Actors with different political views and business people staying on message like politicians: Paula Bennett has interviewed them all on her podcast, Ask Me Anything. As she celebrates 100 episodes, Jenni Mortimer turned the tables, putting the hard questions to the former Deputy Prime Minister.
It’s hard not to put Paula Bennett in a serious box, full of serious things and serious job titles, such as former Deputy Prime Minister, chairwoman of Pharmac New Zealand, political adviser, director and strategic adviser of Bayleys Real Estate. On paper, Bennett is very serious indeed.
But she insists you’ve got her all wrong. And she quite likes proving that to people.
“I love what happens when people come with a preconceived idea of who I am,” Bennett says.
“Then they realise I’m quite human and quite fun and that [politician] was just a job I had a while ago. I hope it doesn’t determine who I am for the rest of my life.”
And a lot of people have come and seen her. This week, she celebrates 100 episodes of her podcast Ask Me Anything, where Bennett interviews guests from all walks of life and no question or topic is off the cards.
Off mic, Bennett, 56, is unfiltered, devilishly cheeky and charming. She’s someone who welcomes the chance to change people’s minds and have them change hers. Difficult conversations? Bring them on.
“I didn’t know Robyn Malcolm and I was probably quite intimidated because I’m such a big fan but I knew our politics were so different,” she says of the Outrageous Fortune actor, who was interviewed on the podcast in 2023.
“Her advice was some of the best that was given, and just because you’ve got a political divide doesn’t mean you can’t find friendship and things in common.”
Bennett found similar ground with outspoken comedian Guy Williams.
Listen to the episode here:
“[He] is in the top 10 most listened to [episodes], because people probably had that idea that it would be competitive and that we wouldn’t get on, whereas actually we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
“It was weird but fun and introspective, and if you told me at the beginning that an interview could even go like that, I’m not sure I would have believed you.”
Politics is, of course, in Bennett’s veins. She left Parliament five years ago, when she and former National leader Simon Bridges were released from their duties by their own party and replaced by Todd Muller and the late Nikki Kaye before the 2020 general election. The Muller and Kaye duo didn’t last – Muller’s party leadership lasted 53 days, the shortest leadership term in modern National Party history.
Cut and thrust is probably an understatement, but does Bennett ever miss that world?
“I don’t miss the place. I miss some of the people, but the job’s exhausting and 15 years was enough,” she says.
“I think you’ve got to leave while you’ve got a smidgen of sanity because otherwise it’ll suck it all out of you.”
Bennett regrets nothing but admits she had to take a minute to figure out what was next and how to move on after leaving Parliament.
“I had to go and find my happy and find my space – and it was quite fun in the end.”
Ask Me Anything has been part of that journey. On it, her interview subjects have thrown her off her game – “Sir Michael Hill literally had his 10 pieces of advice, and there was no way I was interviewing him. He knew exactly what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it, and that is exactly what he did” – and surprised her completely.
Her favourite interview was Australian Bill Edgar, the coffin confessor. A man who is a concierge to the dead, carrying out their final wishes, even calling loved ones out at funerals on behalf of the deceased.
Bennett loved the chat so much that she wanted to start a New Zealand arm of his services to the dead and dying. Edgar declined.
Listen to the episode here:
But she is no stranger to rejection; there have also been guests who have flat-out refused her. She says there are plenty of other podcasts they can share their opinions on if hers is of concern to them.
“There are certainly people who have turned me down, I think because of my previous political role, and that’s entirely up to them.”
Bennett gives one of the Green Party’s co-leaders as an example.
“I really wanted to interview Chlöe Swarbrick, but she has said ‘no’, she’s declined, which was interesting. Whereas Marama Davidson – hers was about health and her personal journey – she just didn’t even hesitate [to say yes].”
While she’s happy to talk to politicians and almost anyone else about their work, Bennett misses being the person able to make an immediate difference in people’s lives. She says that work wasn’t always showy, but it mattered.
“My proudest moments are the ones that didn’t make headlines – using your power for good and being able to reach in and help someone. [Because] generally, by the time a constituent or someone comes to see you, you’re often the last call.
“Sometimes you can do something. Women in hideous domestic violence [situations] and being able to literally get them out and change their lives. Someone who’s been through ACC and is in chronic pain and is not being heard and being ignored. At least making sure that [people] are getting a fair hearing and being treated fairly.”
If there was such a thing as unfinished business, maybe a world where she had one last day in the Beehive, where she could make one final change, Bennett knows exactly what she would do.
“I can blatantly disclose that I am the chair of Pharmac, and so can we please have a billion dollars more so that we can at least give New Zealanders access to medicines at the same rate as the rest of the countries? So that people don’t have to go to Australia and leave their families behind to get the level of service they deserve? It’s not all about money, but this actually is about our ability to purchase and buy enough.”
As someone who spent more than a decade in the game, Bennett has a better grasp than most on the politics of popularity. When it comes to those people who are in charge, though, she is clear: in her opinion, you don’t have to want to be friends with the people making the decisions for our country.
“If you’re out there looking for someone that’s likable, then you should get over yourself because you’re not looking for someone that you’re going to have dinner with at night. What I would be looking for is someone that’s capable.
“I get that at some level, [it is] a sort of a likability contest, and people liked me, people hated me … and that’s life really.”
Instead, Bennett says the New Zealand public wants, and should expect, consistency and someone who is unapologetically themselves.
“Someone more enlightened than me would say it’s all about your authenticity and all of that crap, which it probably is. But I think it’s a bit more than that as well. It’s being true to oneself.
“It wouldn’t surprise anyone that I broke up a fight outside the mall in Henderson, which I did. Because I was known for being kind of a feisty, stroppy, leaning in, tell you exactly how it is. Saying this is me, this is what you get.”
Back in the studio, Bennett knows that straight-talking nature means she’s not the podcast host for everyone, and she’s still got a lot to learn. If she feels it’s not a good fit with her guests, or she finds her mind wandering when they talk, she says so.
“It’s tricky to pretend that you’re super passionate when you don’t follow the sport, for example,” Bennett laughs as she recalls getting let in on some recent top-secret All Blacks gossip from a source she refuses to name.
“He was telling me all this stuff the other day and suddenly says, ‘You’re not even listening, are you?’ And I went, ‘No, I’m honestly doing my grocery list in my head right now.’ And he says, ‘Because you can’t tell anyone – it’s about this weekend.’ And I reply, ‘I wouldn’t know how to. I have no idea what you’ve just said’.”