Heather du Plessis-Allan: My politician of the year

At this time of year it’s traditional for political commentators to pick their politician of the year.

And interestingly, the NZ Herald this past weekend went for Simeon Brown.

Now, I think Simeon’s right up there. There’s a reason he’s called Golden Balls. But I don’t think he’s the one.

I think that honour has got to go to Erica Stanford and it’s not even a competition as far as I’m concerned.

No disrespect to Simeon Brown, because he is fixing up a bunch of stuff that needs fixing up like speed limits, potholes, Wellington City Council, speed bumps, Transpower etc.

And he’s done it without causing days of drama. He’s decisive and rarely makes mistakes. You get the impression he’s absolutely not taking BS from public officials behind the scenes.

But that's all regular running-a-Government stuff.

Erica Stanford though, has done something pretty special - she banned phones in schools.

Now, I have a feeling this is going to sound silly to some people as my reason for picking her as the politician of the year. But that will only be if you don’t realise how distracting and addictive those phones were being in school time and how much they were hurting kids’ grades and social skills and ability to just be kids, like we were.

Remember how we ridiculed her when she did it? Now, you find me a teacher who doesn’t think it’s a wild success.

This is so important that international experts who study the impact of phones on kids say this is one of about four things we must do to help kids out, and she’s done it.

She didn’t have to be begged. She didn’t have to be cajoled. She just did it.

Watch the impact it will have on a generation of kids.

As far as I’m concerned, no politician has made a call this significant for a group this important, all year.

So never mind any of the other stuff she’s done, like the State Abuse Inquiry, for the phone ban alone she’s the MVP of 2024.

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