Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on Chris Luxon calling for a reform on MMP

Winston Peters believes the Prime Minister's suggesting an MMP referendum will backfire.

Chris Luxon says if re-elected, he'll support revisiting that, and discussing a four-year Parliamentary term.

Peters has suggested Luxon's poor polling is what's making him want another look at MMP.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacked the reactions to Luxon's statements. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry soapers with us right now. Hey Barry, good afternoon.
Has So this was what Luxon said to Kerry, Well.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
I think we should ever definitely a referend him on
the four year term, and I'm open for saying what
should we send it back out to New Zealand and
sale still support for him?

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Would you do that if you were Prime minister next year?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, I think I would.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
Thoughts well, you know, scale of one to ten on
how random this is.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Well, I thought it was totally random at the start,
but now listening to it again, you'd have to say,
hang on, he's been thinking about this for a while.
It's a pretty he didn't tell his colleagues because it's
quite important if you're going to have another referendum on MMP.
I mean, we had one in twenty eleven, and of
course the original one was in nineteen ninety three, which

(00:44):
brought in the MMP. And that was a bit of
a fluke, you'd have to say, because it was came
about because David Longy mentioned in an election interview that
he would favor a change in the electoral system. Jim
Boulger said, oh, we'll follow that up, and then he
had to make good his word, and he did it.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
So we have a national history of just randomly.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Well it seems that way, and it's very important, of course,
a referenda on these things. I mean, we've got MMP
now in place, we've got to get used to it.
And like I've said on this program on many of
the many occasions that I think really what we're seeing
this year more than any other election is MMP the

(01:30):
reality of it, and that is the two major parties
really polling not high at all. You've got, you know,
thirty thirty five percent for the major parties. Now you
know they'll probably even drop back from that and subsequent elections,
not this one necessarily, but that's what MMP is all about.

(01:50):
Winston Peters, I know you're having him on. He said,
shutting down and taking away true democratic representation from the
people of New Zealand should be seen for what it is,
a power grab and in the ignorance for what it
means to be a democracy. Now, Winston Winston's obviously the
beneficiary of MMP, and he was in nineteen ninety six

(02:13):
after it came in with seventeen seats in Parliament, the
most he's ever had so Look, he fully understands MMP.
Certainly he wants to stay.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Do you think that it was something that Chris Luckxon
has considered for a long time, because I actually thought
what is most likely to have happened here is Chris
does a thing right when he's talking to you, he's
really affirming of the It makes the person he's talking
to feel great.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
By affirming their position. Yes, I feel like he did
that with Kerry. Kerry loved the ideas, so he was
like me too.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, it was the four year term. I understand totally
that that has been discussed, that's been out there, and
maybe it was just a tack on the end for
a referendum on it. But I think, look, the people
have had their say, we've got MMP like it or
lump it. We voted for it.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Hey, what happened in Parliament today?

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Oh well, I guess a new level of debate and
of course involved right at the heart of it was
Shane Jones again, the Resources Minister. He's known for his
aggressive pro mining catchphrases like dig baby dig and drill baby, drill,
and that reflects his push to boost local mining today.

(03:26):
Though the level of debate in Parliament was pretty basic
when mine Baby Mine Jones was being asked about mining
in New Zealand and in his usual inimitable style, here
to go at the critics.

Speaker 5 (03:39):
One of the actions that we agreed to undertake as
a government as a part of our mineral strategy. I
don't want to hear any more from the ars end
of the vacuum cleaner over there.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
The horrible care mcadelty.

Speaker 5 (03:52):
I ask you to reflect on whether it is appropriate
for ministers to refer to other members as the ars
end of a vacuum cleaner, and indeed, if it isn't,
whether you will take action on that.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
I'll certainly look at the handsete the help sit down. No, no,
I'm not going to say I'm talking at the moment,
but I will look at that and see what is
recorded in the headset point it's a new point of
the aft end of the backing tener is a responsible comment,
I suppose it is if you're going door to door
and hoping people are bite off you. But that's not

(04:24):
the situation we're in here.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Oh, it's the level of debate in Parliament at the moment.
And of course, if Jerry Browny does go back to Hansars,
he'll hear exactly what Shane Jones said.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Is Jerry not concentrating well? Is he thinking about other things?

Speaker 3 (04:38):
There are many factors. I guess when you are the
Chair of Parliament, a lot of noise around you. Jurry
is always complaining about the noise. And you remember when
Trevor Mallard was a speaker, he got hearing aids because
he said it was so difficult to differentiate who was speaking,
when they were speaking what they were saying. It is

(05:01):
it because of because of parliament?

Speaker 1 (05:03):
What's it going to take for you to get hearing ays?

Speaker 3 (05:06):
I beg your pardon? What did you?

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Says? Very resonates, Just google them. Barry Sofa, Senior political correspondent.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
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