We asked a range of parliamentarians to tell us about their first jobs. Here’s what they said.

All week on The Spinoff we are delving into our relationship with the world of work in Aotearoa. For more Work Week stories, click here.

It’s hard to imagine our MPs doing anything other than yelling at each other across the House of Representatives. But in reality, our parliamentarians have had diverse pre-parliament work lives.

We all know that former prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s first job was working in a fish and chip shop in Morrinsville years before she even considered entering politics. And National’s leader Christopher Luxon recently returned to the Christchurch McDonald’s drive-through that he worked in during his teens.

But what about our other high profile MPs? We canvassed the likes of Nicola Willis, David Seymour, Grant Robertson and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and more, and asked what they did for money before heading off to the Beehive.

Here’s what they told us about their earliest working memories, in their own words. Note: selected MPs from all parties in parliament were asked for comment and some answers have been edited for brevity.

Grant Robertson

Aside from a paper round, my first job was in the fruit and vege department at the South City New World supermarket in Dunedin. The job involved preparing fruit and veges for display and sale. I was 16.

Grant Robertson is the minister of finance and MP for Wellington Central.

Andrew Little

I had two jobs straight after I left school – timber yard worker and labourer digging out cave-ins in a two-metre deep, 1.5km-long trench, and security work. 

In the timber yard I graded timber for use in construction and helped make up packages of timber for specific projects. The labourer job related to one of the Think Big projects in Taranaki at the time (1983, which is some 40 years ago!). The trench for the high voltage electrical cables for the Waitara Valley methanol plant had been dug, and while waiting for the cables to be laid it had to be kept clean of cave-ins.

Three of us turned up on day one of the job. Every morning the job was to start at one end and dig out any of the cave-ins overnight. This was in the middle of summer (the days when the sun shone every day of summer) and the trench was across a paddock with no shade or shelter from the sun. I learnt on my first day that a 300ml bottle of lemonade was not enough to avoid dehydration. By lunchtime my mouth was dry from thirst.

The trench was adjacent to the Waitara river which, at that time, was fairly polluted. But I got so dehydrated I had no choice but to quench my thirst from the river. I just needed to drink.

Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any effects afterwards and the next day came armed with several litres of water. I was the only one of the three of us who started the job to turn up on the second day.

Andrew Little is minister of defence and the public service.

Priyanca Radhakrishnan

My first job was as an educational entertainer when I was growing up in Singapore. I think I was around 16 and my job involved dressing up as specific characters and performing educational skits for kindergarten kids. Think Harold the Giraffe – but Singaporean.

It definitely gave me the skills to communicate to any crowd, no matter how rowdy they are. Beyond that the cross-transferable skills aren’t huge but sometimes I have flashbacks of that role during question time.

Priyanca Radhakrishnan is minister for disability issues, ethnic communities and MP for Maungakiekie.

Jan Tinetti

My first job was cleaning independent villas within a (now closed) psychopedic hospital. I worked every school holidays from when I was 15 until I was 20. I learnt so much about humanity and diversity. It also instilled in me the importance of fighting for equal rights for all.

I also worked as a panda but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Jan Tinetti is minister of education and internal affairs.

Nicola Willis

My first regular paid job was at Wholly Bagel Cafe on Johnston Street in Wellington. Sadly now, it’s no longer the institution it once was and has closed down. I remember the menu vividly – from the chicken salad bagel to the tomato and herb cream cheese schmears. Jalapeño cheddar bagels vegetarian bagels with garlic cream cheese were my fave.  

I drove the till at the front of house, taking orders, punching them in and then bussing them to tables. There was no crime greater than delivering the wrong bagel to the wrong table. 

I still have a scar on my hand that reminds me of my time at Wholly Bagels – a particularly embarrassing incident during a staff meeting, in which I had chosen to dangle myself over a bar stool and ended (inevitably) with me on the floor, my finger caught something sharp. My right hand pinkie still has a fairly meaty scar to show for it.

I went on from Wholly Bagels to do other retail jobs – sole-charge in a clothing boutique and helping manage Timberland shoe shops. They were also great experiences but never as busy and frantic as those happy days with the bagels. 

Nicola Willis is the deputy leader and finance spokesperson of the National Party.

Chris Bishop

My first job at university was as a part-time position at the Ministry of Education. My job was to draft letters for the minister of education, Trevor Mallard, to sign, and the person in his office who signed them off before they went to the minister was Chris Hipkins.

True story.

Chris Bishop is a National spokesperson for RMA reform and urban development.

Simeon Brown

My first job as a kid was a pamphlet run. My siblings and I would fold, stack and deliver pamphlets to about 500 letter boxes every single week. It taught us the importance of working hard, getting things done on time, and resilience as the job needed to be done regardless of what the weather might have been throwing at us.

Also it seems to have been a job I’ve never quite stopped doing – with delivering flyers something I continue to do as a member of parliament, whether it is my latest newsletters or election flyers! Some things never quite change!

Simeon Brown is MP for Pakuranga and National’s transport spokesperson. 

Chris Penk

My first jobs weren’t particularly interesting: local paper run (Western Leader in Glen Eden, Auckland) and shelving library books. Even less glamorous than the McDonald’s drive through.

