October 16, 2024 • 9 mins
Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog contributor and Curia pollster David Farrar and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
According to a new poll, over half of Kiwi voters think Prime Minister Chris Luxon is out of touch. Why do we think this is? Is this a problem?
Wellington Council held an emergency meeting to figure out how to address the multi-million dollar hole in its Long Term Plan. The council is set to meet with the Local Government Minister tomorrow - will they be able to avoid an intervention?
Donald Trump danced for 40 minutes on stage during a campaign event. What's going on in the US?
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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 Southby's International realty, local and
global exposure like no other.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Right on the huddle with this Seven've got Jack Dame,
host of Q and A and Saturday Morning is David
Farracuria Pulsa and here we blog it as a hello
you two. Okay, David, what's the problem with lux and
why to fifty one percent of us think that he's
out of touch?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
The nature of that question, and it's a very interesting
one because it's asked all around the world because one
of the things in polling and politics is you you
always want to patrol to portray the other side is
our touch, and it tends to get people green unless
you're quite exceptional, because look, the average person never thinks
(00:43):
the prime minister or ministers are particularly in touch. So
the nature of the question, have you asked there about
other party leaders? You probably get similar results. On top
of that, though it is partly a wealth thing, as
partly e saying, yo, does this person understand what it's
like to be poor, etc. So when you get that
combination that you're an incumbent and you're wealthy, you tend
(01:07):
not to do on that but to put it in context, though,
Luxn's overall favorability is around my latest poll plus four.
Now you can look at them and say that's not
great plus four. You know, he had just Sender John
Key at plus twoty plus forty. But Lock around the
World Alvines is minus twenty. Kea Starmer's at minus thirty.
(01:27):
By them, well he's dead.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think you are giving me the worst examples though,
David Barah, don't try and play that trick with me.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Most incumbents are actually unpopular. So when you're at plus
five y, yeah, that's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
But why is he not doing as well as jk Helen,
just Sinda, et cetera, Jake.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Ky and just Sinder will once and a generation politicians
in terms of their tonet.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Well are spoiled.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Look you look at Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Remember they many of their elections were contests between two
politicians at minus twenty and when English went up against Jacinda,
they were both at round plus forty. I don't think
we realize how.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Rare that is.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
That's a really popular choice.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Jack, What do you reckon?
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Yeah, I think you guys have covered it off. I've
just said a couple of things. I think we forget
that he's actually pretty new to politics and he's been
out of New Zealand for a long time, so it's
been overseas for a while. And I'm not saying he
doesn't understand New Zealand, but I think there's some like
context your stuff that you always benefit from if you've
been here for a longer period recently. I also think
having not been in politics as long as as both
(02:43):
John Key and Jacinda are doing before they became Prime Minister,
and Bil English as well, maybe his political instincts aren't
quite as well honed yet as some of his predecessors.
And one last thing I'd add is just like on
the communication front, as you both mentioned, John Key and
Sindra a Dern were just extraordinarily talented, talented communicators in
(03:05):
their own in their own ways, quite quite different ways,
and I just think it's incredibly hard act to follow.
When you're in that role as Prime minister, everyone expects
you to have, you know, absolutely perfect communication skills. I
don't think Christoph Lux is a bad communicator, but he's
not able to kind of be nearly as natural and
every man as John Key was able to do, which
(03:27):
is remarkable given.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
John Key's worth. What a couple hundred millondollars? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
True, Okay, guys, we'll take a break, come back, very short.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Letter the huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty elevate
the marketing of your home.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Hey, Tory Farner has just put out a statement. I
can immediately see that they're in trouble. I'm going to
run you through that before the end of this half hour.
Right now, you're back with a huddle, Jack, tam and
David Baras. Speaking of which, Jack, do you think that
this meets a threshold? Do you think that they have
done enough in this meeting to be able to stop
the minister intervening in the council.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Well, it absolutely depends on the plan that she's can
be presenting to the Minister and whether or not there's
a feasible way they're going to be able to pass
this long term plan.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So the plan is this, Jack, The plan is that
they've agreed to cuts off roughly between three to five
hundred million, but they haven't agreed where the cuts are
going to come from, and they haven't identified the projects.
Is that enough?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I don't think it's going to be enough by itself
to stop the minister from intervening. But I also think
I know that this minister is very very enthusiastic about
maintaining community level democracy. We all remember that he restored
democracy and todung it as one of his very first
actions as a local government minister. So presuming he sticks
with that ethos despite the very obvious problems they have
(04:39):
in Wellington, I don't think that will necessarily be the
death knell like that, they may still have an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Remember, a Crown monitor does not remove the democracy, so
that's not he can.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
It's not a commissioner.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
No, no, it's like the first step, right yeah, and
and and they may he may well consider that it
meets that threat, meets that threshold. I certainly don't think
it meets meets the commissioner threshold just yet. But if
they can't agree on these cuts and where these cuts
need to be, and can't therefore pass a long term plan,
well clearly that you know, that makes things a whole
(05:12):
lot worse.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Than they already are, and they're already pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
David, I don't think this saves a day like to
a one and a half hour crisis meeting on a
Wednesday ahead of a meeting with the minister on a
Thursday just smacks of desperation, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
There's a band aid, but having said that, the government
shouldn't intervene in my view, both on principal and politics,
the principal cases that the threshold should be very high.
They didn't intervene when Tim Shedbot was obviously dementing that.
You know, you have to actually be failing, like e Ken,
we're at you're statutory levels.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
There's elections a year.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So the principal case isn't there for intervention just because
their muppets doesn't actually mean with their muppets we voted for.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
But the political case is stronger.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Why would you want to and to and have Wellington's
problems become central government?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is a very you make a very good point, David,
and I thought about this and I reckon, I've got
the answer for you. Right, you put a Crown monitor
in there who just basically holds their hands so it
looks like you're doing something when you're not actually doing
all that much and you're not taking on their problems.
