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October 8, 2025 • 10 mins

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

 Eight international rugby unions, including New Zealand, have tried to warn their players off joining the proposed Rugby 360 league. What do we make of all this? 

The OCR dropped another 50 basis points today - should we be celebrating? Or could the central bank have done more?

National recently dropped below 30 percent in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll. Should the coalition be worried here?

New reports on truancy have found that many families are still taking their kids out of class for holidays. Do we need to stagger holidays around the country so that flights to Fiji aren't so expensive for a specific 2-week period?

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty find your
one of the kind.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
On the huddle of that's this evening we have Mark
Sainsbury broadcaster Jordan Williams Taxpayers Union high lads right, saying, so,
I mean it's pretty clear that if they're taking the
stance on the.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Players, they're worried about that league, aren't they?

Speaker 4 (00:17):
Of course, just have a look at Live Golf. I
was talking to some people, well who I suspect on
the list and the periphery of this, and said, well,
it's the Golden rule. Whoever's got the gold rules and
you're talking about a bottomless pit of money?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, what are they worried about?

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Surely? Well the other thing is surely one of the
first things when they were setting this thing up they
must have thought, right, what are the rugman unions going
to do? Well, I'll say, you're not going to be
Test eligible, so all the stuff would have been through.
So are they going to end up having to if
there's a hemorrhage of players then.

Speaker 5 (00:54):
They're going to have to be the same as for
the golf.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
You're going to have to deal with the devil and
do you.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Know what, Jordan, I don't think that the span is
going to make a difference because it sounds like the
kind of players that they're hoovering up are Roger twy
us A Shecks right, who've had a crack at playing
in the black Jersey. It didn't work, and so it's
got nothing to lose.

Speaker 5 (01:10):
Yeah, I'm just not convinced competing leagues are bad for
viewers all for players. Yeah, and that's why they're worried,
you know, no want dominant position mutch competition coming along?

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah too, right now sounds how do you feel about
that double cut?

Speaker 5 (01:23):
You happy? Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I mean did.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
You just lose concentration?

Speaker 5 (01:30):
No?

Speaker 4 (01:30):
No, no, no no. When you said double cut, I
suddenly thought under anyway. But yeah, I mean it's interesting again.
I mean that people sort of, isn't it funny? Just
has something like that can just change the mood. So
people are already saying we may finally start to see
the green shoots coming through. You know, that's that's that's
the feeling. But you know, maybe things are turning.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yep, Jordan, I reckon it's eight going to work, but
it is be like Jared Kurr said, an admission of
having made a mistake are the Reserve Bank.

Speaker 5 (02:01):
Yeah, you're going to hear the corks and the beehive
down the road from this, but it's pretty risky. You know,
two point seven are not. But at the upper end
of the of the band, there is some risk with this.
And this is a bank that you know only recently
has seriously overshot. It doesn't fix the fundamentals which really

(02:22):
needs to be done. But on the in the beehive,
and that is you know, get on top of inflationary
government spending. This is a be a good sugar hit
and cheap money means that you know, we should get
back to growth, but fundamentally it doesn't get doesn't it
doesn't get anys in and back on track. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
The reason that the bee hives will be popping the
corks is because that in part because of that poll today. Right,
how much trouble are they in if they're in the
NATS to start with the two.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Well, I mean that's soon very naturally I call the
various party leaders or party leaders officers depending of his
oppositional government to give them a heads up on the
pole really is as a market respects to you before
we put it out, I could laugh at the I'm
not going to I'm not going to dock them. But
the very senior National Party person he said twenty nine

(03:10):
point six. You can round that to thirty, can't you.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Because it's an acknowledgment that it is a really bad thing.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Right, Yeah, that was a.

Speaker 5 (03:19):
Pretty you know, it is a cycle. I mean, reality
doesn't really matter. I mean, both Labor and National we're down.
National we're down the smudge more three and a half points.
I mean, but it's been terrible four weeks for the government.
I mean that's those GDP numbers alone. You pointed out
very well either in the weekend on energy. So if

(03:39):
this government does go down next year, it's not going
to be because they have done too much. It's that
they haven't hit the go button fast enough and they're
not doing enough.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, I mean I think, yeah, that's a theme that's
coming through, isn't it saying so what do you reckon?
You've watched your fair amount of pot like, your fair
share of politics.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
How bad is it for these guys?

Speaker 4 (03:59):
Well, well, one of the things I noted was that
when our preferred PM is getting twenty point nine per
se lets top of the pile. You've got a bit
of a christ of confidence. I think you look at
I mean Christopher LEUXI model himself and John Key. You
look at when John Keeber's PM. I don't think it's
sixty five PERCENTY peaked to one stage, It just to

(04:20):
and it continued going up until he decided to go.
Although I did think Chrystoph LExEN took the right approach,
because what else can you do. You've got to say,
hang on, we've been elected to do this. The elections
still some time away, come and see us. Then you
have to explain yourself every single time. You know, it's
the old explaining is losing. But I thought he took

(04:40):
the right approach. But the delivery was terrible.

Speaker 5 (04:42):
But they haven't delivered what they were elected to do, Sames.
I mean they were elected to take all government spending.
They've taken the political hit for doing it, but they
haven't had the economic upside because they haven't. They're elected
to tackle the co government stuff and the divisive stuff
we had from the last government, and everyone can see
they don't really stand for what they said they would.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
That's fair, isn't it. Sain Zoe.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Yeah, yeah, look it's I mean, it's a bit of
a I don't think I've quite seen it like this before.

