The Country 03/09/24: Winston Peters talks to Jamie Mackay

Surprise! Surprise! The Acting PM doesn't want to lift the age of eligibility for National Super to 67, nor does he want a Capital Gains Tax. But he does want to improve the nation's productivity and GDP by improving our roading infrastructure. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He is the acting Prime Minister, Winston Peterson. Why do
I get the feeling that him and I are going
to agree to disagree today? Now? I say this because
the outgoing Chief Executive of Treasury, doctor Carale McLeish, has said,
A we need a capital gains tax. I'm not sure
on that one. But b she said we need to
change national super and effectively saying we need to lift

(00:23):
the age of eligibility. That will never happen, Winston Peters,
while you're drawing breath, am I correct in saying.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
That, of course on these days the age will increase
as it increased from twenty to from sixty to sixty
five some time back ago when we did make the
change matter of a period of time. But the question
is is it time now? And she didn't answer the question,
did she? I mean, this is the kind of what
I call right wing ideologue that makes a statement that

(00:52):
without putting out the substance and the facts of it
to justify why there's the time to shift now, And
didn't go on to say, did she how much this
is costing against the national GDP against other costs internationally
by comparison. These are serious subject to be had but
I'm only getting half the argument from FIP with the
Treasury person who's record on this matter has been.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
A fool even hay On a minute, Well, we've got
no money. We're going broke as a country. One of
our biggest expenses is national super No, it's.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Not one of the biggest expense. I just made the
point that our costs against GDP would be almost half
of what some countries are against their gdpeople were looking
after their elderly people. So straight away I've disposed of
that Mustnomerfior kickoff. But no, they never put the facts
out there. Let just tell you what their concerns are.
Because what they're be talking about is that their ideology

(01:45):
and dramatic economic changes. They've done the pathway which they
went in the mid eighties. Compared to Australia, we failed
here massively and Australia succeeded massifully. That's why the economy
is about thirty eight percent in real terms better than that.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Okay, look, this is just hang on, this is just
a vote Graber for you. You know that New Zealand
First constituents love your policy. Are you telling me that
if you've especially if you're sitting on your backside in
a job like you and I are. You can't battle
on till you're sixty seven. For goodness sake, you're seventy nine,
and some people are saying you're going better than ever.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
But it's a luck of things. So look, if you
are in a job, and I started off on a farm,
but if your eyes on a farm job, manually working
all my life, I wouldn't have done in it's been
in this shape, well you would. You start to be
equippled by time with your labor. And that's happened to
a lot of men and women, and nobody's han't taken
that into regard. They're just saying, oh, well, you know
we can retire at a certain age. Now listen, that help.

(02:44):
Real question? Why are we having this discussion because our
economic policy has failed is and we can't have pull
to play for our young people, our hospitals and all
those things because of economic power. What don't we going
up to that rather than think that we can just
get by excusing our mistakes without rebuilding a great economy
as we once did when we were a world leader.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
All right, how are you going to pay your way
out of the mess? Were at the moment. What about
a capital gains tax that'll even be less palatable.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, well, I've said to those read people, So what
do you say when I say, Okay, that's good. What
about when there's the capital loss? You're going to conversate
them for that. They've got no answer for that at all?
Have they see what I mean?

Speaker 1 (03:25):
So capital gains won't happen while you're drawing breath either.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
No, we don't need capital gains tax. What we need
to do is get out there and rapid expand the
growth of our GDP, not from Malosi two and two
five two, about five to six percent and do that
for a number of years. Other countries have did it.
We used to do it one time. And we've got
to get our priorities right. Become the export wealth nation,
wealth creating nation. We once work. We're not creating enough wealth.

(03:50):
We're not adding enough value to our exports. There's only
one way out of it. It's called hard work and
smart planning.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yeah, and having a decent infrastructure. Good to see some
of you, and Brown, who I have been quite impressed
by since he's in government, saying you guys want to
build roads and fixed potholes rather than build speed bumps
and cycle trails. There's nothing wrong with the cycle trail
or a cycle lane, but too much emphasis has been
on it. If we're to improve the productivity of our economy,

(04:18):
we need to have efficient and efficient roading system correct.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, Singing Brown was right, you know we have these
potholes everywhere, flock of quota and all these name changes
and all this work. Virtue singing and whilst not fixing
up the roads of our country, and thank you send
me in this one hundred percent right. Fix those things
up there, critical to our infrastructure and some of the
things most to have you can do after that, but

(04:45):
do that first. I've never you know, I was in
another country recent now I've been a lot of countries
and I'm astonished how good their roads are against how
bad ours are. We are letting ourselves down bad the
particularly poor people in some of the countrysides where there's
tar ceiling inferior tar ceiling, in potholes everywhere. It's just
not good enough.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Hey, one of the most important roads potentially in this
country could be Auckland to Fongeray. You and Shane, you're
in power now, why don't you just spuild a four
lane highway.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Because we've got to fix up our building structure as well.
We build roads in this country far too expensively and
far too slowly. Now look on the Pouh hooy to
walk with four lane highway. On the speed of that,
it'll take another eighty nine years to get the fine array.
You see what's wrong here. Let's have some faint common

(05:36):
sense and admisten to your listeners as to what's going
wrong and get our record and our performance right for
a change.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Now on the subject of Shane Jones, just to finish
on has he been slapped over the wrist by a
wet bus ticket by Justice Minister Judith Collins. Judith has
sought to school Shane on the principles of mutual respect
between ministers and the judiciary. And this is of course
after Shane called one of our judges a communist.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Look the reality is, and can't yilder Lily. Judith is right.
You can't have those sorts of comments about a judge.
You can have concerns about a judge, but how you
express them as a member of Parliament, because of the
separation of powers and might be so requires a delicate order,
so to speak. So Judith is right. But then Shane,

(06:29):
when he's that he was talking about someone's past when
they were young, when they belonged to a communist organization.
You know, the question is is that a forvate to
a line against someone who, at a certain age is
more mature, and whether that is an answerable question or not,
it should not have been said in trade. Don't have

(06:51):
to side with Judith in that matter. That's got said
to saying. I know how frustrating it is, but frankly,
the separation between the courts and the politext is a
critical part to our democracy. It's why we have a
quality democracy and the lack of separation in other countries
mean they have no democracy at all. So it's a

(07:11):
serious issue we're defending here.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
We in the media love Shane Jones because he's so quotable.
Is he guilty of being a bit flippant? He's taken
the telling off by Judith and now he said he's
going to focus his wrath on blind frogs, bats, lizards
and skinks that get in the way of his progress
when he's building something.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
He's rightly taken his complaint from Deirth and he's going
to listen to her. Now, that's what happens. Sometimes someone
may be a bit of exerbermant. I can understand why
sometimes you are saying these things. I have been concerned
about the Preaty White Tangy Triboon. I've been consumed for
a long time. Are there way outside their Bailey wick

(07:51):
of responsibilities? Are there a make work scheme?

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Winston Peters, acting Prime Minister. Thanks for your time on
the country and just remember when you're sixty seven, you're
not past it. You're still going strong at seventy nine.
Thanks for your time.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
I'll give you some good advice, dear mind, No, not
at all.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
I love advice.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Don't act your age, se