December 21, 2024 • 14 mins
NZME’s big guns, NZ Herald Political Editor Claire Trevett and Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls join Francesca Rudkin to discuss the political year.
Summing the year up in one word, Jason Walls chose ‘teething’, while Claire Trevett settled on ‘unrelenting’.
The pair discuss Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s performance, the biggest wins and biggest fails, and what the change in Deputy PM may look like mid way through 2025.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So we're going to kick off the show today with
our politics segment and I brought in the enzied Me
Big Guns to chat over the political year for our
political editor's panel. I am joined by News Talk zb's
Jason Walls.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Good morning, Jason Oh, good morning, Good morning, and.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
We have Clear Trevette from the New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Hi, Claire, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Could you both please pick a word to sum up
the year in politics? Jason Oh, done?
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Finished over? No, I would probably say teething okay.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Nice?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Claire, goodness, Well, I just read over a rescope of
the year and I went for unrelenting.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, a little bit of a theme, there, isn't it. It
has been a year of building, isn't it? Every party
seems to have been building or collapsing or collapsing. Let's
start with the Coalition, Claire. How has the coal achieved
as much as they had hoped?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I think I think they've done enough to show that
they are serving their voters in some ways. It's been
a year of repeal. They've repealed a lot of the
stuff they said they'd repeal on the calendar, and in
other ways they've actually ended up doing maybe moving a
bit too fast, they've ended up having to do a
lot underurgency and with short select committee periods and stuff
(01:33):
like that. So they've kind of maybe we'll slow it
down for the next two years now that they've set
their ball running. But I think they have done enough
to show that they're serious about doing what they said
they're doing the election. I also think their main goal
was just to survive the year without collapsing, So so
(01:53):
that's a tick.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
We will come back to that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Your thoughts, Jason, Yeah, I mean I broadly agree.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
The fact that Luxon sets out those quarterly plans has
been quite helpful for the government.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
It's that's a real road map of.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
What they want to do, and then they can get
to the end in the take off all the various
initiatives that they've done, and I think that's in almost
all quarters this year they've ticked off, if not all
of them, then most of them. There was one outstanding
from this quarter, for example, but I think it was
thirty three out of thirty four ain't bad. So I
think that they'll probably be telling their constituents this well
the voters rather this summer, that hey, we're working for you.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Get ready for the next two years.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And I think I agree with Claire where they might
try and slow it down a little bit because the
urgency in the Short and Select committee appearances have been
copying quite a lot of flak.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Clear best performer. I know it's in the Herald that
you thought the politician of the Year was Simon Brown.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yes, I did go for Simmi and Brown for that one,
and I will much stand by my approach. I did
text him because he had to do the post Cabinet
PRIs conference last Monday, so I warned him he'd been nuts,
stuff it up because my credibility was now on the line,
and he didn't, so that was good I was. I
think Shane Jones has had a bit of a purler
of a year. He's come into his own and Erica
(03:07):
is always a solid performer. Erica Stanford. She was pretty
solid on education and delivering the kind of overhaul that
they want there. They're back to basics, and also the
abuse and state care stuff. I think the Law and
Order team's also done pretty well. Paul Goldsmith and mart Mitchell.
They've kind of been some of the ones who've actually
(03:28):
got the numbers turning around the way they want them
to turn around fairly early on in the piece, so
that they would be kind of my best I guess
your thoughts, Jason, Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Mean they're all solid picks. I would probably go Niicola
Willis for mine. I think she's been an outstanding communicator
for much of the year, if not all the year,
in a lot of areas. Whether I think the Prime
Minister is actually lacking, she actually is stepping in to
fill a little bit of that void.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
David Seymour as well.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I think that you know we're are Jason.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
The Treaty's Principles Bill, you know, has been it's been contentious,
but he's done well in terms of putting his line
in the sand and staying true exactly what he says
that he is fighting for within governments and for his
party in his constituents as well.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So those would be the top two for me.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Although Simeon Brown I like him as well, But in
that same press conference that Claire was talking about, I did.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Call him a teacher's pat in front of the Prime Minister,
which I'm not sure he appreciated well.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
No one has mentioned the Prime minister. How would you
write the Prime minister's performance, Jason, Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know, I think it's kind of fair to middling.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
I think what he does well And he said it
right at the beginning of the year when he did
his a little reshuffle where he got out with Melissa
Lee and Penny Simmons, who is still they both retain
ministerial portfolios, but he said he wants to get his
aces in his places, and I think that he's done that.