Speaker 5 (05:12):
You know, it is, it is.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
But again, the thing is, you've got to keep thinking.
It's not like the government's going to change overnight or
they're going to roll Christopher Luxen, you know, I mean,
things are going to carry on. So you've got to
sort of weather it and you've to have some confidence
that what you're doing is actually the right plan. Now.
The only worry is it may not be the right plan.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well running what were you saying, Jordan, Well, they're running.

Speaker 5 (05:35):
Out of time. Natlie Willison has got one more budget,
but next to his budget will be too late. She
really needs to go, I would argue, do a spring statement.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
All right, well geez, that's bold.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Okay, let's take a break and we'll come back and
talk a little bit more about what's going on with them.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Holiday's Quoe the Huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty,
the global leader in luxury real estate.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Right back with the Huddle, Jordan Williams Mark Sainsbury, Jordan,
are you as surprised as I?

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Am that that quick Downy Airport's taken out that award?

Speaker 5 (06:03):
Queen Sounds are right, Queen Sounds is probably the best
airport because it's really until they put those damn neody
scanners in, it was always very quick to get kept through.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Are you telling me that you think Queens Downy Airport
is better than Christich Airport?

Speaker 5 (06:17):
Well, you know that equally is beautiful. But I mean
I I just throw in a league of their own
because Aukham Domestic is such a national embarrassment.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
Wellington is not that bad. Fine, Okay, so hold on,
So you've actually admitted that there are three great airports.

Speaker 5 (06:34):
Yeah, and also Wellington security can often take ages, but
that's because there's so many politicians damming it up.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
Okay, soones, so help me out here.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
I'm surprised.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Are you surprised?

Speaker 4 (06:44):
Well, well, listen, I can remember Wellington Airport used to
be a converted tiger.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
Off factory before they actually rebuilt, so that you always
used to be.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
The great embarrassment of the airports.

Speaker 5 (06:55):
It's funny.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
We have a funny relationship with the airports, isn't it.
It sort of a you know, we you sort of
take them personally I quite like Queenstown. I think it's
all right and you get that that. I know exactly
what you mean, that little rep run. But I've always
had a reasonably good time there.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Don't you find those sayings so that when you get
to Queensland Airport there will be a horde of people
at some point, like there will be people chaos at
some point.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
It's just where it is.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
So you could be you're putting your bag in. It
could be when you're going through the scan. It could
be when you're getting on the plane. But you're going
to get it somewhere.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Yeah, but it's like it does feel like it's sort
of a holiday airport, doesn't it. It feels like that's
why we like.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
It, Yeah, because it represents a break for us. Jordan,
what do you think about this idea? One of the
ideas that e Ro has pitched for dealing with truan
see because all the nice parents are taking their nice
kids off to you know, Fiji during term time is
to stagger the school holidays throughout the country, so we
don't just get everybody go in go into Fiji at once.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
What do you think of that?

Speaker 5 (07:53):
You're kind of have that in Ouklam because often the
private schools are slightly different, and I think you've got
kids staggering between schools that would be that could make
the problem even worse. How so, well, if you've got
kids on on one holiday program and and a kid
at another skill know.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
What they were meaning is regional, They mean it's regional.
So like Auckland has its holidays, then Wellington has maybe
slightly different by a week.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Christ you like that.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
Then if you're planning an event here, if.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
You're planning a major event to attract you know, school
school kids, you could be sporting competitions or whatever. Now
all of a sudden you've got a problems that are
not all on holiday.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Well, and this does happen a lot, doesn't it. You've
got into school stuff, and you've got school programs that
people out would bound all that kind of carry on.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
I suppose same though, as a Wellingtonian, how did you
feel about Tori Faro's speech, because I thought it was
actually surprisingly gracious.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
Yeah, I thought it was too. I mean the initial
sort of reporting of it, so it was here that
there's going to be this huge utu was coming and etcetera.
But yeah, and you've got a bit of humor and
why do you do your best performance almost on your
last day?

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Well, yeah, do you feel like you've kind of missed
out on what could have been? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Look, I do also think I mean, she got a
really really.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
Hard times, a hard time that she was asking for.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
Some of it was self inflicted either, but some of
it I wouldn't have gotten, you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
I think it's it was.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
A lot of it was because she was you know.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Well, I don't know, so, I mean, would you come
off at s I mean you might have been.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Back in the day.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Back in the day, you might have been drunk enough
to not pay a bill, and maybe you would have
got a lighter run than her, But I don't think
that you would have gone out and penned all of you,
you know, made excuses for yourself because you suddenly had ADHD.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
That doesn't strike me as something you do well.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
You do if you end up in that situation.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
I guess, Jordan, what do you think, Like I've got in.

Speaker 5 (09:51):
Trouble before because I've defended Tory and people have jumped
down my throat. The thing is with with Tori, she
sometimes their own worst enemy. If she has shown grace
at the end, good honor, but I do think that
running for parliament probably wouldn't be good for New Zealand
or for Tory.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, guys, listen, thank you. It's very lovely to talk
to the pair of you. Mark Sainsbury, Jordan williams our
Huddle this evening for.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
More from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive. Listen live to news Talks.
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