The Sunday Panel: Where is the leadership in this country?

This week on The Sunday Panel, host of the Prosperity Project, Nadine Higgins, and Coast day host Lorna Riley joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Luxon’s leadership has been questioned this week, but looking across the board - where is the leadership?  Are we stuck with our current political leaders because there is no one else to step up? Where is the next generation of leaders?

United Airlines has revealed it plans to permanently ban flyers who don't use headphones on the plane. What do we make of this?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
And it is time for our panel and this morning,
I'd like to welcome host of the Prosperity Project, Nadine Higgins.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
How are you in, Adean Curta, I'm very well, Thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Excellent, and we have coas today host Lorna Riley. Welcome, Laurna.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Hello, Happy International Women's Day and you two.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh look, we've got a panel for International Women's Day.
I'm sure that we planned that. Luck says leadership has
been in question this week, but looking across the board,
I am actually wondering where is the leadership in general?
Are we stuck with our current political leaders because there
is no one else to steep up? I know that

(00:51):
I'm sort of struggling a little bit to reconcile the
polls with what I'm hearing on the street from people.
And you know, I look at Chris Hipkins, who has
an awful lot of baggage and experience, and you know,
and I'm wondering, have we really you know, is his
mission to become more credible really working? But then then

(01:12):
you stop and you go, yes, But who would step up?
So do we, Nadine, do you think sort of have
a lack of people who are ready to step up
into those roles leader of the party roles.

Speaker 5 (01:24):
I think we do.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
But also I don't know that we should be surprised
that that's the case, because if you look, I know,
even mentioning Jacinder ar Durn's name is controversial, But when
you consider the ramifications.

Speaker 5 (01:38):
The personal ramifications for her having been a leader after
stepping down, many years after stepping down, still having death
threats and living outside the country, what does that say
to any other ambitious young person who might want to
enter politics.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
To me, it screams, don't do it.

Speaker 5 (01:57):
Run a thousand miles in the offosite direction. Go make
money outside of the public eye. You know, there are
plenty of ways to serve your country without going into politics.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
And at least that's my take on it.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Maybe other people still think that it's a wonderful career,
but to me, it looks like, why would you want
to go into politics.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
If those are the potential implications?

Speaker 2 (02:19):
And Lord of the other interesting thing is that you know,
if you say who would step up, people will have
a handful of names and they're always the same names.
And then the next comment is but they're not ready,
and I'm thinking, well, how do you get you know?

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, exactly. Look, I had this conversation with my fiancee
on Friday night. I'm guessing we weren't the only ones
following that disastrous poll for National I have to disagree
with you. The words you know, the talk I'm hearing
it very much reflected that I'm imagining the same conversation
we had was happening within the National Party as well.
But we also couldn't come up with a clear answer
because the problem is not finding one person who could

(02:53):
do a better job of leading the Christopher Luxon. The
problem is there were probably too many and they don't
have a clear consensus amongst them about who should take
over the party. It's like they're happy to lose this
coming election and then start again. But the problem of
this lack of leadership, I don't think it's a Holy
New Zealand problem. It no longer, as Nadine pointed out,
seems to attract the caliber of people that once did

(03:15):
and you only have to look at Australia, the UK
and the US to see that.

Speaker 5 (03:21):
And gosh, is it just about the leader or is
it actually the solutions that they're selling.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
It's not just about their ability to sell that story.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
It's the reality for New Zealanders at the moment that
they're not feeling any better off even though they're working
harder and interest rates are lower and inflation is lower,
they're supposed to be feeling better about their prospects. But
they just asked, and if you had any doubt about that,
just look at the numbers of people that are fleeing
across the Tasman.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
And you're right, and Dean, and that's something that Neil
Jones and Jordan Williams spoke about in the first art.
They said, Actually, our prime minister doesn't need to be
hugely popular, doesn't need to be liked. We've I often
had very successful prime ministers who weren't hugely loved, but
they need to be to do their job well. And
his Zelanders need to feel like they're moving the country
in the direction that we wanted to go in that

(04:11):
we all can see in our day to day lives
and communicating that.

Speaker 5 (04:15):
Yeah, and you made the really interesting point about who
is ready to step up?

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Well, I mean I feel like That's.

Speaker 5 (04:21):
Almost unfair because was Luxon ready to step up. He
had barely been in parliament for a term before.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
He became the leader.

Speaker 5 (04:31):
Yes, he worked on leadership skills and financial management skills
outside of parliament, but there are people who arguably have
more experience than he did that were overlooked for the job.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I think they were just.

Speaker 5 (04:45):
Looking for a John Key two point zero. So maybe
we just need to look at a slightly different model
of leader than that.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Would you like to be prime minister?

Speaker 4 (04:55):
Launa different?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
As we're looking at something quite different?

Speaker 1 (04:59):
There we go.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
I certainly would not. But here's a name I'd like
to put out there for the National Party as Erica Stanford.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Oh okay, yeah, no, I think she's at the top
of it us. But you see, I think Nadin, I
think you're right. I think everyone is doing so well
within their portfolios and making so much progress. You're kind
of like why, I don't know, I don't know if
they really want to throw that away at the moment.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
Yeah, And you need those people around the leaders because
exactly just be a strong prime minister, you actually need
a strong cabinet. You need ministers that are doing really
good things within their portfolio, and of course she is
one of them, and yeah, she won one hundred percent,
has leadership potential, But I still think if I was her,
I'd be looking at what happened to just.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
My life absolutely Lorna.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
United Airlines has decided to permanently banflyers who don't use
headphones when they are playing music or watching videos, and
I'm like, who doesn't in a public space? Already we're
headphones if you were playing music and watching videos, how rude?

Speaker 4 (05:57):
It is extremely rude. I think go United Airlines. Hopefully
all the others will follow that. I've noticed it quite
a bit, not so much on airplanes, and I probably
with all the other background noise and things, wouldn't find
it so bad on aeroplanes, but I have found it
in other public spaces and waiting rooms in airport lounges,

(06:19):
people on you telephone calls and having the volume up
really loud. It's incredibly disrespectful for other people. And I
don't want to sound like a crumpy old woman, but
it appears to be a generational thing as well.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well. How do you feel about it, Nadine. You might
be the youngest of us all, but I personally I
don't want to hear your music. I don't want to
hear your video. I don't want to hear your personal conversation.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
I'm interested to know what Laurna means when she says
the generational problem, because from my perspective, it's actually the
older generation that doesn't I need to be seeing I
need to just speak us scrolling through Facebook or whatever,
and they'll be playing things out loud and I'm like, hey, excuse.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Me, we're all in this room.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
Together, could you either turn that down or put your
headphones in.

Speaker 4 (07:01):
Well, there has been an occasion in the last week
where my you know, I've been watching something on TV
and my daughter's just been scrolling on her phone and
the volume comes on and I'm just like, no, watch
that in your room or put some headphones in. You
are not interrupting my TV show. So that's where the
generational comment came from.

Speaker 5 (07:20):
Yeah, and my parents, who are in their seventies, they
talk on their phone on hands free and hold it
to their mouth, not the ear, so there's no way
that everyone else.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
Doesn't hear whatever conversation they're having.

Speaker 4 (07:34):
So I'm doing this thing right now.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Make their next.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
Christmas gifts some headphones.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Thank you both very much, ladies, enjoy the rest of
your Sunday and International Women's State.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudgin, listen
live to news Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio