Opinion: It's election 2005. I'm in 7th form and I'm at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club watching Winston Peters lose the seat of Tauranga.
There's a buzz in the air that I'd not experienced before. A nervous excitement. It was thrilling, although the enormity of the political implications was beyond my young brain.
I was carrying cables for TV3. Ingrid Hipkiss was the political reporter stationed there and Peters' ousting was the story of the night.
Before long, I was thrown into a car with reporter Richard Langston and cameraman Dan Hicks and we sped over to Bay Park Raceway where its builder Bob Clarkson was having one hell of a knees-up, dancing on Peters' political grave.
The adrenaline rush was so good that I returned three years later to carry cables again for the 2008 election.
Again, Winston Peters was the story of the night; his entire New Zealand First party was ousted from Parliament altogether (for the first time). Sia Aston was the political reporter and Nick Estelrich was the (bossy) cameraman (who's still at Newshub today).
The crowd of mainly older supporters were furious at the media and blamed us for the loss (some things never change). They were standing on the cables, which prevented our cameras from moving around.
My polite tone asking them to move didn't work, so I started yanking the cables out from under their feet. I was swiftly told off by Estelrich for "1) damaging the cables and 2) you could trip the oldies up".
Peters finally arrived and I witnessed his disdain for the news media for the first time. He refused to speak until all the media had moved into the corner of the small Hotel Armitage room.
It was an awesome night. I loved the buzz of being part of both the election nights. And I guess that's where my love-hate relationship with Winston Peters began. Heck, maybe it's him I have to thank for becoming a journalist.
Peters and I have had many barnies over the years. I used to have an unofficial wind-up-Winston segment when I was at RadioLIVE. There was a tense dinner at The Green Parrot for NZ First's 21st birthday (don't ask). He threatened to throw me off the wharf in Russell after election 2017. And a month later, he essentially sued me, alleging I was a National Party activist masquerading as a journalist. His lawyer tried serving me paper, but I was drunk at the Melbourne Cup (for the record, he dropped me from his legal action, which he lost in the end).
Why am I taking a trip down memory lane? Because I've spent quite a bit of time on this road over the last couple of months since TV3 announced it would be shutting the entire newsroom. I've been in a haze of reflection and nostalgia which manifests occasionally as an existential crisis.
TV3 and its former owner MediaWorks is all I've ever known in the media. As mentioned above, I carried cables for them in 2005 and 2008. I've been a NOLE (News Online Editor) at 3 News in Wellington. I've been a political journalist for RadioLIVE. That turned into Newshub when radio and TV was merged in 2015. I was Europe Correspondent for 3.5 years. I've hosted radio shows. And recently I've covered my sixth election when I temporarily returned to Parliament as a reporter for seven months.
The role I'm in now though is by far the best. In December, I was offered the job of co-hosting AM and I leapt at it.
While my stint has been short-lived and was pretty much over before it began, I wouldn't change my decision.
Morning telly is the best job with the worst hours. It's the best mix of fun and serious, light and shade. There are laughs and tears. People are sleep deprived and vulnerable yet do incredible work. There's a sense of urgency you don't get on other shows. You really fly by the seat of your pants.
But the best bit is the people. I've been working with the best wee team that turns a turd into a diamond every single day. I get to sit next to the nicest person in the business every morning: Mel Chan-Green. She puts up with all my flaws and banter and shit chat without complaint. So do all of the crew who are forced to listen to the inane diatribe that's streamed into the control room from the desk. Those poor souls.
Just like at AM, it's the people that make TV3's news operation what it is. Right across the outputs and right across the country, it's the people. They are dedicated, smart, driven, talented, yet slightly mad. You've got to be mad to work here. It's like a drug: you love it, you chase it, you're addicted to it - and in the end consumes you.
But I wouldn't have it any other way.
