Wellington Central

But in 2017, she threw her hat in the ring, I should say, to contest the 2017 election.

as the National Candidate for Wellington Central, from the not-so-lofty position of No. 48 on the party list.

As close followers of politics will know, she missed out to Labour's Grant Robertson in that particular battle, and she just missed out on a party list position.

But when Stephen Joyce resigned the following year, she was the next cab off the rank and she became a Member of Parliament in 2018.

So it was good.

It was a great experience.

So then you did throw your hat in the ring in 2017, way down the list, and didn't win Wellington Central.

But a few months later, Stephen Joyce pulled the plug and you're the next one, I think I used the term, cab off the rank, which is probably a bit unkind during the introduction.

It's a perfectly legitimate thing to do.

I lived in Wellington, Wellington Central, many elections ago, 1996, and I voted for Richard Preble, not because I was necessarily an ACT fan.

but because ACT weren't going to get into Parliament on the 5+, and I was a fan of more representation.

More parties, the better.

And neither of us know how we got there.

But all of a sudden we're in Wellington CBD area going past and I look up at the sign and it says Courtney Place.

And I said, Judy, where are you going? And she said, where are we? I don't know how our normal route of just heading up to the hut, it was like either we got supernaturally transported and neither of us remember it, or that she was turning corners and corners until eventually, but what it was, we were like, what in the world? How did we get into the center of Wellington? And that story, I like to say, could be natural.

But it's probably God.

Five heritage protections are being removed in Central Wellington, making way in some cases for high-rise apartment blocks, film studios, and millions of dollars in economic development.

RMA Minister Chris Bishop has made the call despite some protestations from heritage advocates.

Chris Bishop joins me now.

He was in Bupa in Crofton Downs, a hell of a good guy.

He stood for Labour, Phil, in Wellington Central in 1996 when Bolger ended up supporting Richard Preble for the seat.

Then he became deputy mayor, served for a time on the parole board and also on Creative New Zealand.

I had many interactions with him, mainly through Tim Grosser, with whom he had gone to Valley High.