PM's private passions 'WELCOME TO MY HOME!'

Chris Hipkins opens up about his marriage break-up, life as a solo dad and the precious possessions he can’t let go of

- Wendyl Nissen

If you really want to get our Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in a good mood, then start talking to him about his abilities as the ultimate DIY guy. He will happily take you around his home and point out the various bits of furniture he made himself. When I bought my first house, it was more expensive than I could afford, so I made all the furniture myself,” he says. They’re looking a bit battered, but all of these wooden shelves and things, I made myself not from kitsets, from scratch.”

His ability to knock furniture together in his spare time comes from his dad, Doug Hipkins, who taught him never to pay someone for a job you can do yourself.

“Towards the end of his working life, he was at this correspondence school, making woodworking kits and sending them out. He had this big workshop and I used to go there. He had all the tools that you could ever want, so it was great and I used to make stuff.”

Chris, 45, says he would do more if he had the time.

“My intention is to make a proper cabinet with some cupboards and drawers. I’ve never done something with drawers, so my goal is to try and do something new that I haven’t done. It’s good to have a goal.”

The prime minister goes on to describe what sounds like a very complicated landscaping project at the family’s beach house on the Kapiti Coast involving a log retaining wall.

“T have pictures on my iPad if you want to have a look,” he says enthusiastically.

Chris is the kind of guy who would pop over to the neighbours to mow their lawn and fix a bit of leaky spouting while he was at it.

However, his passion for DIY is on hold as he throws himself into the complicated and time-consuming job of running the country and campaigning for the October 14 general election.