliances and also allow the country access to modern defence and intelligence gathering technology. But Miss Clark, Dr Brash, et al, point out that the strategic grouping is "explicitly aimed at China" — a country with which New Zealand is also friendly, and which is, as no-one has forgotten, our biggest trading partner. A vital plank in Mr Luxon's "going for growth" agenda is increasing export sales, and the ready, waiting and able-to-buy Chinese market is a critical one. Mr Luxon met Chinese President Xi Jinping at last year's Apec meeting, and he is widely expected to visit the People's Republic sometime this year. Such visits always include an obligatory but delicately phrased reference to some of China's more questionable policies in terms of human rights, a topic quickly skimmed over before the parties turn to dollars and cents. New Zealand's attempts to become closer in step with the United States will already have been noted by Beijing, and this will no doubt be added to the awkward topics list when Mr Luxon does make it to the Chinese capital. No-one is suggesting that Miss Clark or Dr Brash, experienced operators in their own right, are acting as stalking horses for China in placing their advertisement: their views on this matter are backed by lengthy and independent track records, and they raise a legitimate argument. Mr Luxon will not have welcomed such high-profile questioning of his policies at a time when his staff may well be making final arrangements for what will be a vital trip — as all meetings between China's and New Zealand's leaders are for this country. Mr Peters, in typically colourful language, said that he saw "no value in indulging the tired arguments of various former politicians" — before defending the government's foreign policy approach. But indulge them Mr Luxon will likely have to do. In finding language to counter them, he may well find himself grateful that those varied notables raised their voices and offered their opinion.