Chris Penk is the MP for Kaipara ki Mahurangi and National’s spokesperson for courts.

David Seymour

I worked at a sawmill in Whangārei, stacking timber as it came off the “table” – a huge rotating thing with different sizes and grades of timber that was in turn fed by the logs going into the saw. You had to look for your timber, pull it off, stack it, strap it, and call the forklift before starting a new pallet. I loved pulling the 300×50 six metre planks, wet from being in a log and heavy as hell. A real workout. For some reason, my mate from school and I were starting half an hour late for our first four weeks. When we got called up to start at the same time as everyone else, we found out they were getting a fresh pair of gloves EVERY MORNING. We hadn’t realised ours were disposable but man the new ones felt, and smelled, good.

David Seymour is leader of the Act Party and the MP for Epsom.

Brooke van Velden

My first job was on the factory floor making light fittings (what your light bulb screws into). I made them from start to finish – measuring and cutting wires, drilling the metal extrusions, assembling, quality testing, and ending the day boxing them up for delivery. It was pretty blokey (I was the only woman) but I was one of the team. Lights I worked on went to schools, universities, hospitals, and businesses. Having made thousands of lights, I still look at ceilings when I enter rooms to see what light fittings they use.

Brooke van Velden is deputy leader of the Act Party.

Simon Court

I worked at a local garden centre shovelling potting mix and moving trays of plants around. I really enjoyed the physical work, learning how to care for different types of plants, and chatting to staff and customers. That experience gave me an appreciation for how much hard work goes into creating beautiful gardens, and that it is much easier if you can work out an efficient way of doing things. 

Simon Court is an Act Party list MP.

Mark Cameron

My first job at 17 to 18 years old was for a sharemilker (in Ohaupo, south of Hamilton). I worked there for one year before returning back to Northland to start a job as a “contract milker” on an 18% share, I worked for a returned serviceman. My day at that job started at 4:20am in the morning and ended in the early evening, about 6pm. Dairy farming was the core business but it also involved tractor driving, fencing and wool handling.

Mark Cameron is an Act Party list MP.

Nicole McKee

I was paid $1 an hour to peel a sack of onions every week for the bakery/pizza parlour Mum worked at it. I can’t even sniff an onion now without watery eyes. I was 12. But my first proper job was working on the front counter and drive through at McDonald’s in Rotorua as my part time/at school extra pocket money job. I’m no longer a fan of burgers – unless I’m really, really really, hungry.

Nicole McKee is an Act Party list MP.

Damien Smith

I worked in a butcher shop making sausages and mincemeat plus served in front of shop. Also moving turkeys and beef carcasses from the fridge to people’s cars. Plucked a few feathers as well.

Damien Smith is an Act Party list MP.

James McDowall

My first proper job was at a factory making concrete products for construction sites. Very physical work other than the times I got to operate the forklifts. Highlights of the job ranged from melting steel drums with a blowtorch and the sense of achievement at the end of a long day, adding up all the products I’d made. 

James McDowall is an Act Party list MP.

Marama Davidson

I was pregnant with my first daughter and a full-time student at the time and desperately needed part-time work. I’d been going to interviews for anything I could find and would tell them I was pregnant (I wasn’t showing then) – and would never hear back! Finally, I was able to get a job at a factory in Māngere cleaning the tearooms three times a week. 

I went into labour during one of my cleaning sessions but finished my shift and went into hospital straight after that. I did manage to complete my BA – I used to take my baby into the Auckland Uni library and put her to sleep under the desk while I studied. While I was at uni, I also did part-time work as an aerobics instructor, bar work and other cleaning jobs.

Marama Davidson is co-leader of the Green Party and minister for the prevention of family and sexual violence.

Julie Anne Genter

I started babysitting regularly when I was 12 and then worked as a receptionist at the Catholic Church rectory (where my Nana did the book-keeping for about 30 years) after school and on weekends when I was 14. When I was 16 we moved to a new town and state very far away, and I got a job at Target, a big box retail store. I worked a number of minimum wage jobs as a teenager and while completing Uni degrees; waitress, barista, in retail, in a call centre, as a projectionist at a cinema, at a campus library, and as maintenance manager at my housing cooperative.

Julie Anne Genter is a Green Party list MP.

Eugenie Sage

My first proper paid job was between secondary school and university, working in the laundry at an Auckland retirement village and home. Wrestling sheets through the stream press made for stronger arms and a great complexion from all the steam. I graduated from there to cleaning toilets and bathrooms in the same complex and have never had an issue with cleaning toilets since. Then I worked as a kitchen hand in the same retirement village, up to my elbows in soapy water scrubbing out pots and pans which seemed to get used and made dirty again almost as soon as I had cleaned then. Before working there, my brothers and I would have long debates about whose turn it was to do the dishes. Since working as a kitchen hand I have never been intimidated by dishes.

Eugenie Sage is a Green list MP and conservation spokesperson.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

My first job was in a leadership cadetship in Māori Affairs Whanganui. I got exposed to many leaders working across the public and private sector including Henry Bennet, Matiu Mareikura, Betty Anderson, Matt Huirua and made great friendships with other cadets, many of whom are now leading organisations. It was a job that sought to grow Māori leadership across the public sector.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is co-leader of Te Pāti Māori.