Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Winston Peters claiming Parliament is in ‘state of decay’

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has claimed Parliament is in a 'state of decay', taking issue with what he believes is a sharp decline in standards.

Peters and his colleague Shane Jones took issue with Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris after he alleged some in the House are 'masters' of lying.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacked the controversy further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Very so for senior political correspondence with us now Barry, Hello,
good afternoon, and happy birthday to you.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Lord, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
That's to be the end of that for today.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
I thank You're the one person I know that never
wants to celebrate any birthdays in any great way. It's
not because I'm worried about getting olds.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
No, I know't like the attention. And you're doing it now.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
And you're on radio.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Okay, So tell me about Whinston.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Peter's a bit grouchy in Parliament today.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, you know, it was feisty and he was at
the center of it all. I've got to say it
was to the foe defending his sidekick Shane Jones, who
was poking borax at Labour leader Chris Hipkins leaving tomorrow
for the British Labor Party conference in Liverpool. Frustrated Peters
was raising issue with the Speaker, Jerry Brownly about what

(00:47):
the debate has been reduced to in Parliament. Here's the
borax poking Jones.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
How does a trip to London by a parliamentarian.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Seeking economic and political salvation contribute to the reduction of
global emissions?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I'm not sap their questions for all the run this figure.
This is a parliament where you're allowed to debate ideas
and concepts, and it's a very innocent question as to
whether our country's carbon footprint is enhanced by this needless
travel or not. The arbiter of whether or not a
question can be asked is actually the speaker, and I'll
see that one can't be No, no, don't argue said.

(01:23):
The arbiter is not the speaker's personality. It is tradition
and precedent. And I'm afraid this parliament is being accuse
the words, but as being negatived by unfair rulings. This
is a place of raging war in terms of political
ideas and debate. We welcome it. We're one of the
world's great democracies. So please don't spoil that development yet.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Now, I know you looked up negotide and it is
a word. It basically means the negative aspect of what
parliament has become.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
I see, okay, I've never heard.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Of it, and I probably did what you were about
to do was look it up and see what it
did really mean. I thought, hello, Winston's.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Not he does have a good vocabulary.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
He has an excellent voc.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Then he got grumpy at somebody else.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, the debate went essentially from bad to worse, and
Winston was at the center of it again taking exception
to a Maori Party MP. Takuta. Ferris's electoral success, you
will remember last year was one of the surprises of
the campaign. His win was unexpected. The family of the incumbent,

(02:31):
Reno Terrakutani. They've held the Tea Titanga electorate for seventy
two of the last ninety one years, which is extraordinary.
And this man came along and he won the seat,
but landed himself in hot water this afternoon when he
pointed the finger at the dishonesty of politicians. Ferris denies.

(02:51):
He claimed politicians were liars. But you ever listen and
see what you think.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
Politicians call this obsification the art of making something unclear,
intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to
confuse others lies. In other words, many in this house
are masters of it, and it is a disservice to
those who voted you into your positions. Well, unless, of course, it.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Is simply not acceptable for someone that in experienced as
he is too nevertheless accuse some other MPs to keep
quite when I'm making a point of all. All right,
he made the allegation that members of his parliament liars.
He should have been stopped on the tracks right then,
My apologies, I didn't quite pick that up. But if
that is what the members said, then he should withdraw
and apologize as quickly as possible.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
I haven't made that statement.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
It just called a lie. So he called them lies,
and then he told a lie, and he.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Told a lie.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
I thought, come on, mate, And he was reading from
written notes, which don't usually do in a general debate,
so he's reading off a computer, so he knew full
well a sentence before he had called politicians lascation of
the scation. I think I was going to say, did

(04:07):
you google that? Did you see if there is such opsifocation?

Speaker 2 (04:10):
So obviously all mate doesn't have a good vocabulary, not
a great vocabulary. And to me, he made a tit
of himself by doing what he did, and he deserves
all the probrium and he gets. And I'll tell you
what probium did I say o proprium what I'll tell
you what? He will be in hot water for this
because he got up straight away said he didn't do it. Well, sorry,

(04:32):
the rules of Parliament you can't do that. So he'll
be either forced to apologize or he'll go to the
Privileges committed. So he just got his first banking from Winston,
didn't he most certainly did.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
He enjoyed it. I get Barry, Thank you very much,
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Bary Soper, Senior political correspondent, Eight Away from Five.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
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