3.When did you develop your sense of style?
When Income Support was formed in 1992, I started to wear suits and very different suits to everyone else [as CEO of Winz]. I always had them made so they were really fitting, I really liked that. My favourite was a black one with black possum cuffs and collar and it was magnificent. I'd had my hair cut, I'm almost six foot (1.8m) and I always wore big heels, so I think I wore big earrings to create balance. And then people started to react to them. I thought, "there's no way you are going to tell me that my earrings are offensive".
4. You were pilloried by the media at that time. Is there a part of you that feels for Craig right now?
I really do feel for him and for his family because they're close and it must be terrible. Before my trial there were two years that I fought the Labour Government and they fought me. I was spat on, people wrote letters telling me disgusting things about myself. I was painted as a dumb blonde who was a big spender. That Government was determined to paint a picture of me and they nearly destroyed me, they certainly destroyed a fantastic career. The other side of the story - that I saved multi-millions of dollars for the Government - never really got told until I wrote my book which was a No 1 best seller. Then I became a celebrity, which was also a really, really weird thing to experience, when people kiss you and touch you and ask for your autograph and scream when they see you.
5. Did you inherit some of your style from your mother?
Definitely. She was a very glamorous woman. That was quite unusual in Blackball, where we lived for the first few years of my life. It was a little coalmining town and my mother always looked like a fashion plate. She kept very much to herself because our family were locked away from other people; I guess you could say it was because of what went on in there. But my mother, when she did go to town, always wore hats and stoles and beautiful suits.
6. What was your father like?
He was very violent. We had a pretty horrendous childhood, the four of us. One day something would be okay, the next day the same thing wouldn't be. I remember going past my father one day when he was sitting on the couch and I don't know why but I pulled his toe as I went past and my world exploded. That's just one example. On the other hand he could be very loving, so it was very confusing. He would give you a beating that was major and then he would cuddle you and take you for an icecream. That was a very strange way to be disciplined. It created mayhem for us as children and through our lives.
7. How has it affected you as an adult?
Violence tells you that you're fat and ugly and stupid. And those things become a part of your DNA. I never thought I was good enough for anything. But that changed - I got that job [at the then Department of Social Welfare] in 1978 and it changed my life. They kept telling me how lucky they were to have me. I kept thinking, you're going to find out about me. But I worked incredibly hard and I got something like six promotions in five years.
8. How did you feel when you learned you were pregnant at 18?
I thought my father was going to kill me and I decided that I would run off to Australia. I don't know what the hell I thought I was going to do when I got there. But I'd found out when the boat was leaving and I had the fare. My mother said, "Leave it to me, I will tell your father". And I have to say he was wonderful to me during that pregnancy.
9. What's your stance on abortion?
I always say that it is a woman's choice. But honestly, I would have aborted Matthew. And I've told him that, we've talked about it. I told him if I could have, I would have. I tried. I had hot baths. I jumped off tables. All the things that you think might work when you're in that desperate, desperate situation. And now I have this man who I am so proud of and who is such a decent human being and I would have destroyed that.
10. You've also said you're not against gay marriage. Which of the Conservative Party's policies did you agree with?
I believe that whenever there is social change, there should be a referendum. Look at the smacking law, it will change how children grow up forever more. Parents should have the right to give a little smack on the bottom or the hand for correctional purposes. We are number two in the world for abusing our children. Number two. And we worry about a smack on the bum.
11. Your father was a prison officer. Don't you think a law like that might have afforded you some protection from him?
No I don't. My mother made sure that everything in our family was hidden. I had my shoulder dislocated [by my father] on several occasions and I used to have to go to hospital to get it put back in place. Maybe they would have picked that up, but I don't think so. How long have we had the anti-smacking law? The abuse statistics haven't got better, they're dramatically worse.
12. How did you meet your fourth and current husband, Kim MacIntyre?
His wife was my real estate agent. That relationship had a terrible, terrible beginning. We got married about 12 weeks after Kim's wife had [taken her life]. I know that people didn't understand and I would accept that. If we had waited it may have looked better but that was not my concern at the time. Kim was my concern. I acted very honourably. Kim had been through hell for a very long time and, yes, I did support him as a friend, but it became something completely different. We've been together six years, nearly seven, and he has turned out to be perfect for me. We're opening a very upmarket B&B here in Taupo. Kim thinks I'm the most incredible woman and there is no one better than me. I've never been loved like that, never in my life.
