Photography: Robert Trathen
When Woman’s Day arrives at broadcaster Laura Tupou’s Auckland home, she’s taking a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven, enjoying a day off with the kids. When she’s not working, Laura loves being hands-on at home. The tall, impressively manicured hedges in her villa’s backyard are her current pet project and she’s a big fan of DIY.
Spending a chunk of her summer holiday getting stuck into renovations on her rental property in Christchurch while visiting family, the 36-year-old go-getter “put in a new fence, new landscaping, new kitchen, tszujed up the bathroom and painted half the house”.
But at the current home – where she lives with her partner Andrew Patterson and their kids, Amalia, six, and Ava, four – she has made herself down tools.
“I’ve done nothing here because if I start, I won’t stop,” she laughs.
“And I’m too busy with the hedges!”
Then there’s her new role at TVNZ, as a team leader and reporter. It’s a big move for the Tongan-Kiwi talent, who spent seven years at Newshub and then ThreeNews. Known for her skill and enthusiasm in the TV industry, Laura has worn many hats. She has worked as a 6pm reporter, newsreader, and weather presenter. She has also fronted popular shows such as The Project and The AM Show.
Adaptable and ready for anything
“Everyone has their strengths and mine is that I’m adaptable,” she reflects.
“Someone said in my ThreeNews leaving speech, ‘You’ve done everything,’ but I pointed out I hadn’t done the sports news – I’d been keeping track!”
A few days later, this was rectified.
“I was on a day off and our producer Paul texted me to ask, ‘Do you mind doing sport?’”
Saying goodbye to close colleagues
Of her decision to move to TVNZ, Laura says the hardest part was knowing she was leaving behind the close friends she had spent years working with, including ThreeNews presenter Samantha Hayes. Together, they had endured the shock 2024 Newshub closure and the move to Stuff, which purchased the news arm of the business.
“I was close with Sam at Newshub, but it was a smaller team at ThreeNews and I was doing the weather, so I spent a lot more time with her,” shares Laura.
“We have lots in common. We had children at the same time, so they’re now the same ages. We worked in the same industry and we share a love of news.”
With her last house on the market, the Newshub closure couldn’t have happened at a more stressful moment.
Chaos at home and work
“It was terrible timing for us,” Laura recalls.
“It was so much work getting the house ready to sell. I did all the DIY, had to declutter with the kids, then do all the cleaning you do before open homes.”
Considering plan B
Laura was hired for the rebooted ThreeNews but admits she started to consider her plan B.
“I was going to get into economics,” she reveals.
“I did it at uni as an elective when I studied journalism. But in the end, I didn’t have to explore that further.”
After spending almost two years at ThreeNews, Laura decided to take up a management role at TVNZ, which is something she naturally gravitates to.
Quiet leadership, big impact
“I’m loud, but I’m a quiet leader in the newsroom,” she explains.
“I like to collaborate and work with people harmoniously. I’m so concerned about the future of the industry. I want people coming through to have a positive experience.”
Day one was nerve-wracking for Laura as she’d never set foot inside the TVNZ building. Thankfully, Amalia sensed her mum’s trepidation.
A little help from home
Laura smiles, “She was like, ‘I’m going to make your lunchbox today, Mum.’”
But while the building felt unfamiliar, the people were not.
“That’s the awesome parof the job – because you’re all covering similar events, you see everyone from all the outlets,” she says.
“When I walked into the room, I recognised almost half of them because I’d worked with them.”
Working with icons
That includes beloved broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld, TVNZ’s general manager of production operations, with whom Laura worked in her first role at RNZ.
Laura smiles, “She’s this magical person who I used to see on screen, then she was in the building. She has this aura about her. She’d sort of float over to our area of the newsroom and tell us an amazing story. Now I’m back working with her, but in a more senior role, and it’s so nice.”
Senior role, flexible life
The new role is a little more flexible for family life. Because Laura’s not on the news frontline, she’s less likely to be deployed at a moment’s notice, meaning there’s more time to appreciate her growing daughters.
Laura shares, “Ava’s very clever, cheeky and really chill, so she’s just the easiest child. She’s happy with everything but loves snuggles still. She calls them huggles.”
Meanwhile, big sister Amalia is loving school. “She’s very much a leader and first child. She loves reading, which has been a real issue for us because she can read everything now!”
Curious little learner
Amalia’s also very interested in her mum’s work.
“When we were away on summer holidays, we were outdoors heaps, so she’d look at me and ask, ‘What’s the weather today?’ She just thinks I know!”
The new role is also a chance to spend more time with Andrew, 40, a deputy dean at the University of Auckland’s Business School, whom Laura met in a bar nine years ago.
A drink that started it all
“I was trying to get to the counter to get a drink and he just happened to be beside me,” she remembers.
“He said, ‘Oh, I’ll just get you one.’ We had a drink together, chatted, then we went our separate ways. I saw him later in the night and he was like, ‘You owe me a drink!’ I replied, ‘Why do I owe you a drink?’ We bonded over arguing!”
Raised in Hamilton as one of six siblings, Laura puts her relaxed parenting style down to being part of a big family.
“I don’t sweat the small stuff as much,” she tells. “I know they’re going to be fine.”
Looking forward to a settled year
With her new job offering more consistency, she’s looking forward to a settled year ahead.
“Honestly, I’m just enjoying this,” she says, gesturing around her home, where kids’ paintings cover one wall and there’s further evidence of whānau life everywhere else.
The couple’s happy place is the backyard, with the kids on the trampoline or heading to one of the nearby beaches.
“We want to make new memories together before they’re teenagers and don’t want to talk to us!” she laughs.
Enjoying the last year of kindy
“Ava will be at school next year, so we’re enjoying her last year of kindy and going at a slower pace.”
That includes embracing a new era in her career.
“It’s the start of a new chapter,” says Laura.
“It’s sort of a reset. I can see that it’s going to be a lot calmer and being part of a big, new team with lots of different things going on is exciting.”
