Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has announced she isn't seeking another term as Mayor and instead will run for the city's Maori ward council seat. What's her legacy as mayor, and has she made the right call?
Also, Act leader David Seymour says there are too many ministerial portfolios and government departments in New Zealand. Is he right, and what should we slash?
To answer those questions, former Wellington mayor and DotLovesData director Justin Lester and Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young joined Nick Mills for Friday Faceoff.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk said b Wellington's official week interview. It's
Friday Fasar with Kudov Property Management, a better rental experience
for all visit Quovi dot Co. It's head Thursday, dozen
starts friay, that's.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Fudaya.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I don't care.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Tuesday West.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Thursday never.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Welcome back. It's that time of the week again. I've
just got to be careful when I turned my guests
mic on, because I've been sort of chatting away like
a couple of long lost friends. I thought they wouldn't
get on. I thought they might have had a few
fights over the Primate Council. But they'd beginning on like
the house damn fire. It's kind of annoyed. I'm looking
at my producer saying, what have you got me? A
couple of people are going to hold hands in the
ad breaks and be nice to each other. Friday face off.
(01:14):
We have Justin Lesta was going to call him Justin Nelson,
then Justin Leicester and Wellington City Councilor Nicola Young. Of
course Justin Lester was a former Wellington mayor and now
he's the director of dot Love's data. Let's start at
the top. Are we awake? Are we okay?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Totally awake?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Morning? Ok?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah? Humming ready. Wellington mayor announced she isn't going to
seek re election and has thrown her super support behind Little.
First she was going to pull out and Justin Lester
was going to stand. Then that never happened. Just to
Leicester read my text machine for saw that there was
so much antinism coming back. Read the room and he said, no, no, no, no,
(01:57):
no way.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I think last time I was on that you have
beaten me almost no first and foremost I didn't want to,
So I don't really I'm not fazed by what other
people think.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But look, I mean there was a whole lot of
rumors around Labor pushing you and trying to get you,
trying to get you to stand and stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wasn't it a lot wonderful outcome? Andrew's running. I think
he'd great for the city. So he look forward to
seeing him campaign and you know, Tory stepping aside. I
think it's a smart decision. She'll get him behind Andrew
and support him. But he's clearly said that Locke he
won't be having Tory's deputy. He wants to probably reach
out to somebody else on the center of the right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Let's cut to the chase on that a little bit, right,
because obviously that didn't come out of nowhere, that whole
you know, her being deputy and then having a deal
and her ringing him and speaking it. Suddenly he realized,
because he's smart, if nothing else, he's very smart, would
have worked out that that's not what the public would
have voted for. They would not have wanted to have
(03:01):
Tory foundo stepping down is mayor and then being deputy
mayor under Andrew Little good Day.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I don't think it was a very interest plan.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So my view is there was absolutely no plan by
Andrew for that. I think it was just people sort
of fantasizing and making up stuff. You know, it was
just ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
The good thing was he came out quickly, and yeah,
he cut the tie. I mean, let's let's cut to
the chase. He cut the tie pretty damn quickly.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Nicholas, right, that wasn't his plan. You know, Andrew's his
own person. He'll have his own strategy and it's not
continuing on from the previous council. I think Nicholas, Right again,
You're want to cut ties to that and you want
to start a fresh.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, can I just can I just say, because you
know it's not my line, but I love it and
I'll keep using it. It's Ethan's line. The problem now
is we've got a coronation, not an election. Yes, and
no one would understand that more than you, Nicholas.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Oh yeah, because I'm so into royalty haha. No, no,
I get it. I mean we do. I do want
to have a contested campaign. I mean the problem is,
I mean I support Andrew Little. I rang him. I've
been quite open about that to say before he announced
that I would.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Support you have no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I mean it's his call. He has his deputy mayor.
But the thing is he is so overwhelmingly more qualified
for the job than anyone else who is standing. And
I do believe that he has a really good chance
of uniting the Council, whereas all the other candidates will
not be able to unite the council. And what we
need is a united Council with some strong leadership, and
(04:27):
I think he will provide it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
What would you feel if someone right wing that was
really really good. How would you feel then if someone
stood we were still months away from well.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
I think would have me return into church thinking there
are miracles after all, because there is no sign of
anyone from the right standing. And also the thing is
Wellington is a left wing city. So someone who's right,
I mean we did have Prebble once as an MP.
But you know, someone from the right, I think even
if they were amazing, they would struggle to be elected
(04:59):
in Wellington as it is now. So that's why I
think Andrew Little is you know. I mean, you know,
I mix with a lot of people who have have
quite serious connections with the National Party and they all
said to me, it's got to be Andrew Little.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Does that put us at a low ep? Does that
say you know, justin I'll come to you first on that?
Does that say that you know that failed? I mean,
I got to be honest, he kind of didn't really
crack it in government. I mean, I mean, I know
you'll have a different argument to that. He was leader.
He stood down for you know, just inder he went
(05:33):
from different portfolio to different portfolio and then stood down.
I mean, he wasn't like a raging success. Does that
say where we are and willing to.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Oh, look, I think he's a successful Minisin did a
really good job. I think if anything, he was selfless
when he stood down, but he did make it to
be leader. There are a lot of people in the
city that wake up every day and send in front
of the mirror and say I could be there, but
then they'd or prime minister, Plenty of business execs, plenty
you work in a private sector and plenty You say
to me, is that i'd get in there? Really things up.
(06:07):
The thing is they don't. They don't. They don't run
because either they're not brave enough or two they don't
get elected because people don't agree with him. Three they
don't hurt a campaign potentially, and ultimately they then fail.
I've seen countless people from over represented or being in
governance roles in the Chamber of Commerce, across business. One
(06:29):
guy who ran a really great campaign actually in twenty
ten when I first ran, he came last in his ward,
but also didn't run in the war. They lived on.
So look, it's not a coronation. Last time three years ago,
about this time of the year, we're sitting there together, Nick,
you and I and Peter Dunn and it was we
discussed potentially a two horse race between Paul Eagle and
(06:51):
Andy Foster. Look what changed. You know, Tory came through
the middle. On election day, Ray Chane was ahead of Paul.
People weren't expecting that necessarily either. I mean, a coronation,
it's always a campaign people can have gas.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I think this is a I mean, I've been around
a little bit longer than you, and probably as long
as Nicholas. I can't ever remember, well, I probably maybe
when Kerrie won at once. I can't remember a one
sided race like this in Oneington before. Well.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Look, I don't think it's going to be as one
sided as you think, because whilst we think it's going
to be one sided, I think Ray will campaign hard
and people really like him. He talks to a lot
of people, so people really like that. But what I
want is someone who doesn't just talk but actually governs
the city and runs the council and unites the council.
So I think the election campaign will be very interesting
(07:42):
because I think we'll see a number of candidates in
their true colors, and you know, no one's going to
think at the end of the campaign that Andrew Little
is the most exciting candidate. I don't want the most
exciting candidate. I want a competent mayor because our city
is in a really perilous state. And I want someone
who's intelligent, who's experienced, and Okay, his politics aren't my politics,
(08:05):
but I'm an independent and I will always support the
person who I think is best for well action.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Just I want someone that's a bit more show biz.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
You've had showbers for the past three years. How did
that go well?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I want someone that can do the job. I want
something that can lead an organization and can manage the
politics sensibly to get decisions made. It doesn't have to
be unanimously, but with a strong majority around the table.
I want someone who can actually do the job. And
Nicholas spoken at length. Remember and Nicola sits alongside all
of her councilor colleagues, including Ray, and I've met Ray.
