Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. The exclusive parties, the exotic holidays, the hook-ups, the break-ups, and the high-stakes− business deals - this new Thursday column pulls back the curtain to reveal how New Zealand’s other half live.
Society Insider: John Banks and Lady Deborah Chambers - friends or something more? Plus, former TV star Kate Lynch’s dad’s assisted dying wish
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Former TV journalist Kate Lynch is back to work after family heartbreak; are former Auckland mayor John Banks and leading KC Lady Deborah Chambers friends, or something more? And which All Black was on billionaire Nick Mowbray's team for his all guys golf getaway in Queenstown? Photo / Herald composite image
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When approached for comment about the rumours he and Lady Chambers are “an item”, Banks replied via text saying, “It is true, I am a friend of Deborah, she is a special traveller”.
Lady Chambers gave a categorical “absolutely no comment” to Society Insider’s phone call and would not be drawn any further.
Banks is reportedly separated from his wife Amanda Medcalf, who is understood to have been based in the South Island for several years.
Lady Chambers has an esteemed legal career and is one of the country’s foremost King’s Counsel, specialising in relationship property and trusts law, often working with the ultra-wealthy.
In an extensive Herald interview in 2014, she said she believed in love despite dealing with divorce cases every day. The interview came the year after her second husband, the Supreme Court Judge Sir Robert Chambers, died from a brain aneurysm.
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A love of the law is one thing Banks and Lady Chambers share.
Banks held many Cabinet positions over his more than 30 years of politics, including Minister of Police.
His career started as an MP for the National Party from 1981 to 1999, followed by serving as Mayor of Auckland City for two terms (2001-2004 and 2007-2010). He then had a term back in Parliament as the leader of the Act Party and its sole MP, in the electorate of Epsom. He resigned from Parliament in 2014.
His next few years saw him in the courts in two well-documented cases.
In 2019, there were murmurings that Banks might run to replace then-Super City Mayor Phil Goff, but this never eventuated.
Banks is still busy post-politics and is said to advise real estate titan Megan Jaffe with her property management businesses. He spoke at the opening of Jaffe’s new Ponsonby branch in July, as did current Act leader David Seymour.
Outside of work and politics, Banks is said to be a keen aerobatic plane flyer and motorcycle rider.
Earlier this year Lady Chambers was one of the people who spoke out about Philip Polkinghorne’s Northern Club membership after he was acquitted in September of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna.
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She told the Herald in October Polkinghorne had breached rule 43 of the club, which states, “If any member behaves either in or out of the clubhouse in a manner detrimental to the interests of the club, the committee shall be entitled to resolve to render such member liable to expulsion”.
“The evidence at the trial indicated he is not a suitable person to be a member.”
Lady Chambers said if the eye doctor walked into the club, he would not be welcome, and she would leave.
“I’m sure people would stand up and walk out if he comes in. I don’t want to have dinner with someone like him,” she said.
The Herald understands the former Remuera eye surgeon is no longer a member of the club. An inside source who didn’t want to be named confirmed to the Herald, Polkinghorne’s name is no longer on the club’s official list of members.
Kate Lynch ready for a new role after family heartbreak
Former TV journalist Kate Lynch has kept a relatively low profile in the year since she left her communications role in Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s office.
She has revealed to Society Insider that the break was much-needed thanks to “life’s ups and downs”.
In May last year, Society Insider reported Lynch’s split after 12 years of marriage to then Newshub sports anchor Andrew Gourdie.
It’s just over a year since she stepped down as Brown’s head of communications and government relations, just six months into the post.
In March this year, her dad Greg passed away via voluntary assisted dying in Australia, where he was based.
Her mum Heather, who lives in Auckland, had some health troubles of her own.
After the time out from work, Lynch tells Society Insider she’s now “in a great place”.
“My two boys are doing well, and Mum is safe after a couple of bad falls, which left doctors uncertain she would survive,” Lynch says.
After her dad’s death, she says she “took some time off to process and reflect”.
Greg had faced a long battle with illness and in his final days made what Lynch describes as “an incredibly courageous decision to leave this world on his own terms”.
“While it was difficult to witness someone I loved make that choice, I deeply admire his bravery,” Lynch says.
“His passing was a respectful and peaceful process, occurring just weeks after his decision.”
