The Huddle: Are we convinced by Winston's ferry announcement?

Tonight on The Huddle, broadcaster Mark Sainsbury and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

The Government has moved to pause prescription on puberty blockers - what do we make of this? 

Winston Peters is celebrating how much money he's saving the country with our new Cook Strait ferries. Do we see the costs blowing out on this one?

The Breakers are being criticised for deciding not to wear a rainbow flag on their jersey for the NBL's Pride Round. What do we make of the backlash?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Huddle with New Zealand Southby's International Realty, a name
you can trust locally and globally.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
On the huddle of this evening we have Jordan Williams
of the Taxpayers Union of Mark Sainsbury Broadcaster. Hello lads, Jordan, listen,
this news is obviously just broken this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Do you have any view on this on the puberty blocking? Yeah, hither,
I have enough enemies fighting for lower taxes. I as
I am. It's probably the only topic I don't want
to go there. I mean, I I hold on.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
Well, okay, well, well Jordan, so is it for you
so tricky?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Like?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Do you think that this is such a tricky and
vexed issue you actually don't even want to talk about it.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I have a staffer who has strong views on transgender
matters and gets death threats nearly every day.

Speaker 5 (00:50):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
I think that this is the most awful area of policy.
I think what the I'm happy to quontificate that what
the government is doing I think is smart, notwithstanding saying,
you know, flick it off to the experts when the
effect cabinet has the following internet, you know, particularly the UK.
But what governments are doing using the latest clinical information

(01:15):
that they've been given. There is at least a as
you know, some people advocate that we will look back
on the last few years in the way that young
people that have question the sexuality and being arguably or
affern or shepherded into lopping off their breasts or doing

(01:38):
terrible things. That one could argue that we could look
back on the period of the last ten years with horror,
which here I am taking a position, but it is
a real It's one I don't really like to get
to get into because it's just awful the treatment of
people on both sides.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
I don't think that you should feel ashamed of that.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think that there are some issues that are just
so difficult that people don't want to talk about it,
and it is one of them saying so, look, I mean,
this is a it is a difficult subject, but it
is it is very difficult to see it as being
the right thing to do to allow young people before
they really are old enough to make decisions to effectively
sterilize themselves right by preventing their own pberty.

Speaker 5 (02:21):
My view on this is colored a bit by a
good friend of mine who went through exactly that their
child decided that this wasn't the they believed they were
of a different gender, and they started procedures and then
there was a change of sudden or no, I was
just going through a phase. I don't believe that now.
Oh it's just a nightmare, Heather, nightmare. Now, that doesn't

(02:43):
mean that it couldn't necessarily be youthful for you know,
this is where the psychiatrists and everyone else has to
come into it. I mean, anyone you talk to in
that area, it is there's so many whether it's caused
by the dysmorphear or whatever, but there are so many issues,
mental health issues around the whole treatment and preparation.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
I mean, I think you're getting at there saying it
was a very salient point, right that there will be
a very small number of kids who truly are trans.
But if we know one thing about kids having been
kids and raised kids, is that kids convince themselves of
a thing that that they are like their friends, and
it's very hard to kind of pick apart who really
is trans and who is just going with the kind
of trendy thing. Right, that's part of the problem.

Speaker 5 (03:26):
Yep, Yeah, I mean, and look the big the fair
with it I suppose was you know, Tayden steps that
certainly that couldn't be reversed or couldn't be dealt with,
and like in this particular case, it was just it
was just horrific.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
So wasn't reversible you're talking about? Sorry, was it reversible
in the case that you're talking about.

Speaker 5 (03:50):
That's still going through issues over the ether? Yeah? I
know that wasn't quite as simple. There wasn't a simple So.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
We'll take a quick break. I really appreciate it. We'll
come back with another subject in just to take the huddle.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
With New Zealand Southeby's International Real Team, the only truly
global brand.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Right back of the huddle Jordan Williams and Mark Sainsbury. Jordan,
do you buy Winston Peter's argument that he saved billions
on the Fairies?

