So she took it on herself to become politically educated and also do what she could to help those her senior become more informed.television
At the same time she was captivated at how a minority coalition party leader, United Future's Peter Dunne, had been thrust into the media spotlight.
"I would walk around the school with a hand-made sign urging teachers to vote for United Future," she admits.
"I was sold on Peter Dunne's common sense."
From there she went on to study political science at Auckland University and contemplated an academic career before discovering journalism and landing a job in radio. Now the 30-year-old is preparing to kick-start the year by swapping her Seven Sharp reporting and fill-in co-host role for the parliamentary press gallery, something she has long aspired to.
"It's so exciting to be in this place," says du Plessis-Allan.
"I just love it. You're right in the hub of decision-making and it can be so fast-moving."
She is taking up her One News post across the corridor from gallery veteran and husband of six years, Barry Soper. The couple married in Parliament's historic Grand Hall in 2009. She's his third wife and there's a 33-year age difference between them.
According to du Plessis-Allan it no longer turns heads.
That is unless you are newly elected Green MP James Shaw who, she said, stood staring at her blankly for a good two minutes when he was recently introduced to the couple.
"He said he was just processing the fact we were married."
She says she's looking forward to catching up with Soper during the day, but it when it comes to gathering news, the competitive du Plessis-Allan will not think twice about scooping her husband.
•Heather will write a weekly column in the Herald on Sunday about life, love and the issues pushing her buttons. Her first, below, is on motherhood.
Fast five with Heather du Plessis-Allan
•"I'm a workplace kitchen nazi. I pretend to be cross about the dirty kitchen, but secretly love cleaning it up."
•"I wear glasses. I'm quite blind."
•"I can recite the names of the first 25 books of the Bible. It's a useful life-skill we were forced to learn at school in South Africa."
•"There are maximum 30 read emails in my inbox at any one time. I think I'm OCD."
•"I used to be in a punk rock band at school. We were called Eating Blue Crayons."
Heather du Plessis-Allan: Junior is going to have to wait a few years
It's a few days early I know, but we should get this New Year's resolution business out of the way. It's not the kind of thing to leave until you're five drinks in, counting down to midnight. It's definitely not the kind of thing you wrestle with through the hangover of January 1. Especially when you're deciding if 2015 is the year to have kids. That's me folks. I'm considering starting up the baby factory.
Apparently I'm now ready to be a mum. Apparently that happened when I turned 30. I know this because the not-so-subtle pressure to get knocked up started the very next day. I've got to say, I was a little surprised when I asked a colleague for career advice and got the response, "Well, have you thought about having a baby instead?"
Actually no, I hadn't. But in the three months since then, it's been hard to escape. My grandmother now asks when I'm having a baby, like it's as much of a short-term certainty as a load of laundry.
We all know the clock is ticking. The internet tells us a 30-year-old woman only has five years of good eggs left. After that, you're forced into all manner of upside-down-against-wall-type contortions to get pregnant.
But what if I don't want to have kids yet? I just checked my diary and, quite frankly, I'm a little busy for the next 10 years. I'm already juggling a demanding job, two-for-one cocktails at Dragonfly on a Tuesday night, and a non-negotiable dependence on eight hours of sleep.
If that sounds immature, you're right. And I acknowledge it. I know what kind of parent I'd like to be, and I'm not there yet. In fact, I don't think I'll be that parent until I'm 40.
Now, before you suck your air between your teeth and tell me how much harder babies are at 40, save your breath. I already know I won't have the same energy. It's likely I will be mistaken for the child's grandmother.
And yes, my husband is a little older than me so his hip operation will make pushing the pram difficult. Jokes. He hasn't had a hip operation. Yet.
But hey, I'll be in good company. Madonna popped one out at 43. Former French first lady Carla Bruni gave birth at 42. And Cherie Blair had little Leo at an impressive 45. Given that they're celebs, it's easy to draw the conclusion this older mum thing is a famous-person's fad, like carrying dogs around in handbags. But it's not. Arguably, the only fad here is the notion that mothers need to be young. It was only in the early 80s that the number of over-40 mums dropped away. Beforehand - and since - women pumped out babies in their fifth decade.
Of course, older motherhood can risk the health of the baby and the mum. But that's up for debate. And studies even suggest that babies born to older mums benefit from growing up with folks who're generally in more stable relationships. Maybe the parents have ironed out their youthful belligerence by then. Maybe money is less of a stress.
Studies suggest leaving babies until later may give me a new lease on life once they arrive. The word is, 40-plus mums are four times more likely to live to 100 or even beyond. Which means I'll be seeing in the New Year until at least 2084. It's settled. My New Year's resolution is to not have kids this year.
