James Meager: National MP opens up about responsibilities and expectations that come with new portfolios

First-term MP James Meager is pledging to speak to those in the deep south - and the top of the Mainland.

Meager is the first National MP elected in 2023 to become a minister, taking up the new portfolio of Minister for the South Island, alongside portfolios in Hunting and Fishing and Youth.

James Meager says he wants to make sure the South Island can contribute to economic growth.

"That's a big part of what the PM wants me to do - help us focus on what we can do to promote growth in the South Island." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Andrew Diggers, so one of the big winners in Chris
Lackson's cabinet reshuffle as a man you might not have
heard of. His name is James Meagher. He's the first
term MP for Rangitata. He's been given three portfolios. He
becomes Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Youth and
a newly created Minister for the South Island and James
mega joins me. Now, congratulations James.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good after Andrews from a sunny South on great with you.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
When did you get the call up?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I was sitting at the black Clash game at Heckley
Oval on Sunday night. It was a couple of balls
into the first innings and I got a call from
the PM and I thought, all shivers, I might be
in trouble here and took the call, founded a quiet
corner and he gave me the good news. So yeah,
it was. It was late afternoon, early evening on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
What did he say?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
He was very polite, He said, what am I up to?
I said him at the cricket. He told me about
the fact that his grandfather was a groundsman there, and
then he launched into it. He said, hey, look I've
got some good news. I'd be really keen for you
to join our team as Minister for the South Island,
Minister for Youse, Minnestera Hunting and Fishing and Associate Transport.
And I kind of stopped and took a second to

(01:11):
download what he'd asked me to do, and then we
chat about the priorities, and then he said, all right,
have a good evening. I've got to go make some
other calls.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Probably dismister RITTI, I'm afraid, but yeah, okay, well, well,
how amazing is that? And I hope he also told
you to remember to catch a ball with one hand
if you want to make some money or actually get
some KFC at that game, because that was a good thing. Now,
I presume the very first thing you're going to do
is a very leisurely road trip all around the South
Island with a bit of hunting and fishing, so you
can appraise the issues.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, if you've ever traveled around the South to take
a leisurely road trip around the whole island is going
to take a couple of months if you did it NonStop,
So no, you're right. The first thing to do is
to figure out exactly where I need to get to
and for me, that's as far south as I can go,
right up to the far North. And what I want
to do is I want to talk to South Island
is about what their priorities are for making sure that

(02:01):
our island can grow and the South Island can contribute
to Nichola Willis's economic growth Plan. And so that's a
big part of what the Peem wants me to do.
Help us focus on what can we do to promote
growth in the South Island and then what can I
do to make sure that I maintain a good strong
voice for mainlanders up in Wellington?

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Are you amazed that there's never been a minister for
the South Island before?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
It surprised me and I didn't want to say that
publicly because I wasn't actually quite sure. But a few
people have told me that, and I'm obviously excited. And
it's a new portfolio and given that there hasn't been
one before, it's a little bit of a blank canvas
that the Peam is going to give me a good
steer on what his priorities are and what he needs
me to deliver. But the great thing is that Mainlanders

(02:48):
and look actually everyone's got an interest in making sure
the South Island is successful. So I'm keen to hear
from people about what their priorities are for me, what
they'd like to see me to deliver, and how I
can work for them.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, you said earlier this afternoon is that your island
is full of minerals and agriculture and electricity and tourism,
but unfortunately not full of people, so you don't get
represented in Parliament much.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, And like if people look at the electric mix,
we've got sixteen electrics in the south Land and then
I don't want to pressure my mass here, but you've
got what sixty odd well, yes, fifty five sixty odd
up in Northoland. So we don't want this to turn
into a bit of a numbers game. We want to
make sure that the south Land has good representation both
in our caucus and in our government, and we do.

(03:35):
But the point is that if we really want to
grow the economy, the South Isld is going to be
a big part of that. And you mentioned it. Tourism, agriculture, minerals, exploration,
small business. They are all key things to the South
end can help with.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Very good You've already got a job though you're chairing
the Justice Select Committee, and for your crimes, you're dealing
with the Treaty Principal's bills. So you've read all three
hundred thousand. I presume most of them is like the style.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
I will openly admit I have not read all three
hundred thousand. I can't even get close to reading them.
I think someone did the mass and decided that you
need to outlive Moses in order to be able to
read them all. We don't have a breakdown of what
the submissions look like at the moment. We're starting to
decide on who our first submitters are, and we'll make
some public information about numbers and about content and that

(04:20):
and due of course, but from what I understand the
campaigns that I've seen running, there will be a lot
of repetitive stuff. There will be a lot of single
line submissions. But there will be a lot of people
who put a lot of time and effort into these
submissions too. So I'm just want to sure the listeners
that they are all read by humans.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Of course, because many of them will have exactly the
same wordings. And I'm talking about both sides here. I'm
not talking one more time that'll be exactly the same.
They're just the photocopy has been running hot. Oral submissions
follow in the next few weeks. You reckon that's going
to be tense.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Look, it depends on how the tone set in that
first week. So we've made a very deliberate choice it
and when we start hearings on the tweeters in the
first week, we're wanting to invite some who have something
substantive to say, who will do it in a way
which is respectful of the process and hopefully set the
tone for the remainder of the hearings. And Look, it's
up to individuals and organizations as for how they decide
to submit, and we can put value in waiting on

(05:13):
how that decided to present their submission, But we expect
people to engage in the process in a respectful way.
People have got strong views, that's fine. They can let
those views be heard, but they've got to do it
in a way which is respectful to the process and
respectful to each other.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
I'm not ages, James, how old are you?

Speaker 2 (05:29):
I'm thirty seven, although Wikipedia can't decide whether I'm thirty
seven or thirty eight, so I'll not for the record,
I'm thirty seven birthdays in August. No need to send
any gifts down my way. Just come and visit and
spend your tourist dollars down the South Aid. There.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Oh, look at that. Straight on the job already James Mega,
the new Minister for the South Islands. For more from
Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Talk sai'd Be from four pm weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.