Lynch says she holds great admiration for Act MP David Seymour and his advocacy for assisted dying in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s End of Life Choice Act was enacted in November 2021. In Australia, Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws have been in effect in Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales since January 2023, and will commence in the Australian Capital Territory in November next year. Assisted dying is still illegal in the Northern Territory.
Lynch says her mum is her greatest support, so she made a personal vow to help her recover.
“I visited her daily at Auckland Hospital while balancing the demands of my role at the Auckland Mayor’s office and adjusting to life as a single mother.”
Heather has made a great recovery and in July celebrated her 80th birthday in Rarotonga, with Lynch and other family and friends.
In August, Lynch stepped back into the corporate communications world, with a new role at multimillion-dollar Westport mining company Westland Mineral Sands. She calls her job as chief of corporate affairs her “best to date”.
The company holds licences for around 20,000ha of sand dunes on privately owned, modified farmland on the West Coast.
“My role is quite dynamic and involves a mix of strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, and government relations and conveying the business’ social and environmental responsibilities,” Lynch tells Society Insider.
“I work from home in Auckland but frequently travel to the West Coast, Wellington, and Christchurch as needed to liaise with various stakeholders.”
Lynch, whose TV career saw her working for TVNZ and MediaWorks, has also been heavily involved in New Zealand’s racing industry since leaving media.
Lynch was nominated by the late Sir Patrick Hogan to be the third woman elected to the board of Auckland Racing, did corporate comms for the New Zealand Racing Board, TAB and SkyCity, and was an ambassador for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing. She was also often named as one to watch in the Fashion in the Fields events at Ellerslie on race days.
So, has she permanently traded in the glamour of racing for a hard hat and hi-vis vest?
“Absolutely not,” she tells Society Insider. “I am looking forward to a massive season of racing this summer at Ellerslie.”
All Blacks join NZ’s uber-rich for golf classic
Two All Blacks and two of New Zealand’s richest men hit three of Queenstown’s best courses in an annual golf tournament last week.
Zuru’s Nick Mowbray and Harry Hart, son of rich-lister Graeme Hart, were each joined by an All Black for a golf getaway they’ve dubbed “the Closeburn Classic”.
Sources tell Society Insider that this year’s third annual week-long classic was played across three world-class golf courses, Jacks Point, The Hills and Millbrook.
Damian McKenzie was on Mowbray’s squad Margs (Margaritas) and Anton Lienert-Brown was on Hart’s team Mules (Moscow Mules).
Mowbray also had one of his good friends, Matthew Banfield, on his team. Banfield serves as the chief operating officer at Rascal + Friends at Mowbray’s company Zuru Edge.
Banfield and fellow Zuru Edge executive, Hannah Morris, joined Mowbray and his fiancee, Monday haircare founder, Jaimee Lupton, on their recent African Safari.
Property developer Tim McGoldrick was also at the classic – he’s the fiance of Jaimee’s sister Morgan. McGoldrick’s brother, Chris, also joined the golfing party. Chris’ AI firm ListAssist is doing big things stateside. The company has signed a multi-year deal with Howard Hanna, the largest independent real estate firm in the US.
The McGoldricks are family friends of the Hart family; both brothers were on Hart’s team.
Hart, McGoldrick and Banfield are understood to be the key organisers of the week. The Hart family has a compound 11km from Queenstown, Closeburn Station, which has a reported value of more than $24 million. Society Insider understands many post-match events were spent there.
Mowbray had a couple of fit mates on his team – his good friend Harrison Reid, who is based in Sydney and stars on Bondi Rescue, and former professional Black Sticks hockey star Dwayne Rowsell.
Rowsell, who co-founded A-List boxing gyms Studio Box in Newmarket and Auckland’s CBD, was back from his new home of Melbourne.
Rowsell and his partner Jordy Munro, who welcomed baby boy Bruno in August, made the move to Australia a few months ago. In October, it is understood Rowsell started as club general manager at luxury wellness and fitness club Saint Haven in the city’s upmarket suburb of Toorak. The growing Saint Haven clubs are owned by Aussie Rich Lister, property developer Tim Gurner.
In March, when Mowbray competed in the NZ Golf Open, he credited Rowsell for getting him ready each day. Practice even took place on Mowbray’s private jet – a video on social media showed him practising his putting down the aisle.
