Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Jacinda Arden receiving her Damehood from Prince William

Jacinda Ardern has formally received her damehood, more than a year after being granted the title.

The former Prime Minister was presented the award by Prince William, at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper doesn't agree with this - and takes issue with her representing the nation overseas. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry so Per, senior political correspondent with me, Hey, Barry, I.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Get a yeah, they can. I just take issue at
the start with Jasinda Durn and how she should be
used offshore. Ye please, I don't agree, and one of
many listeners who are triggered, Oh good, I don't agree
in the slightest. I think that Jasinda Durn's fame is
going to be very temporary. She may be friends with
William and Catherine, and that's why she got her damehood there,

(00:23):
which to me was disgrace anyway, if she was proud
of it, she should have taken it in this country,
not abroad. And the thing is the only fame that
Jasinda Durn got, and I traveled with her all during
her prime ministership. One was the ghastly Mosque shooting where
she cuddled the bereaved people of the victims and Stephen

(00:49):
Colbert in New York. I was in the studio when
he interviewed her. So she got some fame out of that.
And the media did indeed want to see her because
she was at the time a young prime mister. I
think she was thirty seven. She was unmarried. Then she
became pregnant so she was a novelty. Today I don't
think she's nearly the novelty she is, and I, certainly

(01:12):
as a KIWI don't want to see her representing us overseas.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Okay, and fair enough, look, fair enough, everybody's got really
strong feelings about her one way or the other. But
if you think that her fame is going to be fleeting,
what is it that undoes her fame?

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh, she will now fade into oblivion. Basically, she's got
a dame hood, so I guess she can use that
to some extent, but she's working in some fellowship in
Harvard that's not going to make her very famous. I
just don't see her. Maybe the Christchurch Call meeting with
mccron and Justin Trudeau her old mates, but honestly, I

(01:49):
just don't see that she's going to maintain any fame.
And what she says, what comes out of her mouth
is important and not a lot comes out.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, okay, I think it's fair point to make that.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Maybe it's not a sustainable right you actually have to have,
you actually have to do things in order to sustain
your fame. I think, judging by what so Samian Brown
has tried very hard to avoid talking about Wellington City Council.
But what he has said today does not suggest that
he's going to back off here.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Oh no. And you know when you look at after
the meeting, after he met with Tory van Au in
the Beehive, she said she expressed a wish that they
wouldn't say the council was shambolic and was unworkable, whereas
in fact Nikola Willis, who of course is an MP

(02:38):
in the Capitol even though she doesn't hold an electorate
that's where she lives, she has called it a shambles
and I think that says a lot about what this
government's planning. So Simeon Brown says he's now going away
to have a chat to his advisors. I think the
advice is probably already on his table, and that is

(03:00):
in fact, bringing at least an observer to this very
dysfunctional council. I heard Nikolae Young on this morning with
Mike Hosking and she said that she believes an observer
at least should be brought in. And she's been on
that council a very long time, much longer than Tory
Fano has been.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
What's it with winniep and the Maori Party.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Well, look, they clash all the time. And I think
Winston Peters, you know, being a man in his late
seventies seventy eight, he finds it very disrespectful the way
he's treated by the Maldi Party, and indeed in many
occasions he is treated very badly. The latest to and
fro between Peters and It was Rawui Waia Tea, and

(03:45):
it was over basically questioning Erica Stanford over a Maldi
language course. They really got stuck into each other, but
it was more going across the house rather than speaking
into the microphone. Here is how the fre cars started.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
It is important that teachers in front of students can
pronounce Marty names and use every day common phrase is
woven into their teaching. But this particular course was not
good value for money, and we can contract better in
the future.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Supplementary I asked the Minnesota would students at the old
Mari lessons learn more if they kept their mouths shut
while the teacher was talking. House would come back to
what I think?

Speaker 4 (04:33):
Hang on, yeah, good, excellent, go and have an argument outside.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
You'd be quiet and here well, And it went on
and on with Whitey Tea saying basically rising after that
exchange and saying that he was keen Winston. Peter said
that you wouldn't last five minutes. Whiteyt said you wouldn't
like last five seconds, mate, Peter said you wouldn't last
five seconds, and to and fro went. But you know

(05:00):
it's not the sort of behavior.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
You wouldn't make it to the door.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, that's why you'd come. You might go out, but
you'd come limping back. And I mean Winston talks very tough.
He calls people sunshine when they get up his nose,
But why do you tea. I don't think I would
be taking him on in any wrestling match anyway.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Well, I mean the thing about it is if you
had to place t A.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
B Odds on it, and I already's got the youth,
but Winston's got the cunning.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
But we shouldn't be doing that, should we? When it
comes to politicians, Well, I mean they started it. You
Reckon might punch below the belt.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
I know, I Reckon Winston. I Reckon Winston's been in
a few dust ups in his time.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah, And you wouldn't even see it coming, and it
would be it would be just like an elbow to
the nose or something like that, you know, like, yeah,
you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
I wouldn't go into.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
There would be no holds bad expression.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
As you say, maybe below the belt. Hey, Barry, thank
you very much, Barry so for seeing your political correspondent.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
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