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July 14, 2026 10 mins

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson and broadcaster Mark Sainsbury joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Paul Henry has confirmed he's standing for the ACT Party ahead of the election - what do we make of this? Will this help ACT's chances? Do we see him making a difference in Parliament? 

National underperformed in another poll - should we be worried? 

Does it surprise us that Kiwis spent more than a billion dollars in takeaway deliveries in the first three months of the year?

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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):
Buddle with us.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
This evening we have Morris Williams and Auckland councilor former
National Party minister Mark Sainsbury, broadcaster. Hello, are you too
career Paul Henry Morris?

Speaker 4 (00:14):
What do you reckon? I think it's quite good. Actually,
I've always been of the mind that if All Black
team only had fifteen wingers, they would lose every match.
You've got to have a bit of everything. You've got
to have people that are very thoughtful, people that do
hard work in the back room, and you've got to

(00:34):
have people that can get out and communicate and create
some excitement. And that's the area where Paul Henry I
think excels. So he'll be dreadful in Parliament sitting there
on the night watch, having to sit through unbelievably boring speeches.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
I mean he'd go nuts.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, he'd probably go get a bit boozed at the
dinner break, come and cause trouble. They'd probably have to
take him off it.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
Yeah, well that could be a bit of a but
in the end he'sa aid tremendous communicator. He does actually
have an exciting way of talking and getting people to listen.
And you need one of those in the team. You
don't need fifteen wingers, but you need a couple that
can really get out there on sprint. You need a
couple of props and a hooker and a couple of everything,
and he is part of the mix.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
I think he'll do really well and.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Act in terms of where he sits in the political spectrum.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yes, are you worked with him?

Speaker 4 (01:21):
Didn't you?

Speaker 5 (01:23):
Yeah? Well, yeah we worked. He was on Breakfast when
I was doing close Up because he gave.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
You for oh you look you there were things. He's
one of those people that could be things if you
hadn't you can absolutely annoy you. But there is he
there's just a he's like a cheeky little you know.
And some of the stuff he did and said, I mean,
you wouldn't agree with it, but you can't help. But
like Paul and I think he'd be a huge as
set for act. I mean, you think if you're going

(01:48):
to go if you were going to go to a
meeting on the election campaign, you're not going to turn
up to hear Luxeon. You Poppy will turn up to
a meeting of Paul Henry's here to be honest.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
With you, and it's like a free isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
You're trying to put him off before he's even started
because he is not good. He is not going to
be sitting in the house during the graveyard shift.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
No, but say so, as I said, like, it's not
good for him to be on it, but it's not
good for ACT. They'd have to take it. They couldn't
because he'd caused all kinds of mischief if he was
getting bored in there.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Wouldn't he Yes, But I mean but you look at
your textas and texts and things coming in. People sit
on like that. He's like that, that cheeky sort of
you know, and so they sort of accept that he's
not going to follow the rules. And I presume that
they know that they have had to work that out
before they brought him on board.

Speaker 5 (02:36):
Yeah, it's a big move.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
I mean, it's might hope he has better success than
than the wire Appa.

Speaker 5 (02:41):
Of course, there is.

Speaker 4 (02:42):
That problem here, that of having to toe the line.
Keith Holyoake once said he stayed in the National Party
because he agreed with eighty percent of what it stood for.
I'd never got my numbers up to anywhere near the eighty.
But all I can say to you is you have
to stay in the team. And I made a fatal
mistake a couple of times of speaking out in the
opposite direction and got dealt to. I don't know whether

(03:04):
poor can last three years little alone the sixties saying
he can do. I reckon he will split and have
a big falling out at some point because he's not
prepared to tolerate people who won't agree with his views.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Also, Morris though that we are assuming that Paul Henry
is going to go in and fit into Parliament. Is
it not possible that he goes in? And I'm not
saying he's like Donald Trump, but he has a Trumpian
approach to politics where he goes I don't want to
fit in these rules. I'm just going to do my
own thing and we all kind of get used to it.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Yeah, it makes it difficult for the team, though, if
you've sort of pledged to do something or or you've
agreed on I had a talkback show on Ready Pacific
in the nineties, and I could do a cabinet meeting
on the week and lose a vote and get really
angry and screaming yell in the cabinet room because I'd lost,
And then I go on the radio on the Sunday
and completely sell that new policy that the government agreed to,

(03:54):
how fantastic it was, because you have to. It's that
collective responsibility. You can't just have twenty people in the
cabinet room while having their own views and split it
all over the place. He'll find that hard to buckle
down and have to agree that if others within the
ACT team wants something and he doesn't, and he'll have
to accept that.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, I think Mauric, we preferred you when you were
bucking the system rather than and that's the.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Thing Morris we did. So maybe maybe you're maybe you're right,
maybe you're wrong. Hey, we'll take a quick break, come
back and talk about the polling that's out today.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
The Huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty the only
truly global brand.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Right, you're back of the huddle, Mark Sainsbury, Morris Williams
and says, are you worried about that polling for National?

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well, if I was a National I suppose I would
be worried.

Speaker 4 (04:41):
As I'm a neither of none of them.

Speaker 5 (04:43):
Are you not.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
I've been fascinated by this the Opportunity Party as to
what was going to happen, and there's always that and
you know, if you don't make the five percent, you're useless,
no one's going to support you. But this is the
thing to watch just could change everything if they continue,
if they get over the get up, over the and
people don't feel as though they're wasting their vote, which
is always a big difficulty for any of those Other.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Time, I reckon say, okay, so they're sitting on four
point seven percent. Up to two point seven percent is
whopping in the RNZ red research pol do you reckon
they make it over five?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
I reckon they might say over five, Tuddy. I went
to a function the other week here that Iron Duke,
you know, fill o'riiley of your business, and she the leader,
was there and it was like a rock star. Everyone
was crowding around and wanted to go and talk. And
that was really fascinating. That is and because I still
I think we've talked about this before.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
I think there is a malaise.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
I think a lot of voters are just I'm a
plague on both your houses are sick of the big parties.
I don't think they're delivering anything, so they're looking round
for something.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yep, I agree, And so what do you reckon, Morris?

