September 18, 2025 • 10 mins
Tonight on The Huddle, Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute and former Auckland mayor Phil Goff joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
The GDP results are in, and they're worse than predicted. Are we surprised by this development? Does the Reserve Bank need to try harder to fix this? Should Nicola Willis resign?
Self-driving Teslas have officially launched in New Zealand. What do we make of this? Should we be worried?
Jimmy Kimmel's show has been pulled following some comments he made about Charlie Kirk's assassination. Is this an overreach? Did Kimmel deserve to get sacked?
New data reveals one in three young men feel gender equality has gone too far. What makes our young men feel like this? Can something be done about it?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty Find your
one of a Kind.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
It's twenty away from six And on the huddle of
this evening we've got Thomas Scriminger of the Maximum Institute
in Phil GoF, former Auckland mayor, former High Commissioner to
the UK. Hello you two, Thomas. How are you feeling
about that GDP number?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh yeah, it's pretty concerning, I think, and certainly the
government will be very very unhappy with it. They've pitched,
you know, a lot of their identity as a government
of getting economic growth back. It's probably the flip side
of their challenges. They claim they're going to be the
ones to bring economic growth back. Governments don't actually create
economic growth. There's a whole lot of things outside of
their control and now they're experiencing I guess the negative
(00:44):
side of that. They were wanting to claim credit for
the good news and now the bad news comes and
they have to wear it. And Roger Douglas is right,
we're still running a structural deficit within the fourcast period.
We're not returning to a surplus, so they have real challenges.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
So when you say, Roger Douglas is right. Do you
agree with Roger Douglas and Nicholaulas should resign.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
No, I'm saying Roger Douglas is right about the structural deficit.
I'm not going to make a comment either way about
the Finance Minister's future, but certainly it is a real challenge.
She was talking a big game about getting us back
to a balanced budget and we're not there.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, now, Phil, what do you think about this? My
concern I want to know if you share my concern.
My concern is that we are so nervy and scared
at the moment and worried about what's happening with the
economy and whether we're through the worst of it, that
any kind of bad news like this just sets us back.
Do you worry about that?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, a little. I mean you've got to face up
to the reality though. I mean, this was a shocker
of a result. The Reserve Bank said the quarter would
decline by about zero point three, and it declined by
three times more than that point nine, And that means
three out of the last five quarters the economy has
been in recession. Look, I'm not into calling for people
(01:56):
to resign, but Roger Douglas is right that you've got
to come clean on the fact that your deficit is
continuing and you can't keep blaming. I mean I found
this even in England, you know, hearing care Starma blame
the Conservatives for everything. I feel the same way when
I hear you know, the National Party here blaming it's predecessor.
In the end, you know, nearly two years into your term,
(02:18):
you've got to start taking responsibility for your own actions
and whether they've been effective. And Douglas is right, as
Treasury is right, you've got to start to address problems
like you know, we're aging population, my generation, the baby boomers,
more cost on superannuation, more cost on healthcare, and you
can't turn a blind eye to that. So you've got
(02:40):
to start addressing some of the underlying problems and take
some of the hard decisions. And I don't think that's
been done now.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
On the self driving Tesla's I'm I'm I'm a bit
f ex out. I mean, look, I'm totally overstating this, Thomas.
I'm not freaked out. I'm a little bit nervous about it.
How do you feel.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Well, I'm mostly excited. It can't be worse than the
average Keiwi driver. I mean, you know, I've been known
to be distracted before or tired, so I'm playing on
your phone quite exciting. Oh no, never that. But you
know we're not always at our best. So I think
self driving cars are an exciting development. I do worry
we're not ready for it in ZTA. Seems like there
might be a little off guard. Certainly, our legislation wasn't
(03:20):
written with this sort of thing in mind, so we're
going to have to adapt pretty quickly because it's just
going to come faster and faster. More and more people
will get excited about it. So, yeah, self driving cars future.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I don't know about you, Phil, but if I'm walking
down the road and I see a Tesla coming from now,
and I'm going to be clapping eyes on that thing,
like how you know, just to avoid the kind of
sudden swerve into me. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Look, I'm not hugely worried because currently you've still got
to have a supervision. You've got to have somebody behind
the wheel, even though the car is theoretically capable of
being totally autonomous. So the rules in New Zealand, such
as they are, require a fully intentive driver at all
times by law. Tesla reckons that the car is fifty
(04:03):
four percent safer than a human driver, and that could
well be right. You know, you said the machines don't
make the same mistakes as human beings, but they might
make different mistakes. What if the system goes down, you know,
something happens and the electronics fail. You've got to be
You've got to be cautious about it. But I'm not.