(08:42):
Ray ran unsuccessfully two times. I think in Onslo West
Vardani Ward when I was on council. He's a nice
guy who would be a disastrous mayor because he would
not have the support of his counsel. Can I be
able to get anything through?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Can I just ask you both quickly? What will be
Tory's legacy.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Tory's legacy well first and foremost. I think for Tory,
she's the first Mouldi mare in Wellington, so that will
be a significant legacy for her because no one else
can change that. But also Wahania Moldy, she's the first
Moldy woman there. She said, a difficult three years with
a council that hasn't always seen eye with.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Her, but she's had the majority, so she's had to control,
that's the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Thing, and she's won most of her votes and so
things that have progressed through her Nicola and may have
a different point of view she said alongside this, but
she's achieved what she wanted to achieve because she hasn't
lost many votes.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
So I would say her legacy so it is very
different to Justin's point of view. Her legacy is that
Wellingston has gone backwards. You know, she's championed issues that
have backfired on her. The Golden Mile we all know
as we walk through it, Nick, you and I walk
through it every day. You know it is desperate and
it is going to cripple the city even more. You know,
(09:55):
the airport's sate off.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So do you think that they should go ahead with
a golden mile.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
No, I think they should stop it immediately.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We've been told by Andrew that if the contracts have
been signed that he won't rip them up, which is
his decision and his prerogative. We've also heard from Tori
that she's going to do whatever she can to make
sure they are signed.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Well, I think whatever she can might not be the
same as being able to do it because we've got
a new chief executive.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And will he make that decision or will she.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I'm sure they were going to be discussing it, but
I think I think there are a significant number of
councilors who are very unhappy at the idea of what
being signed off before the election. Bear in her mind.
You know, we are now in May and we go
into recess in July, and in many ways the campaign
has already begun. But let me just say, going back
to Tory's legacy, I think her biggest legacy is the
(10:43):
disaster of the Redding Cinema. When you know she I
think she was talked into it by officers when she
was the problem is, she had no experience in local government,
and I think she got pushed into it. Then there
was that disastrous code of conduct which just she declared
war on five councilors. Cost a lot of money and
it didn't get anywhere. And in the end the finals,
I shouldn't say the final solution that the solution was
(11:06):
what it should have been, which is it's taken up
by a private enterprise. So that I think is her
legacy and it's not a good legacy.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Friday face off for Justin Lester and Nikola Young Ratary
the Internet Into Island Fery arratary has been retired, leaving
just two Into Island ferries till twenty twenty nine. The
ratary can carry fifteen thousand passengers each week, Justin, Can
we cope without it? Is this a risk?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Of course? It is? What a monumental blowout. I mean,
this would have been solved if we'd had the theories
when they were ordered them being built.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, but we've been very poor as a country. Sorry,
we'd be very poor as a country if we had
to keep.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Well, not if you take it. It's a fundamentally that
pored infrastructure is a fifty year decision. So you've got
to spread the investment, which will never be cheaper again
in the future, it's not going to go down in price.
But did they need to spend that money. Obviously not. Well,
also didn't need to spend money and giving landlord tax breaks.
We did that in the cost of billion dollars. We
borrow twelve billion dollars for tax cuts. Okay, all about priority.
(12:07):
The money's there, depends how you prioritize it. I'd much
rather invest in infrastructure and say firies. Look, we've seen
it just this past week and you know, again credit
to all of the services that the Fury providers and
the like. You know they're canceled early. But we saw
it way back with the Wahina. We need safe fury infrastructure.
(12:28):
And this is a blowout because we're going to have
smaller fairies costing more, and we're going to be without
the art of telly for several years. And what's it
going to do? Nighttime sailings inadequate levels of sailings. We
can't send our terrorists across what is effectively State Highway
one corridor across the sea.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So you know, I have a certain amount of sympathy
and agreement with justin certain amount. But the thing is
I got quite involved in the proposal to have those
super sized firies working with Darren Pontter because they wanted
to bring them into the inner Harbor, which would have
been terrible for weal act with a flyover going from
the sports are rended on to the railway station. But the
point is it wasn't just the fairies. It was the
(13:07):
fact that they had to rebuild both ports in a
major way. That was really the cost blowout. And to
be fair, I don't think the government was kept of
the time, was kept fully informed.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Well, they just keep going back asking for more and
more since you got told yes.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Yeah, yeah, But I mean I think it was handled
incredibly poorly by que Rail. I don't know the ins
and outs of it, but the thing is it is
what it is. We've just got it. At least we've
got blue Bridge, and you know it's a very busy crossing.
Justin's right to state how I won. But you know,
Bluebridge is getting a new ferry. It's going to be
here in July and that will be and they'll keep
that for a while and then they'll sell off one
(13:42):
of the other older ones. I just think we have
to make sure that people in freight can still get
across and yep, it's not going to be great with
night crossings, but it is what it is. And I
think that the whole way that the Inter Island Fairies,
Hue Rail and Bluebridge are operated need a really good
look at by the government because they are so essential
(14:03):
to our future.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I think I think justin I'd love to get your
view on. I think they've not taken seriously enough the
whole idea, you know, because it's so important. You know
that tourism. We know how important tourism to us. Tourists
love the fairies going.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
On great it's a great trip on a good.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Day, it's fantastic. And look, if it was a piece
of road that had was as unreliable as potentially as
it's going to be in coming years, we'd fix it.
And we're not doing that. We're not giving it the
sufficient support that it needs. And it's a critical piece
of public infrastructure. But likewise, credit the Blue Bridge. They
do a wonderful job.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Have you ever gone on Blue Bridge?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yeah, plenty of times.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Grat I've gone on Bluebridge. Better coffee is it okay? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Good movies and great kids rooms actually too, so really
good affairs.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And they also have I was looking up last night.
They also have no you know, I'm late onset dog aware.
They also have rooms where you can have dogs that
don't have to be in kennels for the voyage.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Okay, so I've never been on it, but I always
just think of them as a little bit older and
a little bit rougher and not quite as nice are.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
They And they're investing in them, so it's really great
have the additional competition, and I think they do a
good job.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Okay, I want to move on and ask you your
ideas on this. The government is reversing changes from the
last Labor government and will ban all prisoners from voting
in elections if they're sentenced to three years or less. Nicola,
what are your views on this?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, this won't surprised you. I mean, I think the
government's decision is right. Voting is a privilege and prison
is about losing privileges, and I think it's a good idea.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
What about My argument is they're coming out in the
next period.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Of time, so they've got something to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
But they should be able to vote on what's happening
in the society. Did they come out.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
To well, they should have thought about that before they
committed the crimes.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Speaking like a true toy, you know, I mean, it's
might annowys be about your tories is you can't actually
have an open mind.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
I've got an open minded but I've been so open
minded about the city council. But this is not a
city council issue. I'm very black and white about this
one thing.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
It was named after you wasn't absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I know. I know you'll take the party line as well,
and party line I'll take.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I'll tell you whose line will take. I'll take that
of Great Labor Party Douen, but English who said prisons
are both a fiscal and a moral failure. The more
people we have out of prison when they served that
time are the better. So how one opportunity to reintegrate
people back into society is have them connected to community,
(16:39):
have them learned, having educated, have them feel a part
of New Zealand. And votings are part of that. But
more importantly, I'll take the line of the New Zealand
Supreme Court who said that not allowing prisoners to vote,
and particularly those who are serving three years or less,
is a breach of the Human Rights Act. So this
is just a massive distraction for the government. Why would
(17:01):
you focus on this distraction? It's just dog whistle polar
Why would you spend all this time to reverse something
that's already been done well when it's going to go
back through the court in order to get overturned.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Can I tell you that the argument I had that
same argument and got told by my newsroom it's actually
just a flick of a piece of paper, click like that,
and it's changed. There's no cost involved in changing it.
