Barry Soper: Senior political correspondent on Kiwis returning from Gaza flotilla

The Kiwis on board the humanitarian aid flotilla set for Gaza have returned to New Zealand. 

Three people arrived in Auckland airport, describing the poor conditions they were kept in and said they received little support from the NZ government.  

Senior political respondent Barry Soper says that this contradicts what the government has said about the situation.  

'I remember Winston said that our MFAT people would have been working to ensure that these people would receive safe passage out of Israel.’ 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here, the burglary does not require something to be taken.
All that is required for a burglary charge is that
a person enters any building, all ship, or vehicle unlawfully,
with the intent to commit any offense inside that building,
et cetera. Thanks for that. Thirteen Away from five Barriso
per senior political correspondence.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
With us Hey Barry, Good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
So the three kids who were on the flotta are
back in New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yes they are, and it was interesting. You remember earlier
this week Winston said they'll go to Jordan and from
there they can make their own way home. Well, it
seems they did get help, but not from the New
Zealand government. They did make their own way and arrived
this afternoon to an arrival hall full of people wearing
the Palestinian scarf and waving the flags, and they were

(00:43):
welcomed home like heroes. As they walked into the arrival hall,
the cheers erupted. Yusef Samour did most of the talking
and he was none too happy with the treatment they
got from the Israelis.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
We were there for almost a week more it was
we were treated like crap. To be honest, we were
treated like animals. They could spit on us, which they did.
They could points like guns in our face, which they did,
but they realized that they couldn't physically hurt us to
a point where it would cause an international outcry. Once
we realized we had that power over them, the whole
game was over. And at that point we were just
annoying to them, and they wanted us out as soon

(01:19):
as possible. No thanks to any help from the US,
the UK, or the New zeal consulates, which totally abandoned
their citizens.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
By the way, that's not true. Well, no, I don't
think he's right. I think remember Winston said that our
impact people would have been working to ensure that these
people would receive safe passage out of and I think
that most certainly would have been the case, although it
may not have been trends. The information may not have

(01:49):
been transferred to them, you.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Know, maybe okay, the market.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
They were just so annoyed having been taken by these very.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Hard it's hard to feel sorry for these kids, and
I don't think they should be that esting again.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
At the weekend.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Lord, Okay, now the Maori party reset, You've had a
chance to go back and look at it. How much
did you enjoy it? Out of ten?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh? Probably ten?

Speaker 1 (02:13):
What did you enjoy the bit the most? Where are
He pulled Debbie while she was talking away from the microphone.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Found it absolutely extraordinary here they were they were talking
about the reset. Their re set basically is that they're
going to be nicer and they're going to be more
cooperative and less infrontational and brash, and they would be

(02:39):
seen as a good coalition member with the Labor Party
and the Greens. Well that's what they're telling us anyway,
So they will be behaving themselves. They're not there to
present the party as unelectable, which is basically their their reset.
Their leadership has been described, as you say here there

(03:00):
like a dictatorship. But it was a topic the co leader,
Rollery White to Tea wasn't prepared to discuss. He interrupted,
as you've said here that his cohort, Debbie Naria Paca,
as they were asked about.

Speaker 4 (03:13):
It, the allegrics are telling us one thing, as that
get your act together, because we do not want this
government to stay. And I think and I think that's
a real critical part of the reset is actually making
it really clear we've identified who our coalition partners will
be we've identified the common ground, and we've identified and
heard that we mustn't let anything jeopardize the way that

(03:34):
we get this government down.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
What's your response to allegations of the dictatorship model?

Speaker 4 (03:41):
Thank you for that one.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know, no re Packer was prepared to answer that question.
She stood there and his hand came around behind her
back and pulled her away. Dictatorship Maybe, I don't know.
He was certainly dictating. He was dictating the way that
that press conference was going to end, and it wasn't
about to be discussing the way they behave as leaders

(04:11):
of the party. Well, he wasn't prepared to discuss it anyway.
And I'm sure that she is the peacemaker in this
party and she is the one that sees reasonably that
they have to be better behaved. Although yesterday's performance in
the House was terrible behavior, and I think they might
find further repercussions as a result of that.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
What are you suggesting, Oh, I'm.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Suggesting that maybe it's a privileges committee thing. Again.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Have you heard this?

Speaker 2 (04:38):
No? No, Well, I've required around the traps and certainly
it's not going to be resting on what happened yesterday?

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeap, very very quickly, what happened in the House last night?

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, the most extraordinary thing is it was a simple vote.
It was for broadcasters or Television New Zealand being allowed
to not advertise or sorry to advertise.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
On previously considered religious days.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Right, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
And there wasn't enough people.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
Well they're ready about thirteen MPs in the House and
really most of them because it was the end of
the week in parliament and I've got to say most
of the thirteen were Labor MPs, so Stuart Smith is
the the Coalition or the National Party whip didn't obviously
whippers MPs and they were.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Up probably in their officers having a nice class of
wine at the end of the week.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Just the one, Barry, thanks very much, Barry Soper, Senior
Political correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
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