June 28, 2025 • 8 mins
This week on the Sunday Panel, Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills and host of the Front Page podcast, Chelsea Daniels, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the week - and more!
The Government's new sentencing reforms are set to kick in today - what do we make of these? Do we see these new changes making a difference?
Lotto Powerball could be about to get a whole lot harder - is this outrageous? Would you bother getting a ticket now?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Joining me on the panel. Today we have News Talk
zb Wellington Morning's host Nick Mills. Good morning, Nick Morning,
and we have the host of the Front Page, Chelsea
Daniels Hi Chelsea Morning. Okay, so today the government's sentencing
reforms come in to play. Nick. Do you think these
reforms are going to restore public confidence in the courts.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I think what it will do is it will restore
public confidence and the fact that we're taking it seriously.
I mean, it's a lot of retrick at the moment.
There's a lot of talk at the moment about what
they're going to do and how they're going to be
stronger on crime. The results are quite simple in New Zealand.
Apart from one single person, everybody's going to get out
(00:55):
of jail eventually. So I want to see something done
with those people when they are in jail so that
when they come out they're better people and we on
the outside are safer. I think has just been far
too much talk about how they are going to get
tough on crime. We're not seeing the results. And until
we just start seeing the results they can talk as
(01:16):
much as allow.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You raise a really good point then, Nick, because you
can look at these reforms they're bringing in and you go, Okay,
this is giving me a bit more faith in the
court system, the justice system. There are consequences if you
commit a crime, and people are going to get the
sentences that they deserve. It's more respectful to victims. But
where I feel this all falls down is for it
to work, you also have to have faith in the
prison system. Chelsea.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean I don't see anything wrong with capping
the amount that you can be you know, those sentence reductions.
I mean, any court reporter has been who sat through
a sentencing knows that they can go on forever and
you go, oh, minus twelve here, minus fifteen here, Minust
and you just have to sit there, sit there for
so long. And I mean, there's one sure way not
(02:01):
to get caught up in these sentencing reforms, and that
is to not do anything stupid and not commit crimes.
So I think that you know you get what you deserve. Basically,
do you.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Think it'll work as a preventative measure, Nick.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Well, I'm hoping no. Bottom line is no. But what
I'm hoping is that common sense will prevail and people
will understand that if you are going to commit a crime,
then then there is going to be some serious consequence
for committing that crime. And no longer will you because
your uncle's auntie raped your mother's sister's cousin that you're
going to get at lesser charge. Basically, you commit the crime,
(02:37):
you do the time, and it's going to be tough. Yes,
I want to see reform. I want to see people
try changed, but I also wanted people people to understand,
you commit the crime, you do the time. No if no,
buts no maybees Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
One thing I do like is the implementation of the
sliding scale for an early guilty plea. Uh. And you
know because a lot of the time, you you know,
with our courts are very busy. You know, we're not
getting to court cases fast enough. People get to the
first day of their trial or start getting through their
trial and then finally go, oh, actually I'm going to
(03:14):
you know, I'm going to put on a play. I'm
going to put on a guilty play. Is wasted a
heck of a lot of time. I like it that
I'm lowful.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
There you go it's awful for that. It's awful for
the victims as well. They're preparing for these trials. I mean,
if you murder someone tomorrow, franchise get your trial wouldn't
be probably until twenty twenty eight, do you know what
I mean? That's how backed up the court system is.
And it's not just all go on day one. There's hearings,
there's you know, reliving these things, there's police interviews, there's
(03:43):
preparing for witness statements and then all that. For someone
to go to trial and played guilty on the first
day or the first week is completely unacceptable. So no,
that is a really good, good implementation of that.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Do you have faced it? I mean, obviously I spoke
to Paul Got'sworth this morning and we were talking about
the fact that, you know, this is what they've put
these new reforms in place, but there is discretion that
the judges still have some discretion in these areas. Do
you think they're going to get on board and follow
these guidelines.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Well, I think that the judges will always have discretion
on how they portray something some crime that's committed. I
kind of I just get the feeling like and Chase
Chelsea's right. I mean imagine the whole pain and waiting
and waiting and waiting for it. I mean, if they
were really serious about crime, they would actually say, okay,
any serious crime, the court case will be within the
(04:41):
least twelve months. That's it, you know. I mean I'm
reading a story about and Wellington at the moment where
some people have been charged and that's not going to
go to court till twenty twenty seven. I mean that
they're sitting on romand that whole time. I mean, that's
not that's not real law.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No, it's not helping for anyone. Okay, Well, would be
interesting to see how it all unfolds. Right this morning,
I spoke about Lotto. They are trying to find ways
to revolve the game, as they call it, so that
it remains appealing to its audience. And I'm kind of
sitting here going, well, you know, ticket prices are at
its highest ever right now. I think you've got this right.