There's no big, major thing.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Except for now it'll be re litigated through the courts
and we're going to have all this distraction. It's wasting
the court's time, it's wasting the money's spent on lawyers,
all of the above. So why have you done it?
Why have you wasted any time whatsoever?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Who is the kind of top top dog? Is that
the courts? Or is it parliament?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Because parliament, no court acts as a check on parliament.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Doesn't have a parliament sovereignty.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Parliament is suprea. We've been told in my ear by
my producer. And he wouldn't make a mistake like that.
He wouldn't put me under the bus like that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Not that some interpretation of the laws. So that's why
we had a court. It's a check in the balance
of Parliament.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
So anyway, you know what our views are on that.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
One court has no power over parts. I've been told
in my ear it doesn't. It's interpretation of the law. Well,
Ew and Ethan can have that fight after the show
Friday face off with Nikola Young and Justin Lester just
turning their mics on. I'm going to change tact a
little bit. This morning we talked about and and you
(18:24):
guys don't know about this, so I'm going to throw
you under the bus a little bit. The idea that
David Seymour's come up was that he wants to lessen
the amount of ministries and he wants to lessen the
amount of people around the cabinet table and he wants
to tighten things up. What are your thoughts, Justin, do
you think we've got too many people around the cabinet
table and do you think that I mean, let me
(18:46):
let me just hear me out of it. You know,
Chris Bishop, who we know is very very strong, Minister Housing,
Minister of Infrastructure, Minister Responsible Rima Transport, Minister, Leader for
the House, so ship minister finance, so ship minister for sport.
I mean one minister can't do all that.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
No, of course they can't. And you can't do a
good job doing all of that either, So having fewer
people around the cabinet table. I don't think it's going
to help. I mean, again, this is sort of just
a little bit of dog.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, you get rid of a whole lot of ministries.
That's what he's saying. Ministry for women. Do we need
a ministry for women?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We do not?
Speaker 1 (19:17):
No?
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Sorry, can you can you say that again? I had
your mic tunal Well, your question is.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Do we need a ministry for women? In the answers
we do not.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
No, we don't. And I have a woman in my
life that doesn't think so either. So it's too out
of two that I know.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
So my father had one of his portfolios was Minister
for Women's Affairs with four daughters and a female cat.
We thought it was just.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Ridiculous, and that would have been in the twenties, so
that's a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Plenty of people who disagree, and I'm one of them,
and I think we do need a ministry for women.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You know what you're telling me right now, you're telling
me that a woman is not as strong as a man.
That's what you're telling me. You're telling me a woman
hasn't got the quality that am.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Now it's patronizing to have a ministry for women. No,
it's as a woman.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
The advocate on half of women's rights. I know for
a fact with my two daughters, but they will not
have the same opportunities and they're quite different people to
to every boy.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Or do you think the Ministry for Women's Affairs is
going to make any difference?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What do I think it's going to hurt?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I think women have better opportunities of men, So I'll
argue about you all day long. I think they have
better opportunities. The better workers, are smarter.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Advantages because they take time off to have children and things.
But the point is we have what a.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Population idealism from yester year. I knows lots of women
that woman that don't have any idea, no give a
damn about having children.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
So what's really improved and is it because of the
existence of the Ministry for Women? We have better paid
parental leave these days as opposed to not having at
all in the past.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So just moving away from women's affairs. I mean, we
have an enormous number of ministers for considering the size
of our population. And I heard them on this program,
this station last night. You know, I think Ireland has
the same population and has about half a number of ministries.
There are so many ministries we could get rid of.
There are so many ministries that we could get rid of.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
We should just get rid of Parliament, don't seem.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Do we need a ministry for racing? Do we need
a ministry for hunting and fishing? Do we need a ministry?
You know, there's a whole lot of ministries we don't.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
My suggestion, what is the cost and what is it
as a fraction of the entire budget? And is this
a cost that is better served elsewhere? And then make
a good decision. Do we need a ministry for racing?
What the racing sector would say, yes, do I need it?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
I don't, But there are a lot of people who
say it's important enough that they should have it.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
How can we have a minister for education one of
the top four and immigration a big important position, leader
of coordination ministry for the government response to the Royal
Commissions reporting to historical abuse in the state care and
care face based institutions. I mean, how can one person
look at it?
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So they can't, So we should go back to I
think we have. We have some extremely competent ministers, and
I think they are probably overburdened. I don't know how
they cope. I heard you saying the same thing on
the radio this morning about Nikola Willis. We should go
back to having undersecretaries who are not ministers, but to
help carry the load for those huge portfolios. But you know,
with the m m P, you know, they you start
(22:12):
going towards having more because everyone wants to have a
certain number for their parties. But I think the number
of minister's ministries we have and ministers is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Who's going to do the work for all of these
sectors if we take it away?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
That's so that's why you have undersecretaries can do some
of the work. But some of those portfolios, like the
Ministry for Racing and of course I think Women's affairs,
But we'll lead that one to one side.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah, I don't want don't We'll give you one very well.
I don't want a conversation.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh gosh, hopefully you'll get a bit of a brack
up where he gets home.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
He lives with three women, he'll get plenty of wrack cups.
Women are strong.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
We've been telling him that by father, superior species of that.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Which is why we don't need a ministry.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's very different. You will agree to disagree on that.
What it says. They do a great job of advocating
on behalf of women and have historically and hopefully.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I tell you what we need. I tell you exactly
what we need before we true for me, we need
we need a minister for older white guys.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
And Nick, you could be the minister for that ministry.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Who's the minister a woman?
Speaker 4 (23:17):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Who's the woman minister? A woman?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Not sure?
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Probably that's it. Nicola greg Is, by the way, Friday
face off with Justin Lester and Nicola Young Nicola. No,
I'm gonna ask Justin first, because you'll probably know. How
much is a pound of butter? How much is a
pound of butter?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Metric? We're metric?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Well, well, well, the bigger punk, the bigger undergrads.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Why would I care? But is it five hundred grams? Yeah? Well,
there we go.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
How much of it? How much does it cost you.
I'd say that these days you're just kissing.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
You've got no idea ten dollars fifty.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Yeah, we are by unsaulted, and that is more expensive.
And yeah it it can be ten dollars fifty, but
you can sometimes get it slightly, would juice, which is
when I b it and put it in the freezer.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's all right. I just were talking about abuse before
off air, and I was absolutely abused by by a
text because I said that I paid ten dollars for
a pound of butter five hundred grad a punnet of
butter whatever it is, you know, pound of butter on
my day, our day, and I paid over ten dollars
of Pack and Save and someone rang up absolutely blasted me.
He said, I'm an idiot. He paid sixty eight six
(24:28):
dollars eighty for.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
It one special at Pack and Save Kilbernie probably local supermarkets.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And because I like unsalted, you don't get the disc
you don't get the cheap of bread.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Enjoy butter, hot crossish today, hot cross buns and butter
butter with hot delicious, I cannot beat it.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah, as long as they've got as long as the
traditional hot cross buns.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Chocolate, No chocolate Augery, Hot Cross Buns, best Hot Ground
August or Grays. Grays also very good.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
We're not we're not specialized in Calburn.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
If you haven't been delightful, right, just a Lester and
Nicola Young, Let's talk about cabinet ministers. The Herald's Audrey
Young has rated every cabinet minister. Audrey, you know, and
I thought she was very positive, but she obviously was
very Yeah, okay, she was very positive. I'll leave it
at that, Nicola, who are your top performers?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Okay, so this is slightly awkward for me because some
of them are long term and good friends of mine.