He's quite good from a people perspective that Claire was
(04:52):
talking about Erica Stamford and Simon Brown and the law
and order guys. I mean, they're all perfect for the
positions that they're in and I think he's doing quite
well there. But the Prime Minister himself, when it comes
to that communications, especially in the latter half of the year,
I do feel like we've been get a little bit
worse when he's talking to media or in the house
and getting a bit repetitive and really reverting back to
(05:13):
what they do in the house, which is addressed the
question and not answering the question, and it's getting a
little frustrating.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Clear.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
You mentioned the sort of the coalition stability before, and
there was some skepticism about this coalition heading into the
air and making it to the next election. Do you
see any reason why they wouldn't make it now?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, the things that kind of tend to trap up
coal I don't see any reason they wouldn't make it
as of where we're sitting today. The things that trap
it up is kind of one big issue that they
just cannot stomach and they walk away kind of from
the coalition from it. As of now, they've managed to
negotiate the potential issues in that regard. The Fairies instance,
(05:59):
was as kind of the neglius for New Zealand first
at the moment and whether Winston can come up with that.
But I think that they're they're running pretty solidly. They're
all aware of the need to keep that stability of
the coalition as kind of paramount, no matter what the
kind of arjie bargie is around the coalition, parties promises and.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So and then they're pretty stable from where I sat,
and I've spoken to a lot of them over the
last few months. I think there's a few there's a
lot of squabbles, but nothing you know, that will paralyze
the coalition basically.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I suppose clear if you were looking at the Prime
minister's performance, is this one area he has done well
and he has managed to keep it all together.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah. I actually think his managerial approach does suit the
coalition because he lets them kind of do what they
have to do without overreacting to it. Really, so I
agree with Jason that he has had a bit of
a mixed year. He's been very good in managing the
coalition and keeping the focus of ministers on their on
their game, and that's what will kind of count to
(07:03):
him as he wants to get the achieved mints through
before twenty twenty six basically, and he's set up a
strong foundation for that. But he has had own goals
when it comes to his own you know, his own actions.
I guess the allowance the description of business delegations is
c listers. I think his corporate language is starting to be,
(07:26):
you know, kind of more accepted. People tend to get
used to however a Prime Minister speaks, and that will
inevitably happen with him. So I think he's doing okay.
But an extra port car seven I gave him.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
If you want a number, there we go seven. Have
you got a number?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Jason All was six? Like it.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
We're not saying out of what you'll note.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I'm going to presume ten. Look we get a new
deputy head boy halfway through twenty twenty five. Jason Winston
Peters has done a perfectly good job as a deput
prime minister. Is it just a bit silly to have
to hand it over?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, I mean, you know, channeling my best Winston Peters.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
It's in the coalition agreement, and you stick to what's
in the coalition agreement.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And I think he would be the first one to
say that Winston.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
Peters, Yeah, I agree with you. I think he's done
a good job so far. And I think that what
Chris Luxon has done quite good at is letting, as
Claire said, letting Winston be Winston and letting David be David.
And what we're seeing in the polls is the fact
that New Zealand First is actually holding up its vote
above five percent, which means that come next election, if
they're looking to form another coalition, they'll.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Be a shoe in.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Because that's the NATS combined with Act to New Zealand. First,
we've seen consistently are a polling high enough to get
into government. So I think that he's definitely going to
stick with the plan to move Seymour into the deputy
prime minister role at the allocated time.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I think it's June or July this year.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
And I think that if he changed that plan now,
you'd have a lot of trouble on his hands, not
least from David Seymour.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Do you think, though, clear that the Prime Minister would
prefer to have Winston's stage just considering how Nigley Seymour
can be.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Well, I think he'd probably prefer to have Nikola Willis
is the deputy prime Minister. However, unfortunately that's not allowable.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
So.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I think he I think he'll be pretty philosophical about it.
And because David Seymour, you know, he's had a bit
of flack about whether it's appropriate for him to be
deputy prime minister given his chipping at the Prime Minister.
But I just don't really think that matters that much
and I think it will work out fine. I mean,
it's it's a good solution when you've got to kind
(09:36):
of what you call coalition partners. It's blood it halfway
through and we see how it goes. But you know
he may regret it not being Winston if Winston then
becomes the one who starts chipping at him instead. So
I think it's half six or one half a dozen
of the other forums.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
To be honest, Jason, a broad question for you, which
party do you think has had the best year? I'm
sort of imagining that both of you would say that
the Greens have probably had the worst year. Feel free
to cont to me, but a king to know who
you think is hit the biggest wins.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah, I mean biggest wins.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
You have to look at the party's like act where
David Seymour is consistently and Chris Sluckson actually made a
joke about this and as a German speech taking credit
for a lot of things. So you'd have to look
on balance and say, well, you know, they've had a
good year. They've had a bit of a tumble in
the polls recently due to the Treaties Principles Bill, but
then it has come back as well, so sticking to
their guns has actually done them quite good. You have
(10:34):
to and I alluded to this before, I mean New
Zealand First often finds when they're in a coalition government
that their vault tends to tumble when they've been in
power for a while, but that's actually held up quite well.
So I think that both ACT and New Zealand First
have done quite well. And there would be the ones
that I would choose. I mean, Green's obviously the worst performing.
There's absolutely no one else in their league when it
comes to bad performances this year. But I will say
(10:56):
Chloe Swarbrick. I've been quite impressed with her. She's been
doing it by herself because Madame and Davidson obviously away
with her cancer diagnosis, and she's had to deal with
about seven or eight different major curveballs, and I think
that for the large part, for the mean part, she's
handled them pretty well and done what she needs to,
done what she's needed done.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Do you sorry?
Speaker 5 (11:15):
The problem was, of course, the Greens are democratic to death,
so the Daling Tanna saga stretched on for a long time,
but that was more of a constitutional issue than it
was a Chloe issue.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Claire, Yeah, I'm giving best party to Party Mali. Actually
they have played at a blinder and it's largely thanks
to the h Party kind of giving it to them.
I think they've opposed all the raft of stuff that
the government, the coalition government parties are doing which have
(11:45):
impact on martyrdom, very very well, and they've been unrelenting
in their opposition to it. I mean, it's not easy
to organize a HIKOI of the size that we saw
arrive at Parliament, which was Yes to Party Mardi were
instrumental in organizing it, but it was way too big
for the government parties to simply dismissed it as a
(12:07):
kind of to Party Mardi rally, to be honest. So
they're the only ones who've ended the year with a
massively high polar rating then their head at the election,
and I think they've done very very well.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Indeed, steer into your crystal wall for me, Jason. Do
you think that Chris Hopkins will be leading the Labor
Party in a year's time?
Speaker 5 (12:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I do.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I don't think there's anybody else that's really willing to
step up and take his place at the moment. I mean,
you could think of the likes of Kieran McNulty, but
he's been very firm that he doesn't want to do that.
I mean they all are until they do it, since
he seems to be the sort of tradition and leadership
leadership usurping. But I think that you know, he's not
actually doing a bad job, is Chris Hopkins. You know,
(12:48):
the Labor Party has been almost invisible this year. You
don't really hear from them all that much. But that's
not necessarily too bad of a thing that first year
of a coalition. I think that he's probably going to
keep chipping away, come up with some policies and really
kind of put a bit of more of the pedal
to the.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Medal this year, and we'll see a little bit more
of it. But I don't think he's going anywhere.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Claire, Yes, I also think that he will still be
the leader in the year that takes am. Their polling
hasn't collapsed at all. If anything, it's firmed up a
little bit, and it takes some things been a bit
more grim to roll a leader, and as Jason just said,
none of the others seem to have any appetite to
roll them.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, look, thank you both very much for your time today.
I hope you're both getting a good a nice break
to recover from the what was it unrelenting and teething year.
Jasonting a time off.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
No, I'm actually doing the Summer Drive Shore with ZB
So I'll be on air from four to eight pm
every night, so doing some talkback.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty if you
want to call in and talk to me about some things.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So I'll be calling in every day, Jason every day.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
He might need it clear clear any sad promotion you'd
like to get across.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
No, I've got zero self promotion. I am, I am off,
I am off and out. We'll think other than my
calls to Jason.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Well, look, I'll join you on those. Thank you both
so much for your contribution throughout the year as well.
