February 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Defence Minister Judith Collins says it's time the government properly funded the New Zealand Defence Force, after what she says is 35 years of inadequate funding.
It comes as the Chinese stage live-firing operations in the Tasman Sea, without having alerted the government first.
To discuss the issue, Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls joined Nick Mills for the Beehive Buzz.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk, said B direct from News Talks headb's
team at Tolerance the Bee Hive Buzzy.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us for the bee Hype buzz is news Talk,
said b's political editor Jason Walls. Live from the Beehive, Jace,
how you doing.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm actually live from the Auckland Officers today because I'm
heading off oo overseas with the Prime Minister to Vietnam tomorrow,
So not from the Beehive but up in the Enzidemy
towers and Auckland.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
What part of showbas do you not understand? Buddy?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Listen, not all of us have had a life of
glitz and glam like yourself. Okay, I'm still learning.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Live with the bee Hype sounds a hell of a
lot better than live from the zid ME officers in
Auckland waiting to get your passport cleared so you can
fly to Vietnam with the Prime Minister, doesn't it?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Well, I don't know. The way that you've described it
makes it sound quite glamorous.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Actually, well, I was trying to put some showbers into it,
because you run.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
It, you'll ruin my intro, right, the apologies with some Well.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Let's start talking. You have a safe trip, by the way,
let's start talking about Chinese warships, because we've done the
last couple of hours talking about it. Judith Collins, I
think has been phenomenal. I think she's been so on point.
She's showed true leadership. She said, show me the money.
I need the money. I need to get the sorted.
Where everyone else seems to have rolled over and gone
(01:31):
back to sleep.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, I mean, Judith Collins is the sort of the
perfect person for this sort of scenario. I mean, you
don't want to lie to Judith. You don't want to
be on the other side of the eyebrows when you're
staring down the defense Minister Judith Collins, or Colonel Collins
as I like to call her. And of course, these
trained warships that are now, according to Judith Collins, about
five hundred and twenty kilometers off the coast of Tasman,
(01:54):
and they were close to Sydney. Of course it is
some cause for concern, Judith saying this morning, oh sorry,
Minister Collins, this morning saying that she doesn't know what
they're doing. They haven't commune their intentions these warships and
they're just sort of ominously lurking off the coast of Australia,
which you know, she says. The Americans say that there
(02:15):
is some level of concern, but in Australia and New Zealand,
she says that quote, they're not particularly concerned. So it's
not like there's this big panic from Judith Collins and
Penny Wong over in Australia. And of course Winston Peters
has been c seed in on all the communications as
Foreign Minister as well. But of course, I mean, you
see this happening. You know, China are a major, major military
(02:38):
player in the world. They've got some warships in the
Tasman Cea. Of course it's going to be an area
of concern. But Colonel Collins says, calm down, everybody, it's fine.
I'm on the job.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
She said, what is it? Not worried but very aware.
Now that's that's kind of a little bit worried, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I mean, I think we'd be worried if they
started firing rockets or doing something that was a little
bit more threatening. But obviously she's just kind of watching
them just lurking for the moment, has decided that this
isn't a major threat to New Zealand or Australia because
you know, if they did start doing something more aggressive,
I mean, you've got a lot of other factors that
(03:16):
play when that starts to happen, and I don't think
the Chinese would risk what would be a pretty significant
escalation and tension for not just Australia and New Zealand,
but obviously the US and our other close partners for
a little old New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Can I just remind you of that thought when you're
one hour over the Pacific tomorrow in your flight to Vietnam.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, well, we're taking the Defense Force plane over and
we're heading to Darwin first, so we might be going
in the opposite direction, but I'll keep an eye out
the window to see if I can see any oncoming
vessels from China.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Why you stop? Is that the only way you can
get there is from Darwin?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Oh? Yeah, you know, I listen, Ay, We've talked about
these planes a number of times. You've got to stop
somewhere to refuel before you get the whole way. So
hopefully we'll make it the entire way this time.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Now the government has put out an update on the
gang patches legislation. What are they going to tell us
that crime has now stopped because they've stopped it no longer.