(05:17):
I don't think we need to add a powerball, reduce
the chance making it harder to win, meaning the jackpot
goes up, you know, post thirty million, like you were
always playing for a fifty million. Kind of jackpot. I'm like,
no one needs fifty million dollars, Chelsea. Let's let more
people win more regularly. Don't change it, don't throw win
the new ball, just leave it.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Hang on.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I think I need fifty million dollars. We think of
a lot of it.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Mess you up. It would mess you up, Chelsea. Imagine
the satutory boards that you would do.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Then it might be.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Imagine it. Imagine the chattau Chatto.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Neither of us can say it.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I love it, Hey, but the.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Current odds of winning Loto powerball right a one in
thirty eight million, so it's basically like a zero chance
to get your get your hands on millions of dollars.
And if one powerball number would be introduced, the odds
would decrease to one and forty two million, basically zero.
So I don't see any problem with that. People are
(06:17):
still going to be buying these tickets. People are still
going to be fantasizing about how they're going to spend
that fifty million dollars. And I mean, your chances are
going from basically zero to zero.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So why not, Well, because we will still get more
people benefiting from it, Nick, if we just keep at
powerballs where they are. I might we've had eleven overnight
millionaires this year. That is much better than getting halfway
through a year and having one, you know, one or
two people that have you know one's any million.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Let's cut to the chase. This is the government department, right,
This is about making money. This is not about you know,
giving to charity and doing all the right things. This
is about bottom line, paying a lot of tax, making
a lot of money. And it works when it's a
thirty million dollar jackpot, it works when it's a forty
million dollar jack when it's a four or three million
(07:05):
dollar who goes out by a very few people.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Because it's going to do because I've got a better
chance of winning it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Well, you haven't really the end of the day. At
the end of the day, I'm a very nervous flyer,
and someone told me you've got more chance of winning
lotto twice than dying in a plane crash. Now work
that out for yourself. If you go and buy a
lotto ticket, then I mean it's a pretty out there chance.
It's a dream. It's that. It's that walking from the
(07:33):
counter of the supermarket to your car, you know, I
call it the dream walk. What am I going to do.
I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
You want more people, don't You want more people to
be able to actually have the experience of that dream
coming true?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, But reality is that we're about the money, and
when the jackpot is at thirty million, that's when everybody's
making money.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
All right. Then we'll best of luck to you too
when you both win lotto and managing your thirty and
your fifty million, and I hope it doesn't mess you
up and your families and your friendships and everything else
like that. Thank you so much to let Mills and
Chelsea Daniels for joining me on the panel.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Joining me on the panel. Today we have News Talk
zb Wellington Morning's host Nick Mills. Good morning, Nick Morning,
and we have the host of the Front Page, Chelsea
Daniels Hi Chelsea Morning. Okay, so today the government's sentencing
reforms come in to play. Nick. Do you think these
reforms are going to restore public confidence in the courts.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I think what it will do is it will restore
public confidence and the fact that we're taking it seriously.
I mean, it's a lot of retrick at the moment.
There's a lot of talk at the moment about what
they're going to do and how they're going to be
stronger on crime. The results are quite simple in New Zealand.
Apart from one single person, everybody's going to get out
(00:55):
of jail eventually. So I want to see something done
with those people when they are in jail so that
when they come out they're better people and we on
the outside are safer. I think has just been far
too much talk about how they are going to get
tough on crime. We're not seeing the results. And until
we just start seeing the results they can talk as
(01:16):
much as allow.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You raise a really good point then, Nick, because you
can look at these reforms they're bringing in and you go, Okay,
this is giving me a bit more faith in the
court system, the justice system. There are consequences if you
commit a crime, and people are going to get the
sentences that they deserve. It's more respectful to victims. But
where I feel this all falls down is for it
to work, you also have to have faith in the
prison system. Chelsea.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean I don't see anything wrong with capping
the amount that you can be you know, those sentence reductions.
I mean, any court reporter has been who sat through
a sentencing knows that they can go on forever and
you go, oh, minus twelve here, minus fifteen here, Minust
and you just have to sit there, sit there for
so long. And I mean, there's one sure way not
(02:01):
to get caught up in these sentencing reforms, and that
is to not do anything stupid and not commit crimes.