Appreciate your time this morning.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So we're going to kick off the show today with
our politics segment and I brought in the enzied Me
Big Guns to chat over the political year for our
political editor's panel. I am joined by News Talk zb's
Jason Walls.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Good morning, Jason Oh, good morning, Good morning, and.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
We have Clear Trevette from the New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Hi, Claire, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Could you both please pick a word to sum up
the year in politics? Jason Oh, done?
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Finished over? No, I would probably say teething okay.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Nice?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Claire, goodness, Well, I just read over a rescope of
the year and I went for unrelenting.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, a little bit of a theme, there, isn't it. It
has been a year of building, isn't it? Every party
seems to have been building or collapsing or collapsing. Let's
start with the Coalition, Claire. How has the coal achieved
as much as they had hoped?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I think I think they've done enough to show that
they are serving their voters in some ways. It's been
a year of repeal. They've repealed a lot of the
stuff they said they'd repeal on the calendar, and in
other ways they've actually ended up doing maybe moving a
bit too fast, they've ended up having to do a
lot underurgency and with short select committee periods and stuff
(01:33):
like that. So they've kind of maybe we'll slow it
down for the next two years now that they've set
their ball running. But I think they have done enough
to show that they're serious about doing what they said
they're doing the election. I also think their main goal
was just to survive the year without collapsing, So so
(01:53):
that's a tick.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
We will come back to that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Your thoughts, Jason, Yeah, I mean I broadly agree.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
The fact that Luxon sets out those quarterly plans has
been quite helpful for the government.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
It's that's a real road map of.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
What they want to do, and then they can get
to the end in the take off all the various
initiatives that they've done, and I think that's in almost
all quarters this year they've ticked off, if not all
of them, then most of them. There was one outstanding
from this quarter, for example, but I think it was
thirty three out of thirty four ain't bad. So I
think that they'll probably be telling their constituents this well
the voters rather this summer, that hey, we're working for you.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Get ready for the next two years.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And I think I agree with Claire where they might
try and slow it down a little bit because the
urgency in the Short and Select committee appearances have been
copying quite a lot of flak.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Clear best performer. I know it's in the Herald that
you thought the politician of the Year was Simon Brown.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yes, I did go for Simmi and Brown for that one,
and I will much stand by my approach. I did
text him because he had to do the post Cabinet
PRIs conference last Monday, so I warned him he'd been nuts,
stuff it up because my credibility was now on the line,
and he didn't, so that was good I was. I
think Shane Jones has had a bit of a purler
of a year. He's come into his own and Erica
(03:07):
is always a solid performer. Erica Stanford. She was pretty
solid on education and delivering the kind of overhaul that
they want there. They're back to basics, and also the
abuse and state care stuff. I think the Law and
Order team's also done pretty well. Paul Goldsmith and mart Mitchell.
They've kind of been some of the ones who've actually
(03:28):
got the numbers turning around the way they want them
to turn around fairly early on in the piece, so
that they would be kind of my best I guess
your thoughts, Jason, Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Mean they're all solid picks. I would probably go Niicola
Willis for mine. I think she's been an outstanding communicator
for much of the year, if not all the year,
in a lot of areas. Whether I think the Prime
Minister is actually lacking, she actually is stepping in to
fill a little bit of that void.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
David Seymour as well.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I think that you know we're are Jason.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
The Treaty's Principles Bill, you know, has been it's been contentious,
but he's done well in terms of putting his line
in the sand and staying true exactly what he says
that he is fighting for within governments and for his
party in his constituents as well.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So those would be the top two for me.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Although Simeon Brown I like him as well, But in
that same press conference that Claire was talking about, I did.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Call him a teacher's pat in front of the Prime Minister,
which I'm not sure he appreciated well.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
No one has mentioned the Prime minister. How would you
write the Prime minister's performance, Jason, Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know, I think it's kind of fair to middling.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
I think what he does well And he said it
right at the beginning of the year when he did
his a little reshuffle where he got out with Melissa
Lee and Penny Simmons, who is still they both retain
ministerial portfolios, but he said he wants to get his
aces in his places, and I think that he's done that.