So I'm going to try and put that to one side.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
But we're are they asking you for the top ones?
I don't have to be your friends?
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Well, but there might be. But I would just say
that the top team have delivered really well. But the
two who have really impressed me are the newcomers, which
is Silly and Brown and Pink. I think they are
outstanding and I think we're really lucky to have ministers
of that caliber.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, Silly and Brown always looks like he needs to
go back to school to me. But I mean he
does performint no, no, no, I'm being agist, but that
and that as well. What happens when you get a
bit older, you get tell us of those good look
at young guys, don't you.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
No, no, you start move on from that justin.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I think Christship has been good on housing of the
house and reform, having said that, not a single additional
house has yet been constructed because that takes time. Erika
Stanford's been good on education. I thought the announcement this
weeeker on financial literacy for kids through education was really good.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I think she's been outstanding. I think she'd been better
than good because I think she's been outstanding with immigration
too tough, too tough things to look after. Look, yeah,
I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I think she's probably been the best performing minister. Criticisms
of Chris Bishop well, actually it's not his portfolio, but
there is a surging rise in homelessness because of it's
not his portfolios. It's with Tama Portaka because people have
been kicked out and no one knows whe they've gone,
and they don't out of emergency housing accommodation. So we're
going to see that.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
They're all the Ministry and Courtney Place judging by late
night when.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And they are and even just walking down here to
the studio. Now it's a sad, sad indictment on New Zealand. So,
I mean, I think I've forgot her name. Former National
Party pressech Janis J Wilson Janet Wilson rose a fairly
scathing opinion piece a few weeks ago into spot On.
(27:15):
So yeah, that has been a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Okay, there's been a lot of talk and I'm for it.
Nicholas not going to like this, but from an international
Monetary Fund that found that seventy year olds today have
the same physical health as a fifty six year old
and in the year two thousand and the heralds Liam
Dan argues that it's further proof that we need to
raise the retirement age. Nikolaur, I'll start with that because
(27:40):
you'll be getting very close to the retirement age, so
we need to.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Find it on the eleventh of October. So I absolutely
believe the retirement age should be lifted, and I think
it should be lifted quite dramatically.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
It's already suggesting.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Oh, I think it should be lifted gradually. Yea At
least to seventy. I think people have to have a
long lead in times that they can prepare for it.
It's a shame. The National Party said it was one
of their policies at the last election, but the New
Zealand First stopped it. I think it is ridiculous to
have a retirement age of sixty five and the country
can't afford it, and other countries have increased their retirement age.
(28:13):
Why are we so? You know, sometimes when you're making
when your leaders, you have to make tough decisions, even
if they're not e literally very successful. But the people
who they think that's speaking in generalizations. A lot of
older people tend to vote National. They won't be affected
by a change in the voting age. It's the people
in their forties will be affected. I mean, I think
what the government's propos proposals the elections wouldn't affect anyone
(28:36):
born before nineteen seventy eight. I think that's right. Well,
my son is in his late forties. I mean, it
wouldn't have affected him. So I think the sooner we
do it, the better. We've got to be realistic.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Just in your thoughts on it, one hundred percent, I'm
actually born in ninety seventy eight. And I don't mind
if it be my son could have I don't mind
if it impacts me, because look, what is it The
single line, single largest line of expenditure currently for New
Zealand's thirty one percent of all government expenditure goes on
superannuation and benefits. And the benefit component of that is
(29:08):
much much smaller than the superannuation component. And yet it's
not means tested, and it's at sixty five, and there's
there's no courage, there's no leadership on that front, and
ultimately it's becoming a financial moose for future generation.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
It's not one arbatross around our country's neck, is about
three arbatrosses.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
It is ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
I think of I think just I've I've been thinking
since you mentioned that Justin could have been your son.
I think he would vote differently he as your son.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Who knows how my son votes? He said when he
moved into the Lambton ward, the agent said you can
vote for your mother, and he said, no, I have
the option of voting for my mother, but he does
run my campaign. So I'm pretty confident.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
One cave that I'd have for that is the average
person and certainly ages better than we're having the past.
But if I had to work day and day out
in construction or something else manual labor, or it's much
much harder. I've got the benefit of having office boy
hands look pretty life.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
My argument that is My argument to that is a
very high percentage of people that were builders, hands with plumbers,
drain layers, people that really work brick layers, hard hard jobs.
As they got older they become office workers. So you know,
I mean there would be it would effect. You know,
I think it should be a company owners. Yeah, and
I think that it should be tested. I mean, if
(30:29):
you if your body is breaking down at sixty five
and you have worked hard all your life, then get
get the pension at sixty five.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
I think one of the problems with testing is the
cost of it was so high.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yes, okay, all right, but we both, we all three
of us agree that it needs to raise.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
So why are we doing it?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
The Friday fire hot and not.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
My favorite time of the week is to get my
two learned guests to tell me what they're hot and
they're not of the weak is I'm going to start
with you, Nikola Young what's your hot? And you're not
apart from our new studio.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
So new studio is fabulous. The hot is, as you know,
I have come far more interested in dogs. And as
from the first of May, dogs are allowed to go
back and swim at Oriental Bay Beach until the thirty
first of October. I think they should come in to
land every now and again, not just keep swimming all
that time. What I read him is they have access
to the water all that time. So that's my hot.
(31:22):
You know. I think it's terrific for dog owners in
the inner city that they have access to a great
beach without him to get into a car and go
to Lao Bay or Potonia, et cetera. My knot is sorry,
that's my hot. My nott is it's got to be
the Golden Mile. I'm walking back from the Battle the
Fabulous Badder. The other night I started talking to a guy.
Guy started talking to me. He was from Burma, started
(31:42):
complaining about the council, not realizing I was a counselor,
so I told him I was. He's got a restaurant
in the Oaks Complex and he said that the business
has been absolutely struggling, partly because the city feels hostile parking,
the vagrancy, homeless issue, but most of all the whole
uncertainty over the Golden Mile. So my hot, my knot
(32:04):
is we've got to stop the Golden from going any further.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Harlelujah. Tell him to give me a ring. Tell him
I've just opened a restaurant along there, and I know
how tough it is justin Leicster.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Just quickly on the dog acually. That's credit to counselors
Simon marsh and the time I remember when he brought
that forward as an amendment, which I supported. So it's
great to see that you're enjoying that, Nicholas.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
I, owner and I have worked together on because we've
now in the winter, got them so they're large to
be on the other side of the band rotunda. That's
another hot. By the way, the band rotunda is going
to be back by twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Well, okay, you heard it here first. I believe when
I see.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
It twenty nineteen is will we remember.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
You work together?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Actually with the owner's hot, it's nice to have a serious,
accomplished candidate running from there. So Andrew little credit to him.
He could have just been quite happy as a lawyer.