So I think that you know you get what you deserve. Basically,
do you.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Think it'll work as a preventative measure, Nick.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Well, I'm hoping no. Bottom line is no. But what
I'm hoping is that common sense will prevail and people
will understand that if you are going to commit a crime,
then then there is going to be some serious consequence
for committing that crime. And no longer will you because
your uncle's auntie raped your mother's sister's cousin that you're
going to get at lesser charge. Basically, you commit the crime,
(02:37):
you do the time, and it's going to be tough. Yes,
I want to see reform. I want to see people
try changed, but I also wanted people people to understand,
you commit the crime, you do the time. No if no,
buts no maybees Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
One thing I do like is the implementation of the
sliding scale for an early guilty plea. Uh. And you
know because a lot of the time, you you know,
with our courts are very busy. You know, we're not
getting to court cases fast enough. People get to the
first day of their trial or start getting through their
trial and then finally go, oh, actually I'm going to
(03:14):
you know, I'm going to put on a play. I'm
going to put on a guilty play. Is wasted a
heck of a lot of time. I like it that
I'm lowful.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
There you go it's awful for that. It's awful for
the victims as well. They're preparing for these trials. I mean,
if you murder someone tomorrow, franchise get your trial wouldn't
be probably until twenty twenty eight, do you know what
I mean? That's how backed up the court system is.
And it's not just all go on day one. There's hearings,
there's you know, reliving these things, there's police interviews, there's
(03:43):
preparing for witness statements and then all that. For someone
to go to trial and played guilty on the first
day or the first week is completely unacceptable. So no,
that is a really good, good implementation of that.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Do you have faced it? I mean, obviously I spoke
to Paul Got'sworth this morning and we were talking about
the fact that, you know, this is what they've put
these new reforms in place, but there is discretion that
the judges still have some discretion in these areas. Do
you think they're going to get on board and follow
these guidelines.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Well, I think that the judges will always have discretion
on how they portray something some crime that's committed. I
kind of I just get the feeling like and Chase
Chelsea's right. I mean imagine the whole pain and waiting
and waiting and waiting for it. I mean, if they
were really serious about crime, they would actually say, okay,
any serious crime, the court case will be within the
(04:41):
least twelve months. That's it, you know. I mean I'm
reading a story about and Wellington at the moment where
some people have been charged and that's not going to
go to court till twenty twenty seven. I mean that
they're sitting on romand that whole time. I mean, that's
not that's not real law.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No, it's not helping for anyone. Okay, Well, would be
interesting to see how it all unfolds. Right this morning,
I spoke about Lotto. They are trying to find ways
to revolve the game, as they call it, so that
it remains appealing to its audience. And I'm kind of
sitting here going, well, you know, ticket prices are at
its highest ever right now. I think you've got this right.
(05:17):
I don't think we need to add a powerball, reduce
the chance making it harder to win, meaning the jackpot
goes up, you know, post thirty million, like you were
always playing for a fifty million. Kind of jackpot. I'm like,
no one needs fifty million dollars, Chelsea. Let's let more
people win more regularly. Don't change it, don't throw win
the new ball, just leave it.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Hang on.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I think I need fifty million dollars. We think of
a lot of it.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Mess you up. It would mess you up, Chelsea. Imagine
the satutory boards that you would do.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Then it might be.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Imagine it. Imagine the chattau Chatto.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Neither of us can say it.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I love it, Hey, but the.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Current odds of winning Loto powerball right a one in
thirty eight million, so it's basically like a zero chance
to get your get your hands on millions of dollars.
And if one powerball number would be introduced, the odds
would decrease to one and forty two million, basically zero.
So I don't see any problem with that. People are
(06:17):
still going to be buying these tickets. People are still
going to be fantasizing about how they're going to spend
that fifty million dollars. And I mean, your chances are
going from basically zero to zero.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So why not, Well, because we will still get more
people benefiting from it, Nick, if we just keep at
powerballs where they are. I might we've had eleven overnight
millionaires this year. That is much better than getting halfway
through a year and having one, you know, one or
two people that have you know one's any million.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Let's cut to the chase. This is the government department, right,
This is about making money. This is not about you know,
giving to charity and doing all the right things. This
is about bottom line, paying a lot of tax, making
a lot of money. And it works when it's a
thirty million dollar jackpot, it works when it's a forty
million dollar jack when it's a four or three million
(07:05):
dollar who goes out by a very few people.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Because it's going to do because I've got a better
chance of winning it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Well, you haven't really the end of the day. At
the end of the day, I'm a very nervous flyer,
and someone told me you've got more chance of winning
lotto twice than dying in a plane crash. Now work
that out for yourself. If you go and buy a
lotto ticket, then I mean it's a pretty out there chance.
It's a dream. It's that. It's that walking from the
(07:33):
counter of the supermarket to your car, you know, I
call it the dream walk. What am I going to do.
I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
You want more people, don't You want more people to
be able to actually have the experience of that dream
coming true?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, But reality is that we're about the money, and
when the jackpot is at thirty million, that's when everybody's
making money.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
All right. Then we'll best of luck to you too
when you both win lotto and managing your thirty and
your fifty million, and I hope it doesn't mess you
up and your families and your friendships and everything else
like that. Thank you so much to let Mills and
Chelsea Daniels for joining me on the panel.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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