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Well, I mean they were landed with a pretty terrible
situation with Kiwi Rail that it totally boils it up
and Treasurrey Advice saying it was going to cost what
four and a half billion or twice what what Kibi
Rail initially said it was going to but of course
being the government instead of you know, clearing out Kiwi

(04:33):
Rail and doing a proper job and asking a fundamental question,
which is, why do the taxpayer needed sun fairies? And
we've got private operators and the rest of the world
that do this sort of stuff every day instead. And
I can tell you that the text page Union had
snuffed this out. We discovered about an hour ago that
in our building no less, this Faery Holdings company takes

(04:54):
up our whole floor. So it may have saved billions,
very good. But instead of sorting out, you know, the
actual company that's supposed to run the theories and you
know that would presumably include you know, buying them, they've
created a whole new bureaucracy and a floor on lamp
and tea of of bureaucrats to manage the classic Wellington

(05:15):
but credit credit I.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Can't remember them. I can't remember the exact figure. But
I saw the I saw how much Fairy.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Holdings is costing us, and it's it's a surprisingly big number. Actually,
says that were you impressed with the steal? I mean
bearing in mind so and the context is it was
going to cost Labor two point six billion for their fairies.
It's essentially costing US two point five billion for the steal.
Which doesn't feel like a massive saving.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
No, and then if you had in the cost of
Winston flying to China to have a celebratory me I
mean that look in some ways, maybe it's part of
the diplomacy, but you're going on and on about all
these unnecessary costs and these consultants and all these people
who are you feeding off the teeth, and then the're
going we're all flying over to kind of to have

(05:57):
some sort of serum seramony.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Well, I think you're being a bit but I'm not
If you guys know, I'm not one to sort of
whole fire on wins done. But the Treasury advice was
that this was going to this doubled and cost there
was a projection though there is a real saving here.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
That was that a projection or was that actually like
could they actually give us the receipts for that?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Pulled the plug on? And that seemed come on, Jordan.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
You were you didn't come down in a rain shower
last night. You know very well that Treasury tells you
what you want Treasury to tell you.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Right, So I think when they entered off us, this
was one of the flashing red lights saying, list you've
got to deal with us.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
I mean, there's probably a whole whole chat and how
we've lost confidence in treasury saying, so, is it the
fault of the Breakers for not wanting to wear the
Pride flag?

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Or is it the fault? Is it the fault?

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Alternative theory, is it the fault of the NBL, the
league for making a Pride week and and creating a
situation like this the potential for it to happen, you
would like.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
To say, to create and the shoe haul them into it.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Lookay tell you this sort.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
Of raised a bit of I second, remember old Israel
Phalau and yeat of trouble he got into Because I'm
sort of reading this thing and I'm trying to work
out so they're trying to protect individual players. So obviously
they are individual players within the Breakers who don't want
to wear it, and so to avoid them being singled
out for not wearing it, they all won't wear it,
which is a bit said it taken nowhere, isn't it?

(07:24):
You know? I thought a pastor that a bit you don't. Yeah, look,
I just found the whole thing about brading. But then again,
I think you got a point there. They should have
thought this thing through before they put teams into this position.
See what you know, the rugby did it during the
Rugby Championship. Yeah, the Super Rugby. You know, there was
different themes each each week, and Pride was one of those.

(07:48):
It's sort of become part of it. But there's shoes
and a lot of conservative, conservative sports people.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
Well this is the thing, Jordan.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
And in twenty twenty two, a year before these guys
started doing it in basketball, the same thing happened in
the NRL.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
So why did they not learn from that?

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Well, I think the opening window has shifted a bit
on this. You know, I would say good on the
breakers for doing it, because I'm sorry, it's not homophobia
to not go along with what you know, the pride
movement and what it now is. I mean, you look
at I have gay staff who don't agree with the
Rainbow movement because of where it's gone on the trans

(08:27):
issues and various other file eves activism. But you look
at someone like Stephen Rainbow, the Human Rights Commissioner. You know,
he was attacked by the despite being the wrong sort
of rainbow, so not subscribing to all the other activist views. Look,
I'm sorry, but I mean we see this all the
time through the Free Speech Union, that government agencies think

(08:49):
you must be you must be virtuous, you must go
along with this pride activism, or there's something wrong with you.
Well no, look, I'm sorry. Well we're well passed, you know.
The it's not bigotry to not go along with all
the other things that are tacked on to these activist movements.
And I say good on the breakers actually saying look,

(09:10):
we here to play rugby. Sorry, let we'll let on,
you know, kind of rugby.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Like basketball, basketball like rugby. Says oh, or has Jordan
just shown that it doesn't understand sports guys, sports ball
beat sports ball.

Speaker 4 (09:28):
I say, oh lord, good, thank you so much. You
guys appreciate it. Mark Sainsbrie, Jordan Williams a hut All
this Evening.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
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