Paul Henry: former broadcaster on his bid to join up with the ACT Party

New ACT candidate Paul Henry says he's not entering politics aspiring to leadership. 

The former TVNZ Breakfast host is standing on the party list for this year's election. 

Leader David Seymour says he'll be placed in an electable position. 

Henry says he doesn't want to lead ACT.

As for his hopes on becoming a minister, he says he hasn't thought yet which portfolio he'd want. 

"If we are successful, ACT - if we get our way, there'll be far less ministers."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Paul Henry has announced he's standing for ACT at the election.
He expects a high list ranking and he wants to
be a minister and Paul is with us now, hello Paul.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
That was a very good summation of the situation. Expects
a high list, he's going to be a minister. Of
what love it we're in? I haven't even thought. I
haven't even thought. And look, can I be honest? If
we are successful ACT, if we get our way, there'll
be far less ministers.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
So in a way, take a job and cut it
immediate anyway you may have to sacrifice it. Why are
you doing this, Paul?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Because I really care about the country. I mean I
really do, and how can I best use the next
few years? I thought, what is the best thing I
can do for my grandchildren? And it sounds a bit soppy,
but what is the best thing I can do for them?
I would love them to be brought up in a
country that has the same morals and views and ideals

(00:55):
and society that I was brought up in New Zealand.
And it just isn't like that. Now, what would you do?

Speaker 1 (01:00):
What would be the number one thing you'd want done?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
I suppose put simply, the number one thing I would
want done is smaller government, bigger economy, Bolster the economy,
shrink the government. But you know, if you say number
one thing, what I'd like to do is change the
aspirations of New Zealanders because they've been ground down. You know,

(01:24):
people are being offered excuses for not doing well before
they haven't even not done well.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
What caused that? And you have to know what caused
it to fix it?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, you do. What caused that is successive left wing
governments offering people a life. You know, you deserve this,
You need to be looked after. We need to do
this for you, rather than we want to create an
environment where you can do the best on your own.
You can work the hardest for yourself and we will

(01:54):
applaud your success.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
So do you then need to remove some of the
entitlements in order to encourage them?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Which ones?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
I've only been a candidate for one day and.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
You've already made up one policy.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Oh, don't even talk about that. But which One's a
tricky thing, coming.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Back to which ones would you take away? Which ones
seem the most obvious to take away?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Okay, So rather than talk about specific entitlements, and I
know you'd love me to do that, and you're very
good at your job. What I'd want to talk about
is vibes. So what are the encouragements that are disincentives,
the encouragements not to perform, not to excel, not to
take pride in achieving for yourself and your family. Those

(02:36):
are the ones we need to make slightly slightly out
of reach, just slightly, because you know both of us.
This is the gray irony. Of course, in the house.
Almost everyone in the house, I would imagine, has a
dream of the same country, you know, a country with
the same standards, a country that cares for people that
really genuinely can't care for themselves to a high standard,

(03:00):
a country with world class education, world class health care,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's just that different
parties have different ideas about how you get there. And
my idea, my views, my philosophies are perfectly in line
with ACT. That is the only party that they're perfectly in.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
So I've been thinking about this a little bit because
in the UK they're having a very robust discussion about
what you do with benefits and cutting benefits and because
it's just taking the mickey over there. Do we need
to have that discussion here?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yep, well, we definitely do. But you know, we've already
proved not to be great at having discussions because maybe
we've left it a little bit too late, you know.
I mean that there are discussions that we've tried to
have which have turned a bit ugly, and that is
a great shame because they were only discussions. And I
think we need to talk about that in an open

(03:50):
forum and we need to say, Look, where do we
want to be when my twins are going for a
job or when they're in senior school. You know, where
do we want to be as a country? What is
the message we want to be sending that generation, because
the message that we're currently giving is really not good.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Do you want to be leader?

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Because I got it.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
From a former parliamentarian that said, this is the deal
that he struck. Clearly Paul has asked for leadership in
order to be a candidate.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Who is this?

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Names? I can't name names.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
What kind of interview is this?

Speaker 1 (04:23):
It's called a sauce for.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Honestly, look at me, I'm an old husk of a man.
I look, I can't have my eye on too many balls,
and I don't want to be leader. You know that
is not my thing. I want to make a difference.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Are you prepared to do all the boring hard work
you have to sit in the house and just mind
the place till ten at night.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
See, I was okay when you said hard work, boring
hard work.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
I mean you probably have to play on Instagram for
four hours.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
I know. I don't do candy crush. I've never got it.
I never got it. But there's this particular game that
I've become hooked on where you just you identify the
colored ball and you put it down a slot.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Like like like a like a brick building thing.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
It's sort of but it's balls not breaking. You remember
what it's called nod the text. I haven't got my phone.
It's it's just something. It's like, you know, put the
colored ball.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
On the milk so on the roof. Today in the
press conference, you made up a policy you decided you
wanted to and I liked it. A world class cancer
it was brilliant. A world class cancer hospital.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, it happens next Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
If you got in trouble with the party for just spitballing.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
I half by thought that I might, but I was
answering a general question, you know, and a perfectly legitimate
question it and I didn't make it up on the spot.
It's something I've been thinking about for many years, and
in fact said at the press conference that during my
program Rebuilding Paradise during COVID, which I only launched because
the government told me that I was a non essential

(05:52):
human being, and I thought, how do I become essential?
I know, I'll think of a TV show and instantly
I could drive anyway. That was my That was one
of a couple of policies that I was pushing then
and it's never disappeared because, you know, you're got to
be very careful in New Zealand using the term think big,

(06:13):
because that was tried by a national government many decades
ago and still rankers. But we have to think big,
you know, we have to feel about how this country
should be and could be. There are no insurmountable obstacles
stopping us from being the most valued country on earth
to live, you know, the most prized possession. But we're not,

(06:35):
and that is a bit of a tragedy. You only
get to live once wouldn't it be great to put
in some effort and live in the country that is
the most valued country to live.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
How long are you going to give it? Three years
or six years?

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Sex promise No, here's the caveat right.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Give it to me.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
If the worst happens as you suggested, and I find
I'm sitting in the house in the middle of the
night listening to some old duffer clack on and it
doesn't look good for the next term, maybe three.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
Okay, that's fair enough. I wouldn't want to do that either, Paul.
Thank you for coming in and be stilack in the
campaign so much, okay, Paul Henry ex Party campaign campaign candidate.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
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