He's quite good from a people perspective that Claire was
(04:52):
talking about Erica Stamford and Simon Brown and the law
and order guys. I mean, they're all perfect for the
positions that they're in and I think he's doing quite
well there. But the Prime Minister himself, when it comes
to that communications, especially in the latter half of the year,
I do feel like we've been get a little bit
worse when he's talking to media or in the house
and getting a bit repetitive and really reverting back to
(05:13):
what they do in the house, which is addressed the
question and not answering the question, and it's getting a
little frustrating.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Clear.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
You mentioned the sort of the coalition stability before, and
there was some skepticism about this coalition heading into the
air and making it to the next election. Do you
see any reason why they wouldn't make it now?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, the things that kind of tend to trap up
coal I don't see any reason they wouldn't make it
as of where we're sitting today. The things that trap
it up is kind of one big issue that they
just cannot stomach and they walk away kind of from
the coalition from it. As of now, they've managed to
negotiate the potential issues in that regard. The Fairies instance,
(05:59):
was as kind of the neglius for New Zealand first
at the moment and whether Winston can come up with that.
But I think that they're they're running pretty solidly. They're
all aware of the need to keep that stability of
the coalition as kind of paramount, no matter what the
kind of arjie bargie is around the coalition, parties promises and.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So and then they're pretty stable from where I sat,
and I've spoken to a lot of them over the
last few months. I think there's a few there's a
lot of squabbles, but nothing you know, that will paralyze
the coalition basically.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I suppose clear if you were looking at the Prime
minister's performance, is this one area he has done well
and he has managed to keep it all together.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah. I actually think his managerial approach does suit the
coalition because he lets them kind of do what they
have to do without overreacting to it. Really, so I
agree with Jason that he has had a bit of
a mixed year. He's been very good in managing the
coalition and keeping the focus of ministers on their on
their game, and that's what will kind of count to
(07:03):
him as he wants to get the achieved mints through
before twenty twenty six basically, and he's set up a
strong foundation for that. But he has had own goals
when it comes to his own you know, his own actions.
I guess the allowance the description of business delegations is
c listers. I think his corporate language is starting to be,
(07:26):
you know, kind of more accepted. People tend to get
used to however a Prime Minister speaks, and that will
inevitably happen with him. So I think he's doing okay.
But an extra port car seven I gave him.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
If you want a number, there we go seven. Have
you got a number?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Jason All was six? Like it.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
We're not saying out of what you'll note.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I'm going to presume ten. Look we get a new
deputy head boy halfway through twenty twenty five. Jason Winston
Peters has done a perfectly good job as a deput
prime minister. Is it just a bit silly to have
to hand it over?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, I mean, you know, channeling my best Winston Peters.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
It's in the coalition agreement, and you stick to what's
in the coalition agreement.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And I think he would be the first one to
say that Winston.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
Peters, Yeah, I agree with you. I think he's done
a good job so far. And I think that what
Chris Luxon has done quite good at is letting, as
Claire said, letting Winston be Winston and letting David be David.
And what we're seeing in the polls is the fact
that New Zealand First is actually holding up its vote
above five percent, which means that come next election, if
they're looking to form another coalition, they'll.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Be a shoe in.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Because that's the NATS combined with Act to New Zealand. First,
we've seen consistently are a polling high enough to get
into government. So I think that he's definitely going to
stick with the plan to move Seymour into the deputy
prime minister role at the allocated time.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I think it's June or July this year.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
And I think that if he changed that plan now,
you'd have a lot of trouble on his hands, not
least from David Seymour.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Do you think, though, clear that the Prime Minister would
prefer to have Winston's stage just considering how Nigley Seymour
can be.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Well, I think he'd probably prefer to have Nikola Willis
is the deputy prime Minister. However, unfortunately that's not allowable.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
So.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I think he I think he'll be pretty philosophical about it.
And because David Seymour, you know, he's had a bit
of flack about whether it's appropriate for him to be
deputy prime minister given his chipping at the Prime Minister.
