Labour’s Barbara Edmonds on growing up poor and why she never wants to be PM - Money Talks

Labour finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds at Parliament in February this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“We grew up with not much money because my parents are migrant parents that came to New Zealand in the 70s and Mum got cancer,” says the Labour Party’s new finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds.

“She died when I was 4. So my dad gave up his job as an admin clerk in the Navy in Devonport and went on the benefit, basically until I got to college.”

Edmonds has a complex relationship with money, having grown up very poor but gone on to a successful career as a tax lawyer.

Talking on the Money Talks podcast she shares her journey from those difficult childhood days to a stellar rise through the political ranks. She also talks about being a mum to eight children and how she never wants to be Prime Minister.

“So, I don’t have much memory of money,” she said when asked about pocket money growing up.

“Obviously because we didn’t have much. There was some times when the cupboards would be bare. One time I do remember is the day we buried Mum, which was also my fifth birthday, the 18th of January, we went to the View Rd dairy in Glenfield and the shopkeeper Murray let me go around the, around the counter to pick whatever I want.”

She picked a Leed lemonade and a KitKat.

Edmonds was brought up in Glenfield on Auckland’s largely affluent North Shore.

It was an area where the Government at the time had done a lot of property development, she says.

“Universal Homes built our family home through the capitalisation of family scheme benefits. That’s how my parents got their home,” she says.

But despite the lack of money, Edmonds says she never really felt different or out of place.

“I do remember walking to school with bare feet, but I thought every kid did that, and then, you know, obviously sometimes you were hungry sometimes you weren’t, you didn’t really think about it.

“I think the first time I did realise there was a difference was ... I was really close to our next-door neighbour. And the young daughter, who used to babysit, had a ballet recital in town at the old Maidment Theatre. The mother and the daughter picked me up from netball and I was soaked because of netball, but I had no shoes either because my netball shoes were totally soaked. I remember going to the ballet with no shoes and kind of feeling that: ‘oh, I’m a bit different’.”

Edmonds excelled academically and went on to be head girl at Carmel College. After initially training to be a physiotherapist, she went on to a career in insurance before going back to university to do a law degree.

After working for a decade at the IRD, she became an adviser for Labour MPs Stuart Nash and Michael Woodhouse and National MP Judith Collins. Edmonds entered Parliament as a Labour MP in 2020.

Nash has even suggested Edmonds could go on to be Prime Minister one day. But Edmonds is adamant it is a job she doesn’t want.

“Never going to happen,” she said.

“No, I’ve got eight children. I know people could say that makes you more qualified to be a Prime Minister. But for me, I think the pressure, I’ve seen behind the scenes. I think the pressure that it puts on a family, not just a partner, but also on the children ... I’m quite clear for me, that’s the boundary.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Edmonds about her journey from humble beginnings to a prominent position in Parliament.

Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics - it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.

The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.

Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.