Standing up to be counted

People need to speak up if they want to make a change. SONIA O'REGAN talks to Jessica Bagge about making a difference.

Jessica Bagge wants to get people to give Kaikoura member of Parliament Colin King a reality check.

Not that she thinks Mr King is out of touch, but she believes too many people simply complain among their little cliques.

They should do themselves a favour and pass on their concerns to someone who can do something about it, she says.

At the risk of summing up a chatty interview a bit too seriously, she says not speaking up is nothing short of opting out of the democratic process.

To this end, she has organised a community meeting, at which all are welcome, tonight.

It is your chance to put your views to your parliamentary representative, Mr King. There won't be any speeches, but there will be wine available for purchase.

In fairness, we can tell Mr King what we're thinking by calling into his office in Market Place when he is in town, but Ms Bagge points out that it is usually the seriously annoyed who take the time to do so.

She is not seeking publicity for herself, but when asked what motivates one to stick their neck out to organise a community meeting, she explains she doesn't want Blenheim to lose everything that makes it special, or give up the opportunities to be even more pleasant and functioning than it is.

The town's small size is its opportunity, she says. It could develop a template for democratic involvement for other communities to follow. "We can do things here that we can't do in other cities."

Besides, it is important that the MP know what the people who gave him his job are thinking and for people to have a feeling of ownership in the democratic process.

It is like this, Mr King: "We know what [Prime Minister] John [Key] is telling you to say and here is what we are telling you to say."

Ms Bagge is sitting in the foyer of Marlborough Signs, the busy business she and her signwriting partner, Andy Clarkson, set up 2 1/2 years ago when they moved north from Christchurch.

There is a National Party poster on the wall and Colin King paraphernalia on the shelf.

Ms Bagge says she is a dedicated National supporter.

If that makes you think of a conservative woman wearing navy blue, think again.

The only pearls in sight are wrapped stylishly around her right wrist, contrasting with the silver bracelet jingling musically on the other.

Born to Swiss parents in Sydney, Ms Bagge grew up in Auckland. She enjoyed a stable childhood, with her mother at home and her father working as an importer of medical equipment.

Her life experience since includes working in advertising, real estate, running a dairy and leading parenting courses for Plunket. Somewhere in the mix came marriage, children and a divorce.

She met Mr Clarkson over a cling-wrap purchase in a supermarket, and the couple moved to Blenheim with their sons Jackson Bagge, 12, and Josh Clarkson, 12, and their daughters, both called Georgia, aged 10 and nine.

Life revolves around the children and the business, which is thriving. They have just taken on two more staff.

Ms Bagge usually asks her customers what's up in their lives, what issues concern them.

She likes to hear things from the horse's mouth.

When former Marlborough Boys' College principal John Rogers declined to be interviewed by the media, she sought a one-on-one interview as a prospective student's parent and spent more than an hour in his office asking questions about the state of his school.

She is concerned more families are considering sending their boys out of town to go to high school, and she thinks Blenheim desperately needs a co-educational high school for teenagers who would do better in such an environment.

She did her best to argue with her son, who came home from school full of arguments against TrustPower's proposed hydro canal on the Wairau River. But after some research of her own, she agreed with him and signed up to Save the Wairau. She bought a bumper sticker for her car.

As a teenager, Ms Bagge sought out arguments in favour of nuclear energy to challenge the view of "greenie leftie" social studies teachers, but she is now firmly opposed to nuclear power.

She thinks we should harness the power of the ocean to generate electricity.

She thinks the Government should listen to those who don't want to be criminalised for smacking their children

She wants a clean, green, safe, "one New Zealand", but feels there are two sets of rules one for Maori and one for non-Maori.

She is worried that any changes to the Seabed and Foreshore Act might lead to restrictions on beach access.

She wonders where the signs are to point out the rich Maori heritage in Marlborough.

She thinks parents need to parent to set boundaries, mean no when they say no, and champion their children.

She thinks there is too much violence among our young people.

She wants very young at-risk children nurtured and presented with opportunities. She wants those who are already causing trouble to be punished in a way that causes them "pain", by taking their cellphones off them and taking their cars away.

She is a Christian, but wonders whether she can say that. She is aware some people may see it as hypocritical that she is in a de-facto relationship, lets her language slip sometimes, and likes a social glass of wine. Her children are more enthusiastic churchgoers than she is.

She thinks Blenheim is a great place to live and wants it to stay that way.

Flicking through pages scrawled with shorthand filled with Ms Bagge's views on life, I have to ask.

What's your take-home message?

She obliges in a flash. "Tell your MP what you think ... oh and, while you're at it, look after your children."

The meeting is at 7pm tonight at Dodson St Bistro. Depending on its success, more meetings might be held in the future.

- The Marlborough Express