Mowbray may have taken the jet back up to Auckland to join his sister Anna on stage at the Viaduct Events Centre at the Deloitte 200 Awards last Thursday evening. Along with their brother Mat, the siblings were given the Visionary Leader award in recognition of the innovation that has built Zuru into a multinational juggernaut.
But Mowbray was back in Queenstown to be with his team the Margs, as they closed out the week winning The Closeburn Cup. Each member received a gold medal, a piccolo of Moet & Chandon and, of course, a margarita to celebrate.
A good week for … the society ladies of the Eastern Suburbs
Dame Julie Christie hosted a Palm Royale-themed party with a dozen of her friends at her multimillion-dollar Parnell home last weekend to celebrate the summer season.
The theme was based on the hit Apple+ TV series Palm Royale starring Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern and Allison Janney, about Palm Beach high society, circa 1969.
Guests told Society Insider that Christie, who was fresh from her Legend award at last month’s New Zealand TV Awards, went all out with themed decor, canapes and cocktails.
Christie tells Society Insider the cocktails were, of course, grasshoppers as per Kristen Wiig’s favoured tipple in the TV series.
“One part creme de menthe, one part creme de cacao, a dash of cream and some shaved chocolate,” says Christie.
Among the guests were shoe designer supremo Kathryn Wilson, as well as broadcaster and thespian Louise Wallace and former model and rich-lister Cara Pollock-Turner, who are Paritai Drive neighbours.
Wallace, who donned a pineapple and lime kaftan, told Society Insider her hair was “elevated” into an impressive bouffant at Londonaire salon in Ōrākei.
“By the end of the day, it was the only thing that was rock solid,” she says.
“When I walked down the hall of the house my parents built, in that beautiful kaftan, my husband said, My God! You’re your mother! Leona the owner, as we called her,” Wallace says.
“My mother and her glamorous friends all dressed like that in beautiful clothes, full makeup, even if still in dressing gowns each morning and lived the 60s dream.
“Apples never fall…”
Pollock-Turner’s late mother Renee Pollock was the doyenne of Paritai Drive for multiple decades.
“I had Mum front of mind when I was getting ready. I removed all my diamonds and replaced them with Mum’s pearls,” she says.
Like Wallace, her bouffant style, which she had done at Grant Bettjeman’s Orakei salon, took time.
Pollock-Turner couldn’t book a makeup artist, so she raided her Los Angeles-based daughter Cameo’s makeup and did a home job. Her glasses were borrowed from her daughter’s room too.
Party people of the week
Cure Parkinson’s NZ: Coffee, connection and a cause
Last Friday morning, Cure Parkinson’s Cup for a Cure campaign kicked off with an inspiring and heartfelt event, hosted by broadcaster Dominic Bowden. The occasion brought together a crowd of supporters, advocates, and coffee lovers, uniting them in the fight against Parkinson’s.
Held at Allpress Coffee in Drake St, the event featured a deeply personal Q&A session between Bowden and acclaimed Kiwi director Toa Fraser, who has been living with Parkinson’s for 10 years. For Bowden and Fraser, it was not just a professional collaboration but a reunion, as the two had attended school together years ago.
Fraser, who underwent brain stimulation surgery last year, shared how the procedure has transformed his daily life, offering relief from many of the condition’s debilitating symptoms. He also opened up about the realities of navigating everyday activities such as school drop-offs and helping around the house, tasks many take for granted but which often become Herculean efforts for those with Parkinson’s. Fraser’s reflections were especially poignant, as he also celebrated a milestone in his personal life, his recent marriage to wife Ngaire.
Bowden, too, has a personal connection to the cause. His fiancee Esther Cronin has experienced the impact of Parkinson’s within her family, with her grandmother battling the disease.
Former professional wakeboarder Brad Smeele, who had an accident leaving him a quadriplegic, was there to show his support, as his father has Parkinson’s.
The event was part of the larger Cup for a Cure campaign, which aims to raise awareness and funds for groundbreaking research into Parkinson’s, the fastest-growing neurological condition globally. From now until February 18, Kiwis can contribute to the cause online and receive a complimentary coffee at participating Allpress cafes or through Allpress’s online store.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