Gibson sheet I think he is, so it's great to
see that he's running to the mayoralty. I think that
vodes well for Wellington in the next three years and
get the city back on track. That's I think much time.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Can you hurry up and look?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
It's the weather. It's it's been pretty miserable. I'm not
looking forward to going outside. There will be a calm
after the storm. Well done all those Wellingtonians for braving
through it. But it'd be nice to get some sunshine.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
But we've had some. We've had a mouthlous come start
to spread. I mean to autumn last day. Yeah, we've
always had the same period.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
At least there be water shortage.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I've got to go because I've got to take an
ad break. It is seven minutes to twelve. Justin Lester
and Nicola Young. Thank you very much. Have a great
weekend and don't worry about the weather. The weather's the weather.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news Talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk said b Wellington's official week interview. It's
Friday Fasar with Kudov Property Management, a better rental experience
for all visit Quovi dot Co. It's head Thursday, dozen
starts friay, that's.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Fudaya.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I don't care.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Tuesday West.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Thursday never.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Welcome back. It's that time of the week again. I've
just got to be careful when I turned my guests
mic on, because I've been sort of chatting away like
a couple of long lost friends. I thought they wouldn't
get on. I thought they might have had a few
fights over the Primate Council. But they'd beginning on like
the house damn fire. It's kind of annoyed. I'm looking
at my producer saying, what have you got me? A
couple of people are going to hold hands in the
ad breaks and be nice to each other. Friday face off.
(01:14):
We have Justin Lesta was going to call him Justin Nelson,
then Justin Leicester and Wellington City Councilor Nicola Young. Of
course Justin Lester was a former Wellington mayor and now
he's the director of dot Love's data. Let's start at
the top. Are we awake? Are we okay?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Totally awake?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Morning? Ok?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah? Humming ready. Wellington mayor announced she isn't going to
seek re election and has thrown her super support behind Little.
First she was going to pull out and Justin Lester
was going to stand. Then that never happened. Just to
Leicester read my text machine for saw that there was
so much antinism coming back. Read the room and he said, no, no, no, no,
(01:57):
no way.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I think last time I was on that you have
beaten me almost no first and foremost I didn't want to,
So I don't really I'm not fazed by what other
people think.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But look, I mean there was a whole lot of
rumors around Labor pushing you and trying to get you,
trying to get you to stand and stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wasn't it a lot wonderful outcome? Andrew's running. I think
he'd great for the city. So he look forward to
seeing him campaign and you know, Tory stepping aside. I
think it's a smart decision. She'll get him behind Andrew
and support him. But he's clearly said that Locke he
won't be having Tory's deputy. He wants to probably reach
out to somebody else on the center of the right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Let's cut to the chase on that a little bit, right,
because obviously that didn't come out of nowhere, that whole
you know, her being deputy and then having a deal
and her ringing him and speaking it. Suddenly he realized,
because he's smart, if nothing else, he's very smart, would
have worked out that that's not what the public would
have voted for. They would not have wanted to have
(03:01):
Tory foundo stepping down is mayor and then being deputy
mayor under Andrew Little good Day.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I don't think it was a very interest plan.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So my view is there was absolutely no plan by
Andrew for that. I think it was just people sort
of fantasizing and making up stuff. You know, it was
just ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
The good thing was he came out quickly, and yeah,
he cut the tie. I mean, let's let's cut to
the chase. He cut the tie pretty damn quickly.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Nicholas, right, that wasn't his plan. You know, Andrew's his
own person. He'll have his own strategy and it's not
continuing on from the previous council. I think Nicholas, Right again,
You're want to cut ties to that and you want
to start a fresh.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, can I just can I just say, because you
know it's not my line, but I love it and
I'll keep using it. It's Ethan's line. The problem now
is we've got a coronation, not an election. Yes, and
no one would understand that more than you, Nicholas.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Oh yeah, because I'm so into royalty haha. No, no,
I get it. I mean we do. I do want
to have a contested campaign. I mean the problem is,
I mean I support Andrew Little. I rang him. I've
been quite open about that to say before he announced
that I would.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Support you have no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I mean it's his call. He has his deputy mayor.
But the thing is he is so overwhelmingly more qualified
for the job than anyone else who is standing. And
I do believe that he has a really good chance
of uniting the Council, whereas all the other candidates will
not be able to unite the council. And what we
need is a united Council with some strong leadership, and
(04:27):
I think he will provide it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
What would you feel if someone right wing that was
really really good. How would you feel then if someone
stood we were still months away from well.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
I think would have me return into church thinking there
are miracles after all, because there is no sign of
anyone from the right standing. And also the thing is
Wellington is a left wing city. So someone who's right,
I mean we did have Prebble once as an MP.
But you know, someone from the right, I think even
if they were amazing, they would struggle to be elected
(04:59):
in Wellington as it is now. So that's why I
think Andrew Little is you know. I mean, you know,
I mix with a lot of people who have have
quite serious connections with the National Party and they all
said to me, it's got to be Andrew Little.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Does that put us at a low ep? Does that
say you know, justin I'll come to you first on that?
Does that say that you know that failed? I mean,
I got to be honest, he kind of didn't really
crack it in government. I mean, I mean, I know
you'll have a different argument to that. He was leader.
He stood down for you know, just inder he went
(05:33):
from different portfolio to different portfolio and then stood down.
I mean, he wasn't like a raging success. Does that
say where we are and willing to.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Oh, look, I think he's a successful Minisin did a
really good job. I think if anything, he was selfless
when he stood down, but he did make it to
be leader. There are a lot of people in the
city that wake up every day and send in front
of the mirror and say I could be there, but
then they'd or prime minister, Plenty of business execs, plenty
you work in a private sector and plenty You say
to me, is that i'd get in there? Really things up.
(06:07):
The thing is they don't. They don't. They don't run
because either they're not brave enough or two they don't
get elected because people don't agree with him. Three they
don't hurt a campaign potentially, and ultimately they then fail.
I've seen countless people from over represented or being in
governance roles in the Chamber of Commerce, across business. One
(06:29):
guy who ran a really great campaign actually in twenty
ten when I first ran, he came last in his ward,
but also didn't run in the war. They lived on.
So look, it's not a coronation. Last time three years ago,
about this time of the year, we're sitting there together, Nick,
you and I and Peter Dunn and it was we
discussed potentially a two horse race between Paul Eagle and
(06:51):
Andy Foster. Look what changed. You know, Tory came through
the middle. On election day, Ray Chane was ahead of Paul.
People weren't expecting that necessarily either. I mean, a coronation,
it's always a campaign people can have gas.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I think this is a I mean, I've been around
a little bit longer than you, and probably as long
as Nicholas. I can't ever remember, well, I probably maybe
when Kerrie won at once. I can't remember a one
sided race like this in Oneington before. Well.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Look, I don't think it's going to be as one
sided as you think, because whilst we think it's going
to be one sided, I think Ray will campaign hard
and people really like him. He talks to a lot
of people, so people really like that. But what I
want is someone who doesn't just talk but actually governs
the city and runs the council and unites the council.
So I think the election campaign will be very interesting
(07:42):
because I think we'll see a number of candidates in
their true colors, and you know, no one's going to
think at the end of the campaign that Andrew Little
is the most exciting candidate. I don't want the most
exciting candidate. I want a competent mayor because our city
is in a really perilous state. And I want someone
who's intelligent, who's experienced, and Okay, his politics aren't my politics,
(08:05):
but I'm an independent and I will always support the
person who I think is best for well action.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Just I want someone that's a bit more show biz.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
You've had showbers for the past three years. How did
that go well?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I want someone that can do the job. I want
something that can lead an organization and can manage the
politics sensibly to get decisions made. It doesn't have to
be unanimously, but with a strong majority around the table.
I want someone who can actually do the job. And
Nicholas spoken at length. Remember and Nicola sits alongside all
of her councilor colleagues, including Ray, and I've met Ray.