None of the gangs are actually doing anything wrong. Now
that we have got rid of the gang pitches.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Absolutely crime is down at zero percent. There has been
absolutely no ill will from the gangs, and they just
gave up their patches willingly and everybody lived happily. Ever after,
not quite. We did get some information this morning that
said that more than three thousand chargers have been filed
against gang members and more than seventy patches have now
been seized during the first three months of the police's
(04:33):
gang patch crackdown. Now, I mean it's a good start, obviously.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I feel
like I was expecting more than seventy six. I was
expecting one hundred. That maybe that's unfounded, you know, maybe
it kind of comes from a place of ignorance. I
just kind of assumed that would be the case. But
seventy six still not bad. I mean, it's better that
they're with the police or I don't know what they
(04:54):
do with them now that they say they destroy them,
they should have a big bombfire I reckon to really
send the message home. But it's good that they're not
with the gangsters anymore. The police have also said that
they've seized sixty seven firearms and laid a further three
hundred and thirty seven charges insignia breaches since the introduction
of the Gang Act. So you know, these are the
last people that you want with firearms, So it's good
(05:16):
that they're doing this and confiscating the firearms along with
the patches, because if it was just the patches, it
would be a little bit symbolic, really, but having the
firearms being withdrawn as well, it's actually quite good. So
good to see. Long may it continue, and hopefully they
gets to the point where the number is actually zero
because there's none left.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
You know, Jason, I've got to tell you that I
didn't think this was going to go anywhere near as
smoothly as it's gone now. I thought there was going
to be story after story, confrontational after confrontation, Tounguy after Tonguy,
huge problems, huge issues. I think that the gangs have
actually pulled their heads in. I think they thought, hey,
let's not worry about this. Let's get on with our business.
(05:57):
We do our business as good or as bad as
we think it is, you know, outsiders think it is.
But they've taken it on board. I think they have
accepted it well.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean, I probably think behind the scenes they were
a little bit more grumbling about the police doing this.
But yeah, I mean I haven't seen a single story
about a big altercation between police and gangsters. And I
think that the police have probably been quite strategic about
it as well. I don't think that they've rocked up
to a gang pad with just two new recruits and
said your patches please. I think that they probably do
it in a way that's a little smarter than that,
(06:28):
and I think that they deserve praise for that. I mean,
Richard Chambers, who's the new police commissioner, has come in
and he's essentially done what the government wanted them to do,
which is take the patches, make the communities feel safer.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But you haven't heard any I haven't heard any stories.
When you say you haven't heard any stories about the
big confrontation, I thought there was going to be heaps
of them. So I got it wrong. And and once
again I just think that they've been a lot more
accept than accepting of it than we thought that You
and I thought anyway they were going to be.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, I mean well, I mean they might. I think
probably it's more likely that the police have gone about
it in a way that is shown that well they've
they've got about it in a way which has avoided confrontation.
I would say, but yeah, I don't think the gangs
are probably happy about it. But you know who cares.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Right talk to me about us, about what's going to
happen in Vietnam. Why is the Prime minister going? What
does he hope to achieve? And by gosh uran for
a good time.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well, so it started off actually as a trip to
Indonesia and Vietnam, but at the last moment that leg
of the trip was pulled because of a scheduling conflict
with the Prime Minister of Indonesia. So we've got the
Prime minister later today. I'll be asking if that was
a snub what the issue was there as he disappointed
that we weren't able to get to Indonesia. Was it
because we keep talking about this dirty Indonesian cold? Do
(07:46):
they not want to talk to us? Or a few
questions there, but Vietnam itself, you know, it's about the
second I think the first or second time I've been, sorry,
second or third time I've been with a prime minister.
They really love going over there because it's a huge market.
I mean, it's huge emerging economy as well. It consistently
is growing quite high levels, between five and seven percent
(08:09):
each year, and the New Zealand's fourteenth highest trading partners.
So we want to get as much business done with
Vietnam as we can, especially things like international education, where
we're a fourth or fifth in terms of the people
that they sent to New Zealand in terms of those
educational exports that we receive, so looking to bolster that
and also you know, just meeting with the Vietnamese government
(08:32):
and making sure New Zealand is on their radar. It's
an interesting time given that these Chinese ships are in
the Tasman Sea and how closely aligned to China Vietnam is.