(04:23):
I'm not freaked out about it. Mind you. If I
did see a car coming down the road with no
driver behind the wheel, I kind of would look for
an escape room if that was necessary.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I don't think that's likely, but it would freak you out.
All right. We'll take a break with the pair of
you come back in a.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Take the huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty, the
global leader and Luxury real Estate.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Bussy's valedictory speech is underway right now, so we will
bring you all the best, but so you don't have
to sit through the whole thing. Shortly, it's thirteen away
from six and of course you're back with a huddle.
Phil Goff and Thomas Scrimger. Thomas, how do you feel
about Jimmy Kimmel's show being canceled.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Oh, it seems like a bit of a bit of
a sketchy situation, really, and I think really disappointing. I mean,
we talk about kind of cancel culture and all of
that principles really matter. The American right was deeply worried
about cancel culture for years under under the Biden administration,
and now they have asserted kind of cultural dominance, and
(05:18):
now the shoes on the other foot.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Now, Jimmy Kimmel was wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
He was straightforwardly articulating misinformation. He was not correct when
he was saying that the shooter was Maga, But that
shouldn't matter. He's a late night comic. His job is
to articulate opinions, to be funny or try to be,
and he should be given wide leeway for expressing his opinions.
I do wonder his show is quite you know, old
(05:44):
fashioned that late night TV, and incredibly expensive. His you know, equivalent,
Stephen Colbert's show was losing tens of millions of dollars
a year when it was canceled, So maybe maybe the
network is trying to do him a bit dirty by
canceling him for another reason looking for an excuse.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, I think, yeah, I did wonder about that carry
on a Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
But if you're upset about his you know, his criticisms
of the MAGA movement and all of that. If people
are really really worried, the solution is simple, have an
argument with him. Charlie Kirk at his best was arguing
with people about things he believed. To cancel Kimmel for
expressing a controversial view is hardly in the spirit of
(06:24):
the life Charlie Kirk lived.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
What do You Reckon? Film?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, look, I agree with what Thomas said. I
think that in addition to that, I think it's absolutely
wrong to weaponize assassinations by blaming your political rivals, as
Trump has done. I mean, we've seen a lot of people,
even as recently as June, where we had a congresswoman
in Minnesota, a Democratic congresswoman assassinated and her husband alongside
(06:49):
by a guy who just killed another law maker, and
the Democrats didn't come out and say this is a
Republican plot. I mean, Kimble's was wrong. This guy wasn't Mega,
although his parents were registered Republicans. But you know, you don't.
Freedom are free in democratic society. You don't silence people,
and you don't get somebody in as powerful a position
(07:12):
as Brendan Carr was as chair of the Federal Communications Commission,
saying that the pull broadcast licenses unless Disney did something
about Kimmel's comments. The comments weren't absolutely offensive, they were
simply wrong. But if you're basing on things being wrong,
you know, fact checkers tell us at about seventy percent
of what Trump's is is not evidence based, and he's
(07:33):
not being canceled. So I think you just got to
have You've got to have that open debate, and you
don't weaponize and you don't polarize society in a way
that Trump is really prone to do. If you want
to look anywhere at the level of violence in the
United States, look at the gun laws, and look at
the culture of that place, and that explains why the
United States is much worse than any other country on
(07:54):
Earth that's a democracy in terms of that sort of
level of political assassination and gun violence.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Fair enough, Thomas Listen. There was an interesting survey which
were covered at the start of the program, saying that
one in three young men believe equality has gone too far,
like as in feminism. What do you think is going
on there?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well, firstly, I think it's always worth taking surveys like
this with something of a grain of salt to get
this qualitative feedback. You ask a question and you think
you know what the respondent is hearing when you ask
the question, but they might be thinking about something else.
But when we talk about young men specifically, if those
are immediately you know, university age or school leavers, the
direct experience of the world is an education system in
(08:34):
which boys and young men are doing worse than girls
and young women. Now, obviously income and equality throughout a career,
men are still earning more. But if we're looking at
that youngest cohort, educational equality has been achieved, and so
that is their most immediate experience. Probably we can also
think it's just a larger trend, I guess against the
(08:56):
affirmative action moves we've seen in previous years towards the
more traditional or conservative view among young men. So there
is a real shaft, but I wouldn't overinterpret it.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, I did wonder if it's the affirmative action stuff, Phil,
what do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, I'm really curious as to why in what respect
they think that equality has gone too far, and the
survey doesn't really tell us that girls are doing better
in education and in a lot of areas, but I
don't think because they're being given any special advantages. We
do have a problem with young men and boys at
school that aren't doing as well as they should be,
(09:31):
and I'm not condemning them for that. I'm just thinking
that if we're going to address the problem, we need
to look at why young men aren't is a focused
and aren't achieving in the same way as young women.