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Are they there?

Speaker 5 (05:45):
No?

Speaker 4 (05:45):
I don't think they will because the blow torch of
specifics will come on as the campaign unfolds. Yes, she's
very presentable. Yes there's an excitement about them right now.
Or I quite like what's going on there. And Mark's
completely right that people have had a guts full of
the old parties and you go across the world have
a look in the UK the Tories are almost and

(06:06):
also RAM Party nowadays, same in Australia etc. So there
will be an element of that. But I think she's
been unable to give specifics on any of the policies
and how much they cost them, what it will mean,
and what it will mean you'll be paying just if
you ain't an ordinary property. And I think as that
blow torch of specifics comes on, they won't get there.
And the other thing is that if Luxel was prepared

(06:29):
to take a big call and say we're ruling them out,
it would then close them because there's people that think
they'll make an excellent Collis and partner for National and
they wouldn't.

Speaker 5 (06:37):
And they wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, interesting, they're rule more likely, they're more likely you
lean towards labor. Looking at that polling they did with them.

Speaker 5 (06:44):
Rule them out, just rule them out.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Listen, do you worry about where Nationalism? I mean, if
they're sitting on twenty eight point seven, this poll is
not I don't think this is a fresh stip. I
think this pole is just catching up with where national sits.
But can you see national going up from here?

Speaker 4 (06:59):
Of course I worry like hell about it. My biggest
worry is not because they're not doing things that I want.
It's because they're not doing things they said they would do.
And I am so frustrated tonight. Keep looking back at
the twenty thirty three election campaign material. We will do this,
we will like for example here in South Ork, and
they said we're going to begin the work and build

(07:20):
this mill road, which is basically the second Motorway, hugely
important the motorway at present. The thing that most people
in South Ork and hate listening to is newstalks.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
They'd be in the morning about.

Speaker 4 (07:30):
How the motorway's block stopped and not moving every day,
and suddenly the Nationals come out and said, after all
of the attacking labor for hopelessener, we're not going to
do it either.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
Yep. So yeah, look, they desperately need to.

Speaker 4 (07:43):
Lift their game and that polling where they are because
the public aren't happy with what they're offering. Yep.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
I think you're right, and I think a lot of
Auklan's going to be pretty grumpy about that. All right,
saying so do you did you contribute to that one
point one billion dollars in the first three months of
the year eating getting the delivery?

Speaker 2 (07:57):
No, honest, we're not big on getting We do do
takeaways and newsic go and pick them up and that
sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
But I was just doing, what do you still get
in your car and go down the road and pick
up your food?

Speaker 2 (08:08):
I've seen my son know, and we do get something.

Speaker 5 (08:11):
One hundred goes down and gets it.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
But I'm working it up.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
That's two hundred.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Dollars, two hundred and twenty dollars for every single man,
woman and child in this country over that three months.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, like for a family, so for a family of four,
So my family of four, according to your numbers spent
eight hundred bucks in the food. Well I didn't. I mean,
that's ridiculous. Yeah, but there are people out there. I
think one of the producers here eats out basically almost
every night. It's just like kids don't cook anymore. I
think this was going on.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
No, and it's a real shame.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
Cocking is such a fantastic thing, you know.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Oh what are you good at cooking?

Speaker 5 (08:44):
So yeah, I do want to.

Speaker 4 (08:47):
Let's stop all the crabs that's been put down by
the media of how difficult times are and how we've
got a cost of living crisis. If people are spending
this sort of money just to get their food delivered
to their house, it's bizarre what happened to the I
grew up on a farm and made matter where we
never had takeaways, once you cooked your meals every day
with growing vegetables out in the back. And now somehow

(09:08):
we got a cost of living. Well, of course, they're
the only thing we haven't got is what I saw
in La was that you can get home delivered cannabis
as well. Yeah, but I lived in a shoe box
in the middle of the road. Of course, my upbredge is
even harder.

Speaker 5 (09:21):
Than you were. Well, cheer lot of three, cheer lot three.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Now saying so, I was told by keV, the producer
who used to work at TVNS. What was he very
good at?

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Kevork low the pork loin we played, In fact, we
still do it. We played five hundred. We used to
play every Wednesday night. There was four of us and
kept going going.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
We do it online and with an and now it's
not quite the same, but yeah, the regular was the
pork loin.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
We had to cook two if keV was coming round.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
To be honest, the overrated You were up in the
apartment on Queen Street which had the barber's chair in it.

Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah the dentist here.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Are we allowed to even talk about the fact that
that apartment existed because that was just a den of iniquity.

Speaker 5 (09:59):
Wasn't it.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
It was a fantastic but it was the old of
these buildings had the old caretakers flat on the roof,
and you didn't got automake it, but someone bought them
and you said the caretaker would live there, would do
the bins and the boilers and watch stuff. And they
had referred the building and put a big cloud two
floors of servers in it, and they wanted to get

(10:21):
the big high contracts, the blue chip contracts. You had
to have on site people there, so it actually went
back to its original purpose.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
The caretaker was living.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
In and you lost your party house. Guys, tell you
what why. I won't tell stories about what happened at
Sainzo's apartment. Have a lovely evening. Thank you for your insights,
Mark Sainsbury, Morris Williams and our huddles.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive. Listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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