But I just don't really think that matters that much
and I think it will work out fine. I mean,
it's it's a good solution when you've got to kind
(09:36):
of what you call coalition partners. It's blood it halfway
through and we see how it goes. But you know
he may regret it not being Winston if Winston then
becomes the one who starts chipping at him instead. So
I think it's half six or one half a dozen
of the other forums.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
To be honest, Jason, a broad question for you, which
party do you think has had the best year? I'm
sort of imagining that both of you would say that
the Greens have probably had the worst year. Feel free
to cont to me, but a king to know who
you think is hit the biggest wins.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah, I mean biggest wins.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
You have to look at the party's like act where
David Seymour is consistently and Chris Sluckson actually made a
joke about this and as a German speech taking credit
for a lot of things. So you'd have to look
on balance and say, well, you know, they've had a
good year. They've had a bit of a tumble in
the polls recently due to the Treaties Principles Bill, but
then it has come back as well, so sticking to
their guns has actually done them quite good. You have
(10:34):
to and I alluded to this before, I mean New
Zealand First often finds when they're in a coalition government
that their vault tends to tumble when they've been in
power for a while, but that's actually held up quite well.
So I think that both ACT and New Zealand First
have done quite well. And there would be the ones
that I would choose. I mean, Green's obviously the worst performing.
There's absolutely no one else in their league when it
comes to bad performances this year. But I will say
(10:56):
Chloe Swarbrick. I've been quite impressed with her. She's been
doing it by herself because Madame and Davidson obviously away
with her cancer diagnosis, and she's had to deal with
about seven or eight different major curveballs, and I think
that for the large part, for the mean part, she's
handled them pretty well and done what she needs to,
done what she's needed done.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Do you sorry?
Speaker 5 (11:15):
The problem was, of course, the Greens are democratic to death,
so the Daling Tanna saga stretched on for a long time,
but that was more of a constitutional issue than it
was a Chloe issue.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Claire, Yeah, I'm giving best party to Party Mali. Actually
they have played at a blinder and it's largely thanks
to the h Party kind of giving it to them.
I think they've opposed all the raft of stuff that
the government, the coalition government parties are doing which have
(11:45):
impact on martyrdom, very very well, and they've been unrelenting
in their opposition to it. I mean, it's not easy
to organize a HIKOI of the size that we saw
arrive at Parliament, which was Yes to Party Mardi were
instrumental in organizing it, but it was way too big
for the government parties to simply dismissed it as a
(12:07):
kind of to Party Mardi rally, to be honest. So
they're the only ones who've ended the year with a
massively high polar rating then their head at the election,
and I think they've done very very well.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Indeed, steer into your crystal wall for me, Jason. Do
you think that Chris Hopkins will be leading the Labor
Party in a year's time?
Speaker 5 (12:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I do.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I don't think there's anybody else that's really willing to
step up and take his place at the moment. I mean,
you could think of the likes of Kieran McNulty, but
he's been very firm that he doesn't want to do that.
I mean they all are until they do it, since
he seems to be the sort of tradition and leadership
leadership usurping. But I think that you know, he's not
actually doing a bad job, is Chris Hopkins. You know,
(12:48):
the Labor Party has been almost invisible this year. You
don't really hear from them all that much. But that's
not necessarily too bad of a thing that first year
of a coalition. I think that he's probably going to
keep chipping away, come up with some policies and really
kind of put a bit of more of the pedal
to the.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Medal this year, and we'll see a little bit more
of it. But I don't think he's going anywhere.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Claire, Yes, I also think that he will still be
the leader in the year that takes am. Their polling
hasn't collapsed at all. If anything, it's firmed up a
little bit, and it takes some things been a bit
more grim to roll a leader, and as Jason just said,
none of the others seem to have any appetite to
roll them.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, look, thank you both very much for your time today.
I hope you're both getting a good a nice break
to recover from the what was it unrelenting and teething year.
Jasonting a time off.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
No, I'm actually doing the Summer Drive Shore with ZB
So I'll be on air from four to eight pm
every night, so doing some talkback.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty if you
want to call in and talk to me about some things.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So I'll be calling in every day, Jason every day.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
He might need it clear clear any sad promotion you'd
like to get across.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
No, I've got zero self promotion. I am, I am off,
I am off and out. We'll think other than my
calls to Jason.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Well, look, I'll join you on those. Thank you both
so much for your contribution throughout the year as well.
Appreciate your time this morning.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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