(08:42):
Ray ran unsuccessfully two times. I think in Onslo West
Vardani Ward when I was on council. He's a nice
guy who would be a disastrous mayor because he would
not have the support of his counsel. Can I be
able to get anything through?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Can I just ask you both quickly? What will be
Tory's legacy.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Tory's legacy well first and foremost. I think for Tory,
she's the first Mouldi mare in Wellington, so that will
be a significant legacy for her because no one else
can change that. But also Wahania Moldy, she's the first
Moldy woman there. She said, a difficult three years with
a council that hasn't always seen eye with.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Her, but she's had the majority, so she's had to control,
that's the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Thing, and she's won most of her votes and so
things that have progressed through her Nicola and may have
a different point of view she said alongside this, but
she's achieved what she wanted to achieve because she hasn't
lost many votes.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
So I would say her legacy so it is very
different to Justin's point of view. Her legacy is that
Wellingston has gone backwards. You know, she's championed issues that
have backfired on her. The Golden Mile we all know
as we walk through it, Nick, you and I walk
through it every day. You know it is desperate and
it is going to cripple the city even more. You know,
(09:55):
the airport's sate off.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So do you think that they should go ahead with
a golden mile.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
No, I think they should stop it immediately.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We've been told by Andrew that if the contracts have
been signed that he won't rip them up, which is
his decision and his prerogative. We've also heard from Tori
that she's going to do whatever she can to make
sure they are signed.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Well, I think whatever she can might not be the
same as being able to do it because we've got
a new chief executive.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And will he make that decision or will she.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I'm sure they were going to be discussing it, but
I think I think there are a significant number of
councilors who are very unhappy at the idea of what
being signed off before the election. Bear in her mind.
You know, we are now in May and we go
into recess in July, and in many ways the campaign
has already begun. But let me just say, going back
to Tory's legacy, I think her biggest legacy is the
(10:43):
disaster of the Redding Cinema. When you know she I
think she was talked into it by officers when she
was the problem is, she had no experience in local government,
and I think she got pushed into it. Then there
was that disastrous code of conduct which just she declared
war on five councilors. Cost a lot of money and
it didn't get anywhere. And in the end the finals,
I shouldn't say the final solution that the solution was
(11:06):
what it should have been, which is it's taken up
by a private enterprise. So that I think is her
legacy and it's not a good legacy.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Friday face off for Justin Lester and Nikola Young Ratary
the Internet Into Island Fery arratary has been retired, leaving
just two Into Island ferries till twenty twenty nine. The
ratary can carry fifteen thousand passengers each week, Justin, Can
we cope without it? Is this a risk?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Of course? It is? What a monumental blowout. I mean,
this would have been solved if we'd had the theories
when they were ordered them being built.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, but we've been very poor as a country. Sorry,
we'd be very poor as a country if we had
to keep.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Well, not if you take it. It's a fundamentally that
pored infrastructure is a fifty year decision. So you've got
to spread the investment, which will never be cheaper again
in the future, it's not going to go down in price.
But did they need to spend that money. Obviously not. Well,
also didn't need to spend money and giving landlord tax breaks.
We did that in the cost of billion dollars. We
borrow twelve billion dollars for tax cuts. Okay, all about priority.
(12:07):
The money's there, depends how you prioritize it. I'd much
rather invest in infrastructure and say firies. Look, we've seen
it just this past week and you know, again credit
to all of the services that the Fury providers and
the like. You know they're canceled early. But we saw
it way back with the Wahina. We need safe fury infrastructure.
(12:28):
And this is a blowout because we're going to have
smaller fairies costing more, and we're going to be without
the art of telly for several years. And what's it
going to do? Nighttime sailings inadequate levels of sailings. We
can't send our terrorists across what is effectively State Highway
one corridor across the sea.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So you know, I have a certain amount of sympathy
and agreement with justin certain amount. But the thing is
I got quite involved in the proposal to have those
super sized firies working with Darren Pontter because they wanted
to bring them into the inner Harbor, which would have
been terrible for weal act with a flyover going from
the sports are rended on to the railway station. But the
point is it wasn't just the fairies. It was the
(13:07):
fact that they had to rebuild both ports in a
major way. That was really the cost blowout. And to
be fair, I don't think the government was kept of
the time, was kept fully informed.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Well, they just keep going back asking for more and
more since you got told yes.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Yeah, yeah, But I mean I think it was handled
incredibly poorly by que Rail. I don't know the ins
and outs of it, but the thing is it is
what it is. We've just got it. At least we've
got blue Bridge, and you know it's a very busy crossing.
Justin's right to state how I won. But you know,
Bluebridge is getting a new ferry. It's going to be
here in July and that will be and they'll keep
that for a while and then they'll sell off one
(13:42):
of the other older ones. I just think we have
to make sure that people in freight can still get
across and yep, it's not going to be great with
night crossings, but it is what it is. And I
think that the whole way that the Inter Island Fairies,
Hue Rail and Bluebridge are operated need a really good
look at by the government because they are so essential
(14:03):
to our future.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I think I think justin I'd love to get your
view on. I think they've not taken seriously enough the
whole idea, you know, because it's so important. You know
that tourism. We know how important tourism to us. Tourists
love the fairies going.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
On great it's a great trip on a good.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Day, it's fantastic. And look, if it was a piece
of road that had was as unreliable as potentially as
it's going to be in coming years, we'd fix it.
And we're not doing that. We're not giving it the
sufficient support that it needs. And it's a critical piece
of public infrastructure. But likewise, credit the Blue Bridge. They
do a wonderful job.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Have you ever gone on Blue Bridge?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yeah, plenty of times.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Grat I've gone on Bluebridge. Better coffee is it okay? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Good movies and great kids rooms actually too, so really
good affairs.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And they also have I was looking up last night.
They also have no you know, I'm late onset dog aware.
They also have rooms where you can have dogs that
don't have to be in kennels for the voyage.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Okay, so I've never been on it, but I always
just think of them as a little bit older and
a little bit rougher and not quite as nice are.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
They And they're investing in them, so it's really great
have the additional competition, and I think they do a
good job.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Okay, I want to move on and ask you your
ideas on this. The government is reversing changes from the
last Labor government and will ban all prisoners from voting
in elections if they're sentenced to three years or less. Nicola,
what are your views on this?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, this won't surprised you. I mean, I think the
government's decision is right. Voting is a privilege and prison
is about losing privileges, and I think it's a good idea.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
What about My argument is they're coming out in the
next period.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Of time, so they've got something to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
But they should be able to vote on what's happening
in the society. Did they come out.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
To well, they should have thought about that before they
committed the crimes.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Speaking like a true toy, you know, I mean, it's
might annowys be about your tories is you can't actually
have an open mind.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
I've got an open minded but I've been so open
minded about the city council. But this is not a
city council issue. I'm very black and white about this
one thing.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
It was named after you wasn't absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I know. I know you'll take the party line as well,
and party line I'll take.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I'll tell you whose line will take. I'll take that
of Great Labor Party Douen, but English who said prisons
are both a fiscal and a moral failure. The more
people we have out of prison when they served that
time are the better. So how one opportunity to reintegrate
people back into society is have them connected to community,
(16:39):
have them learned, having educated, have them feel a part
of New Zealand. And votings are part of that. But
more importantly, I'll take the line of the New Zealand
Supreme Court who said that not allowing prisoners to vote,
and particularly those who are serving three years or less,
is a breach of the Human Rights Act. So this
is just a massive distraction for the government. Why would
(17:01):
you focus on this distraction? It's just dog whistle polar
Why would you spend all this time to reverse something
that's already been done well when it's going to go
back through the court in order to get overturned.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Can I tell you that the argument I had that
same argument and got told by my newsroom it's actually
just a flick of a piece of paper, click like that,
and it's changed. There's no cost involved in changing it.