So we'll have to wait to see how much of
an issue that is.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Thanks Jason, have a great trip, Be safe. And the
other thing that we keep forgetting about Vietnam, it's now
one of the hot spots of tourism from New Zealand
going over there. I had not heard anyone not say
a great story about it. Thanks Jason Walls, who's the
political News Talks, he'd be Political editor.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to News Talks. There'd be Wellington from nine am weekday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk, said B direct from News Talks headb's
team at Tolerance the Bee Hive Buzzy.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us for the bee Hype buzz is news Talk,
said b's political editor Jason Walls. Live from the Beehive, Jace,
how you doing.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm actually live from the Auckland Officers today because I'm
heading off oo overseas with the Prime Minister to Vietnam tomorrow,
So not from the Beehive but up in the Enzidemy
towers and Auckland.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
What part of showbas do you not understand? Buddy?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Listen, not all of us have had a life of
glitz and glam like yourself. Okay, I'm still learning.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Live with the bee Hype sounds a hell of a
lot better than live from the zid ME officers in
Auckland waiting to get your passport cleared so you can
fly to Vietnam with the Prime Minister, doesn't it?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Well, I don't know. The way that you've described it
makes it sound quite glamorous.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Actually, well, I was trying to put some showbers into it,
because you run.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
It, you'll ruin my intro, right, the apologies with some Well.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Let's start talking. You have a safe trip, by the way,
let's start talking about Chinese warships, because we've done the
last couple of hours talking about it. Judith Collins, I
think has been phenomenal. I think she's been so on point.
She's showed true leadership. She said, show me the money.
I need the money. I need to get the sorted.
Where everyone else seems to have rolled over and gone
(01:31):
back to sleep.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, I mean, Judith Collins is the sort of the
perfect person for this sort of scenario. I mean, you
don't want to lie to Judith. You don't want to
be on the other side of the eyebrows when you're
staring down the defense Minister Judith Collins, or Colonel Collins
as I like to call her. And of course, these
trained warships that are now, according to Judith Collins, about
five hundred and twenty kilometers off the coast of Tasman,
(01:54):
and they were close to Sydney. Of course it is
some cause for concern, Judith saying this morning, oh sorry,
Minister Collins, this morning saying that she doesn't know what
they're doing. They haven't commune their intentions these warships and
they're just sort of ominously lurking off the coast of Australia,
which you know, she says. The Americans say that there
(02:15):
is some level of concern, but in Australia and New Zealand,
she says that quote, they're not particularly concerned. So it's
not like there's this big panic from Judith Collins and
Penny Wong over in Australia. And of course Winston Peters
has been c seed in on all the communications as
Foreign Minister as well. But of course, I mean, you
see this happening. You know, China are a major, major military
(02:38):
player in the world. They've got some warships in the
Tasman Cea. Of course it's going to be an area
of concern. But Colonel Collins says, calm down, everybody, it's fine.
I'm on the job.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
She said, what is it? Not worried but very aware.
Now that's that's kind of a little bit worried, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I mean, I think we'd be worried if they
started firing rockets or doing something that was a little
bit more threatening. But obviously she's just kind of watching
them just lurking for the moment, has decided that this
isn't a major threat to New Zealand or Australia because
you know, if they did start doing something more aggressive,
I mean, you've got a lot of other factors that
(03:16):
play when that starts to happen, and I don't think
the Chinese would risk what would be a pretty significant
escalation and tension for not just Australia and New Zealand,
but obviously the US and our other close partners for
a little old New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Can I just remind you of that thought when you're
one hour over the Pacific tomorrow in your flight to Vietnam.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, well, we're taking the Defense Force plane over and
we're heading to Darwin first, so we might be going
in the opposite direction, but I'll keep an eye out
the window to see if I can see any oncoming
vessels from China.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Why you stop? Is that the only way you can
get there is from Darwin?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Oh? Yeah, you know, I listen, Ay, We've talked about
these planes a number of times. You've got to stop
somewhere to refuel before you get the whole way. So
hopefully we'll make it the entire way this time.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Now the government has put out an update on the
gang patches legislation. What are they going to tell us
that crime has now stopped because they've stopped it no longer.