But absolutely wrong for them to say it's all because
equality has gone too far. They need to look at
why they're not doing better and take some responsibility for
(09:53):
that themselves. And we need to look at the system
to see how we can make young men do better
than they have been doing in the education system.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Hey guys, thank you appreciate your taking everything there. Phil Goff,
Thomas Scrumger a huddle this evening
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
The huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty Find your
one of a Kind.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
It's twenty away from six And on the huddle of
this evening we've got Thomas Scriminger of the Maximum Institute
in Phil GoF, former Auckland mayor, former High Commissioner to
the UK. Hello you two, Thomas. How are you feeling
about that GDP number?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh yeah, it's pretty concerning, I think, and certainly the
government will be very very unhappy with it. They've pitched,
you know, a lot of their identity as a government
of getting economic growth back. It's probably the flip side
of their challenges. They claim they're going to be the
ones to bring economic growth back. Governments don't actually create
economic growth. There's a whole lot of things outside of
their control and now they're experiencing I guess the negative
(00:44):
side of that. They were wanting to claim credit for
the good news and now the bad news comes and
they have to wear it. And Roger Douglas is right,
we're still running a structural deficit within the fourcast period.
We're not returning to a surplus, so they have real challenges.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
So when you say, Roger Douglas is right. Do you
agree with Roger Douglas and Nicholaulas should resign.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
No, I'm saying Roger Douglas is right about the structural deficit.
I'm not going to make a comment either way about
the Finance Minister's future, but certainly it is a real challenge.
She was talking a big game about getting us back
to a balanced budget and we're not there.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, now, Phil, what do you think about this? My
concern I want to know if you share my concern.
My concern is that we are so nervy and scared
at the moment and worried about what's happening with the
economy and whether we're through the worst of it, that
any kind of bad news like this just sets us back.
Do you worry about that?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, a little. I mean you've got to face up
to the reality though. I mean, this was a shocker
of a result. The Reserve Bank said the quarter would
decline by about zero point three, and it declined by
three times more than that point nine, And that means
three out of the last five quarters the economy has
been in recession. Look, I'm not into calling for people
(01:56):
to resign, but Roger Douglas is right that you've got
to come clean on the fact that your deficit is
continuing and you can't keep blaming. I mean I found
this even in England, you know, hearing care Starma blame
the Conservatives for everything. I feel the same way when
I hear you know, the National Party here blaming it's predecessor.
In the end, you know, nearly two years into your term,
(02:18):
you've got to start taking responsibility for your own actions
and whether they've been effective. And Douglas is right, as
Treasury is right, you've got to start to address problems
like you know, we're aging population, my generation, the baby boomers,
more cost on superannuation, more cost on healthcare, and you
can't turn a blind eye to that. So you've got
(02:40):
to start addressing some of the underlying problems and take
some of the hard decisions. And I don't think that's
been done now.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
On the self driving Tesla's I'm I'm I'm a bit
f ex out. I mean, look, I'm totally overstating this, Thomas.
I'm not freaked out. I'm a little bit nervous about it.
How do you feel.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Well, I'm mostly excited. It can't be worse than the
average Keiwi driver. I mean, you know, I've been known
to be distracted before or tired, so I'm playing on
your phone quite exciting. Oh no, never that. But you
know we're not always at our best. So I think
self driving cars are an exciting development. I do worry
we're not ready for it in ZTA. Seems like there
might be a little off guard. Certainly, our legislation wasn't
(03:20):
written with this sort of thing in mind, so we're
going to have to adapt pretty quickly because it's just
going to come faster and faster. More and more people
will get excited about it. So, yeah, self driving cars future.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I don't know about you, Phil, but if I'm walking
down the road and I see a Tesla coming from now,
and I'm going to be clapping eyes on that thing,
like how you know, just to avoid the kind of
sudden swerve into me. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Look, I'm not hugely worried because currently you've still got
to have a supervision. You've got to have somebody behind
the wheel, even though the car is theoretically capable of
being totally autonomous. So the rules in New Zealand, such
as they are, require a fully intentive driver at all
times by law. Tesla reckons that the car is fifty
(04:03):
four percent safer than a human driver, and that could
well be right. You know, you said the machines don't
make the same mistakes as human beings, but they might
make different mistakes. What if the system goes down, you know,
something happens and the electronics fail. You've got to be
You've got to be cautious about it. But I'm not.
(04:23):
I'm not freaked out about it. Mind you. If I
did see a car coming down the road with no
driver behind the wheel, I kind of would look for
an escape room if that was necessary.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I don't think that's likely, but it would freak you out.
All right. We'll take a break with the pair of
you come back in a.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Take the huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty, the
global leader and Luxury real Estate.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Bussy's valedictory speech is underway right now, so we will
bring you all the best, but so you don't have
to sit through the whole thing. Shortly, it's thirteen away
from six and of course you're back with a huddle.