There's no big, major thing.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Except for now it'll be re litigated through the courts
and we're going to have all this distraction. It's wasting
the court's time, it's wasting the money's spent on lawyers,
all of the above. So why have you done it?
Why have you wasted any time whatsoever?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Who is the kind of top top dog? Is that
the courts? Or is it parliament?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Because parliament, no court acts as a check on parliament.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Doesn't have a parliament sovereignty.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Parliament is suprea. We've been told in my ear by
my producer. And he wouldn't make a mistake like that.
He wouldn't put me under the bus like that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Not that some interpretation of the laws. So that's why
we had a court. It's a check in the balance
of Parliament.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
So anyway, you know what our views are on that.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
One court has no power over parts. I've been told
in my ear it doesn't. It's interpretation of the law. Well,
Ew and Ethan can have that fight after the show
Friday face off with Nikola Young and Justin Lester just
turning their mics on. I'm going to change tact a
little bit. This morning we talked about and and you
(18:24):
guys don't know about this, so I'm going to throw
you under the bus a little bit. The idea that
David Seymour's come up was that he wants to lessen
the amount of ministries and he wants to lessen the
amount of people around the cabinet table and he wants
to tighten things up. What are your thoughts, Justin, do
you think we've got too many people around the cabinet
table and do you think that I mean, let me
(18:46):
let me just hear me out of it. You know,
Chris Bishop, who we know is very very strong, Minister Housing,
Minister of Infrastructure, Minister Responsible Rima Transport, Minister, Leader for
the House, so ship minister finance, so ship minister for sport.
I mean one minister can't do all that.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
No, of course they can't. And you can't do a
good job doing all of that either, So having fewer
people around the cabinet table. I don't think it's going
to help. I mean, again, this is sort of just
a little bit of dog.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, you get rid of a whole lot of ministries.
That's what he's saying. Ministry for women. Do we need
a ministry for women?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We do not?
Speaker 1 (19:17):
No?
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Sorry, can you can you say that again? I had
your mic tunal Well, your question is.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Do we need a ministry for women? In the answers
we do not.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
No, we don't. And I have a woman in my
life that doesn't think so either. So it's too out
of two that I know.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
So my father had one of his portfolios was Minister
for Women's Affairs with four daughters and a female cat.
We thought it was just.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Ridiculous, and that would have been in the twenties, so
that's a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Plenty of people who disagree, and I'm one of them,
and I think we do need a ministry for women.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You know what you're telling me right now, you're telling
me that a woman is not as strong as a man.
That's what you're telling me. You're telling me a woman
hasn't got the quality that am.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Now it's patronizing to have a ministry for women. No,
it's as a woman.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
The advocate on half of women's rights. I know for
a fact with my two daughters, but they will not
have the same opportunities and they're quite different people to
to every boy.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Or do you think the Ministry for Women's Affairs is
going to make any difference?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What do I think it's going to hurt?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I think women have better opportunities of men, So I'll
argue about you all day long. I think they have
better opportunities. The better workers, are smarter.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Advantages because they take time off to have children and things.
But the point is we have what a.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Population idealism from yester year. I knows lots of women
that woman that don't have any idea, no give a
damn about having children.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
So what's really improved and is it because of the
existence of the Ministry for Women? We have better paid
parental leave these days as opposed to not having at
all in the past.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So just moving away from women's affairs. I mean, we
have an enormous number of ministers for considering the size
of our population. And I heard them on this program,
this station last night. You know, I think Ireland has
the same population and has about half a number of ministries.
There are so many ministries we could get rid of.
There are so many ministries that we could get rid of.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
We should just get rid of Parliament, don't seem.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Do we need a ministry for racing? Do we need
a ministry for hunting and fishing? Do we need a ministry?
You know, there's a whole lot of ministries we don't.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
My suggestion, what is the cost and what is it
as a fraction of the entire budget? And is this
a cost that is better served elsewhere? And then make
a good decision. Do we need a ministry for racing?
What the racing sector would say, yes, do I need it?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
I don't, But there are a lot of people who
say it's important enough that they should have it.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
How can we have a minister for education one of
the top four and immigration a big important position, leader
of coordination ministry for the government response to the Royal
Commissions reporting to historical abuse in the state care and
care face based institutions. I mean, how can one person
look at it?
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So they can't, So we should go back to I
think we have. We have some extremely competent ministers, and
I think they are probably overburdened. I don't know how
they cope. I heard you saying the same thing on
the radio this morning about Nikola Willis. We should go
back to having undersecretaries who are not ministers, but to
help carry the load for those huge portfolios. But you know,
with the m m P, you know, they you start
(22:12):
going towards having more because everyone wants to have a
certain number for their parties. But I think the number
of minister's ministries we have and ministers is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Who's going to do the work for all of these
sectors if we take it away?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
That's so that's why you have undersecretaries can do some
of the work. But some of those portfolios, like the
Ministry for Racing and of course I think Women's affairs,
But we'll lead that one to one side.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah, I don't want don't We'll give you one very well.
I don't want a conversation.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh gosh, hopefully you'll get a bit of a brack
up where he gets home.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
He lives with three women, he'll get plenty of wrack cups.
Women are strong.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
We've been telling him that by father, superior species of that.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Which is why we don't need a ministry.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's very different. You will agree to disagree on that.
What it says. They do a great job of advocating
on behalf of women and have historically and hopefully.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I tell you what we need. I tell you exactly
what we need before we true for me, we need
we need a minister for older white guys.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
And Nick, you could be the minister for that ministry.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Who's the minister a woman?
Speaker 4 (23:17):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Who's the woman minister? A woman?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Not sure?
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Probably that's it. Nicola greg Is, by the way, Friday
face off with Justin Lester and Nicola Young Nicola. No,
I'm gonna ask Justin first, because you'll probably know. How
much is a pound of butter? How much is a
pound of butter?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Metric? We're metric?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Well, well, well, the bigger punk, the bigger undergrads.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Why would I care? But is it five hundred grams? Yeah? Well,
there we go.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
How much of it? How much does it cost you.
I'd say that these days you're just kissing.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
You've got no idea ten dollars fifty.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Yeah, we are by unsaulted, and that is more expensive.
And yeah it it can be ten dollars fifty, but
you can sometimes get it slightly, would juice, which is
when I b it and put it in the freezer.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's all right. I just were talking about abuse before
off air, and I was absolutely abused by by a
text because I said that I paid ten dollars for
a pound of butter five hundred grad a punnet of
butter whatever it is, you know, pound of butter on
my day, our day, and I paid over ten dollars
of Pack and Save and someone rang up absolutely blasted me.
He said, I'm an idiot. He paid sixty eight six
(24:28):
dollars eighty for.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
It one special at Pack and Save Kilbernie probably local supermarkets.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And because I like unsalted, you don't get the disc
you don't get the cheap of bread.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Enjoy butter, hot crossish today, hot cross buns and butter
butter with hot delicious, I cannot beat it.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah, as long as they've got as long as the
traditional hot cross buns.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Chocolate, No chocolate Augery, Hot Cross Buns, best Hot Ground
August or Grays. Grays also very good.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
We're not we're not specialized in Calburn.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
If you haven't been delightful, right, just a Lester and
Nicola Young, Let's talk about cabinet ministers. The Herald's Audrey
Young has rated every cabinet minister. Audrey, you know, and
I thought she was very positive, but she obviously was
very Yeah, okay, she was very positive. I'll leave it
at that, Nicola, who are your top performers?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Okay, so this is slightly awkward for me because some
of them are long term and good friends of mine.