None of the gangs are actually doing anything wrong. Now
that we have got rid of the gang pitches.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Absolutely crime is down at zero percent. There has been
absolutely no ill will from the gangs, and they just
gave up their patches willingly and everybody lived happily. Ever after,
not quite. We did get some information this morning that
said that more than three thousand chargers have been filed
against gang members and more than seventy patches have now
been seized during the first three months of the police's
(04:33):
gang patch crackdown. Now, I mean it's a good start, obviously.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I feel
like I was expecting more than seventy six. I was
expecting one hundred. That maybe that's unfounded, you know, maybe
it kind of comes from a place of ignorance. I
just kind of assumed that would be the case. But
seventy six still not bad. I mean, it's better that
they're with the police or I don't know what they
(04:54):
do with them now that they say they destroy them,
they should have a big bombfire I reckon to really
send the message home. But it's good that they're not
with the gangsters anymore. The police have also said that
they've seized sixty seven firearms and laid a further three
hundred and thirty seven charges insignia breaches since the introduction
of the Gang Act. So you know, these are the
last people that you want with firearms, So it's good
(05:16):
that they're doing this and confiscating the firearms along with
the patches, because if it was just the patches, it
would be a little bit symbolic, really, but having the
firearms being withdrawn as well, it's actually quite good. So
good to see. Long may it continue, and hopefully they
gets to the point where the number is actually zero
because there's none left.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
You know, Jason, I've got to tell you that I
didn't think this was going to go anywhere near as
smoothly as it's gone now. I thought there was going
to be story after story, confrontational after confrontation, Tounguy after Tonguy,
huge problems, huge issues. I think that the gangs have
actually pulled their heads in. I think they thought, hey,
let's not worry about this. Let's get on with our business.
(05:57):
We do our business as good or as bad as
we think it is, you know, outsiders think it is.
But they've taken it on board. I think they have
accepted it well.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean, I probably think behind the scenes they were
a little bit more grumbling about the police doing this.
But yeah, I mean I haven't seen a single story
about a big altercation between police and gangsters. And I
think that the police have probably been quite strategic about
it as well. I don't think that they've rocked up
to a gang pad with just two new recruits and
said your patches please. I think that they probably do
it in a way that's a little smarter than that,
(06:28):
and I think that they deserve praise for that. I mean,
Richard Chambers, who's the new police commissioner, has come in
and he's essentially done what the government wanted them to do,
which is take the patches, make the communities feel safer.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But you haven't heard any I haven't heard any stories.
When you say you haven't heard any stories about the
big confrontation, I thought there was going to be heaps
of them. So I got it wrong. And and once
again I just think that they've been a lot more
accept than accepting of it than we thought that You
and I thought anyway they were going to be.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, I mean well, I mean they might. I think
probably it's more likely that the police have gone about
it in a way that is shown that well they've
they've got about it in a way which has avoided confrontation.
I would say, but yeah, I don't think the gangs
are probably happy about it. But you know who cares.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Right talk to me about us, about what's going to
happen in Vietnam. Why is the Prime minister going? What
does he hope to achieve? And by gosh uran for
a good time.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well, so it started off actually as a trip to
Indonesia and Vietnam, but at the last moment that leg
of the trip was pulled because of a scheduling conflict
with the Prime Minister of Indonesia. So we've got the
Prime minister later today. I'll be asking if that was
a snub what the issue was there as he disappointed
that we weren't able to get to Indonesia. Was it
because we keep talking about this dirty Indonesian cold? Do
(07:46):
they not want to talk to us? Or a few
questions there, but Vietnam itself, you know, it's about the
second I think the first or second time I've been, sorry,
second or third time I've been with a prime minister.
They really love going over there because it's a huge market.
I mean, it's huge emerging economy as well. It consistently
is growing quite high levels, between five and seven percent
(08:09):
each year, and the New Zealand's fourteenth highest trading partners.
So we want to get as much business done with
Vietnam as we can, especially things like international education, where
we're a fourth or fifth in terms of the people
that they sent to New Zealand in terms of those
educational exports that we receive, so looking to bolster that
and also you know, just meeting with the Vietnamese government
(08:32):
and making sure New Zealand is on their radar. It's
an interesting time given that these Chinese ships are in
the Tasman Sea and how closely aligned to China Vietnam is.
So we'll have to wait to see how much of
an issue that is.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Thanks Jason, have a great trip, Be safe. And the
other thing that we keep forgetting about Vietnam, it's now
one of the hot spots of tourism from New Zealand
going over there. I had not heard anyone not say
a great story about it. Thanks Jason Walls, who's the
political News Talks, he'd be Political editor.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to News Talks. There'd be Wellington from nine am weekday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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