Phil Goff and Thomas Scrimger. Thomas, how do you feel
about Jimmy Kimmel's show being canceled.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Oh, it seems like a bit of a bit of
a sketchy situation, really, and I think really disappointing. I mean,
we talk about kind of cancel culture and all of
that principles really matter. The American right was deeply worried
about cancel culture for years under under the Biden administration,
and now they have asserted kind of cultural dominance, and
(05:18):
now the shoes on the other foot.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Now, Jimmy Kimmel was wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
He was straightforwardly articulating misinformation. He was not correct when
he was saying that the shooter was Maga, But that
shouldn't matter. He's a late night comic. His job is
to articulate opinions, to be funny or try to be,
and he should be given wide leeway for expressing his opinions.
I do wonder his show is quite you know, old
(05:44):
fashioned that late night TV, and incredibly expensive. His you know, equivalent,
Stephen Colbert's show was losing tens of millions of dollars
a year when it was canceled, So maybe maybe the
network is trying to do him a bit dirty by
canceling him for another reason looking for an excuse.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, I think, yeah, I did wonder about that carry
on a Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
But if you're upset about his you know, his criticisms
of the MAGA movement and all of that. If people
are really really worried, the solution is simple, have an
argument with him. Charlie Kirk at his best was arguing
with people about things he believed. To cancel Kimmel for
expressing a controversial view is hardly in the spirit of
(06:24):
the life Charlie Kirk lived.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
What do You Reckon? Film?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, look, I agree with what Thomas said. I
think that in addition to that, I think it's absolutely
wrong to weaponize assassinations by blaming your political rivals, as
Trump has done. I mean, we've seen a lot of people,
even as recently as June, where we had a congresswoman
in Minnesota, a Democratic congresswoman assassinated and her husband alongside
(06:49):
by a guy who just killed another law maker, and
the Democrats didn't come out and say this is a
Republican plot. I mean, Kimble's was wrong. This guy wasn't Mega,
although his parents were registered Republicans. But you know, you don't.
Freedom are free in democratic society. You don't silence people,
and you don't get somebody in as powerful a position
(07:12):
as Brendan Carr was as chair of the Federal Communications Commission,
saying that the pull broadcast licenses unless Disney did something
about Kimmel's comments. The comments weren't absolutely offensive, they were
simply wrong. But if you're basing on things being wrong,
you know, fact checkers tell us at about seventy percent
of what Trump's is is not evidence based, and he's
(07:33):
not being canceled. So I think you just got to
have You've got to have that open debate, and you
don't weaponize and you don't polarize society in a way
that Trump is really prone to do. If you want
to look anywhere at the level of violence in the
United States, look at the gun laws, and look at
the culture of that place, and that explains why the
United States is much worse than any other country on
(07:54):
Earth that's a democracy in terms of that sort of
level of political assassination and gun violence.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Fair enough, Thomas Listen. There was an interesting survey which
were covered at the start of the program, saying that
one in three young men believe equality has gone too far,
like as in feminism. What do you think is going
on there?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well, firstly, I think it's always worth taking surveys like
this with something of a grain of salt to get
this qualitative feedback. You ask a question and you think
you know what the respondent is hearing when you ask
the question, but they might be thinking about something else.
But when we talk about young men specifically, if those
are immediately you know, university age or school leavers, the
direct experience of the world is an education system in
(08:34):
which boys and young men are doing worse than girls
and young women. Now, obviously income and equality throughout a career,
men are still earning more. But if we're looking at
that youngest cohort, educational equality has been achieved, and so
that is their most immediate experience. Probably we can also
think it's just a larger trend, I guess against the
(08:56):
affirmative action moves we've seen in previous years towards the
more traditional or conservative view among young men. So there
is a real shaft, but I wouldn't overinterpret it.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, I did wonder if it's the affirmative action stuff, Phil,
what do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, I'm really curious as to why in what respect
they think that equality has gone too far, and the
survey doesn't really tell us that girls are doing better
in education and in a lot of areas, but I
don't think because they're being given any special advantages. We
do have a problem with young men and boys at
school that aren't doing as well as they should be,
(09:31):
and I'm not condemning them for that. I'm just thinking
that if we're going to address the problem, we need
to look at why young men aren't is a focused
and aren't achieving in the same way as young women.
But absolutely wrong for them to say it's all because
equality has gone too far. They need to look at
why they're not doing better and take some responsibility for
(09:53):
that themselves. And we need to look at the system
to see how we can make young men do better
than they have been doing in the education system.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Hey guys, thank you appreciate your taking everything there. Phil Goff,
Thomas Scrumger a huddle this evening
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!