So I'm going to try and put that to one side.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
But we're are they asking you for the top ones?
I don't have to be your friends?
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Well, but there might be. But I would just say
that the top team have delivered really well. But the
two who have really impressed me are the newcomers, which
is Silly and Brown and Pink. I think they are
outstanding and I think we're really lucky to have ministers
of that caliber.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, Silly and Brown always looks like he needs to
go back to school to me. But I mean he
does performint no, no, no, I'm being agist, but that
and that as well. What happens when you get a
bit older, you get tell us of those good look
at young guys, don't you.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
No, no, you start move on from that justin.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I think Christship has been good on housing of the
house and reform, having said that, not a single additional
house has yet been constructed because that takes time. Erika
Stanford's been good on education. I thought the announcement this
weeeker on financial literacy for kids through education was really good.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I think she's been outstanding. I think she'd been better
than good because I think she's been outstanding with immigration
too tough, too tough things to look after. Look, yeah,
I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I think she's probably been the best performing minister. Criticisms
of Chris Bishop well, actually it's not his portfolio, but
there is a surging rise in homelessness because of it's
not his portfolios. It's with Tama Portaka because people have
been kicked out and no one knows whe they've gone,
and they don't out of emergency housing accommodation. So we're
going to see that.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
They're all the Ministry and Courtney Place judging by late
night when.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And they are and even just walking down here to
the studio. Now it's a sad, sad indictment on New Zealand. So,
I mean, I think I've forgot her name. Former National
Party pressech Janis J Wilson Janet Wilson rose a fairly
scathing opinion piece a few weeks ago into spot On.
(27:15):
So yeah, that has been a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Okay, there's been a lot of talk and I'm for it.
Nicholas not going to like this, but from an international
Monetary Fund that found that seventy year olds today have
the same physical health as a fifty six year old
and in the year two thousand and the heralds Liam
Dan argues that it's further proof that we need to
raise the retirement age. Nikolaur, I'll start with that because
(27:40):
you'll be getting very close to the retirement age, so
we need to.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Find it on the eleventh of October. So I absolutely
believe the retirement age should be lifted, and I think
it should be lifted quite dramatically.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
It's already suggesting.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Oh, I think it should be lifted gradually. Yea At
least to seventy. I think people have to have a
long lead in times that they can prepare for it.
It's a shame. The National Party said it was one
of their policies at the last election, but the New
Zealand First stopped it. I think it is ridiculous to
have a retirement age of sixty five and the country
can't afford it, and other countries have increased their retirement age.
(28:13):
Why are we so? You know, sometimes when you're making
when your leaders, you have to make tough decisions, even
if they're not e literally very successful. But the people
who they think that's speaking in generalizations. A lot of
older people tend to vote National. They won't be affected
by a change in the voting age. It's the people
in their forties will be affected. I mean, I think
what the government's propos proposals the elections wouldn't affect anyone
(28:36):
born before nineteen seventy eight. I think that's right. Well,
my son is in his late forties. I mean, it
wouldn't have affected him. So I think the sooner we
do it, the better. We've got to be realistic.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Just in your thoughts on it, one hundred percent, I'm
actually born in ninety seventy eight. And I don't mind
if it be my son could have I don't mind
if it impacts me, because look, what is it The
single line, single largest line of expenditure currently for New
Zealand's thirty one percent of all government expenditure goes on
superannuation and benefits. And the benefit component of that is
(29:08):
much much smaller than the superannuation component. And yet it's
not means tested, and it's at sixty five, and there's
there's no courage, there's no leadership on that front, and
ultimately it's becoming a financial moose for future generation.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
It's not one arbatross around our country's neck, is about
three arbatrosses.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
It is ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
I think of I think just I've I've been thinking
since you mentioned that Justin could have been your son.
I think he would vote differently he as your son.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Who knows how my son votes? He said when he
moved into the Lambton ward, the agent said you can
vote for your mother, and he said, no, I have
the option of voting for my mother, but he does
run my campaign. So I'm pretty confident.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
One cave that I'd have for that is the average
person and certainly ages better than we're having the past.
But if I had to work day and day out
in construction or something else manual labor, or it's much
much harder. I've got the benefit of having office boy
hands look pretty life.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
My argument that is My argument to that is a
very high percentage of people that were builders, hands with plumbers,
drain layers, people that really work brick layers, hard hard jobs.
As they got older they become office workers. So you know,
I mean there would be it would effect. You know,
I think it should be a company owners. Yeah, and
I think that it should be tested. I mean, if
(30:29):
you if your body is breaking down at sixty five
and you have worked hard all your life, then get
get the pension at sixty five.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
I think one of the problems with testing is the
cost of it was so high.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yes, okay, all right, but we both, we all three
of us agree that it needs to raise.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
So why are we doing it?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
The Friday fire hot and not.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
My favorite time of the week is to get my
two learned guests to tell me what they're hot and
they're not of the weak is I'm going to start
with you, Nikola Young what's your hot? And you're not
apart from our new studio.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
So new studio is fabulous. The hot is, as you know,
I have come far more interested in dogs. And as
from the first of May, dogs are allowed to go
back and swim at Oriental Bay Beach until the thirty
first of October. I think they should come in to
land every now and again, not just keep swimming all
that time. What I read him is they have access
to the water all that time. So that's my hot.
(31:22):
You know. I think it's terrific for dog owners in
the inner city that they have access to a great
beach without him to get into a car and go
to Lao Bay or Potonia, et cetera. My knot is sorry,
that's my hot. My nott is it's got to be
the Golden Mile. I'm walking back from the Battle the
Fabulous Badder. The other night I started talking to a guy.
Guy started talking to me. He was from Burma, started
(31:42):
complaining about the council, not realizing I was a counselor,
so I told him I was. He's got a restaurant
in the Oaks Complex and he said that the business
has been absolutely struggling, partly because the city feels hostile parking,
the vagrancy, homeless issue, but most of all the whole
uncertainty over the Golden Mile. So my hot, my knot
(32:04):
is we've got to stop the Golden from going any further.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Harlelujah. Tell him to give me a ring. Tell him
I've just opened a restaurant along there, and I know
how tough it is justin Leicster.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Just quickly on the dog acually. That's credit to counselors
Simon marsh and the time I remember when he brought
that forward as an amendment, which I supported. So it's
great to see that you're enjoying that, Nicholas.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
I, owner and I have worked together on because we've
now in the winter, got them so they're large to
be on the other side of the band rotunda. That's
another hot. By the way, the band rotunda is going
to be back by twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Well, okay, you heard it here first. I believe when
I see.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
It twenty nineteen is will we remember.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
You work together?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Actually with the owner's hot, it's nice to have a serious,
accomplished candidate running from there. So Andrew little credit to him.
He could have just been quite happy as a lawyer.
Gibson sheet I think he is, so it's great to
see that he's running to the mayoralty. I think that
vodes well for Wellington in the next three years and
get the city back on track. That's I think much time.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Can you hurry up and look?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
It's the weather. It's it's been pretty miserable. I'm not
looking forward to going outside. There will be a calm
after the storm. Well done all those Wellingtonians for braving
through it. But it'd be nice to get some sunshine.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
But we've had some. We've had a mouthlous come start
to spread. I mean to autumn last day. Yeah, we've
always had the same period.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
At least there be water shortage.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I've got to go because I've got to take an
ad break. It is seven minutes to twelve. Justin Lester
and Nicola Young. Thank you very much. Have a great
weekend and don't worry about the weather. The weather's the weather.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news Talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!