But what it also does then it helps your local
Wellington based MP who frankly can't win a seat and
need some assistance being Nicola Willis, so she gets some
(06:23):
credit for the fact that she has actually taken this
seriously and stepped in there, but without actually having to
take responsibility.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
You see what I mean, Here's what's more important than
Nicola winning Ohario.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
If you're national's winning your next election. He's what I
would do.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I'd tell the whole country want to know a Labor
Green government because the feast promotion against the Labor Green government. So,
I mean, this.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Is actually a fair point, isn't it. Jack. If you
just let Tory carry on down the path that she's
going down, you basically just write the advertisement for what
the Greens and Power look like.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Well, I think from a strategic perspective.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
I think from a strategic perspective, David's one hundred percent right.
The thing is, though, I mean, like Tory has to
your point, has has arguably been let down by people
who are supposed to be on her side of the
political divide.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
But this also made me excuses for Toy.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
No I know I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
I'm saying I think I think Toy has been let
down by people on the left in her in her council. Like,
I think there's an argument to be made that she
has been let down by the more left leaning members
of Wellington Council, but.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Also without that she's doing a fine job of letting
herself down.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I also well, I.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Mean, you know, she was the one seeking to compromise
and sells here is well into the airport right, and
it was it was people on the left of her
who ultimately opposed that for various reasons.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's not problem, that's not the that is not.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
The I'm not saying it's good. I'm not Look, I'm
really not the at all.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
I'm not defending the council at all. I think it
also speaks to people like completely misunderstanding the dynamics and
council versus central government.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
They are entirely different beasts.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Running them is entirely different, and I think local council
is arguably much much more complex than central government.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And actually, you know, there's a good argument to be said.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
That actually, before you become here, maybe getting a bit
more experienced in local government would be a valuable thing
because you can realize the importance of consensus and.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
When you look at consensus.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
When you look at consensus, I think it's very hard
to go past how Wayne Brown has performed and surprised
a lot of people in building consensus on.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Both sides of the political aisle. Wayne has been appear
all from New Wellington right now and there you go.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
There you go vote for the old guys. Hey, what
happened to Donald Trump?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
David?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
What was up with that?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
This is what we him.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It is more benign where he just decides to stop talking.
And here's the thing, any other Pool petitian who did that,
you'd be calling the ambulance up to say, psychechick, wouldn't you?
But what this is like totally in character, probably some
of the least concerning stuff he could do. And that
(09:15):
is sort of why they like him too, Like, look,
he's crazy, but that's a fun crazy where he's so
unconventional people like we were talking but before about laxing
people who support Trump, and I don't like him because
he's himself. He does this authentic nutty stuff which any
(09:36):
professional press secretary would not be saying, Oh yeah, that's
a good idea. Just stop talking and dance.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
For guys, listen, I really appreciate talking to the bar
of you. Thank you so much, Jack. I'm David Parrison.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
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 Southby's International realty, local and
global exposure like no other.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Right on the huddle with this Seven've got Jack Dame,
host of Q and A and Saturday Morning is David
Farracuria Pulsa and here we blog it as a hello
you two. Okay, David, what's the problem with lux and
why to fifty one percent of us think that he's
out of touch?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
The nature of that question, and it's a very interesting
one because it's asked all around the world because one
of the things in polling and politics is you you
always want to patrol to portray the other side is
our touch, and it tends to get people green unless
you're quite exceptional, because look, the average person never thinks
(00:43):
the prime minister or ministers are particularly in touch. So
the nature of the question, have you asked there about
other party leaders? You probably get similar results. On top
of that, though it is partly a wealth thing, as
partly e saying, yo, does this person understand what it's
like to be poor, etc. So when you get that
combination that you're an incumbent and you're wealthy, you tend
(01:07):
not to do on that but to put it in context, though,
Luxn's overall favorability is around my latest poll plus four.
Now you can look at them and say that's not
great plus four. You know, he had just Sender John
Key at plus twoty plus forty. But Lock around the
World Alvines is minus twenty. Kea Starmer's at minus thirty.
(01:27):
By them, well he's dead.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think you are giving me the worst examples though,
David Barah, don't try and play that trick with me.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Most incumbents are actually unpopular. So when you're at plus
five y, yeah, that's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
But why is he not doing as well as jk Helen,
just Sinda, et cetera, Jake.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Ky and just Sinder will once and a generation politicians
in terms of their tonet.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Well are spoiled.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Look you look at Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Remember they many of their elections were contests between two
politicians at minus twenty and when English went up against Jacinda,
they were both at round plus forty. I don't think
we realize how.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Rare that is.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
That's a really popular choice.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Jack, What do you reckon?
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Yeah, I think you guys have covered it off. I've
just said a couple of things. I think we forget
that he's actually pretty new to politics and he's been
out of New Zealand for a long time, so it's
been overseas for a while. And I'm not saying he
doesn't understand New Zealand, but I think there's some like
context your stuff that you always benefit from if you've
been here for a longer period recently. I also think
having not been in politics as long as as both
(02:43):
John Key and Jacinda are doing before they became Prime Minister,
and Bil English as well, maybe his political instincts aren't
quite as well honed yet as some of his predecessors.
And one last thing I'd add is just like on
the communication front, as you both mentioned, John Key and
Sindra a Dern were just extraordinarily talented, talented communicators in
(03:05):
their own in their own ways, quite quite different ways,
and I just think it's incredibly hard act to follow.
When you're in that role as Prime minister, everyone expects
you to have, you know, absolutely perfect communication skills. I
don't think Christoph Lux is a bad communicator, but he's
not able to kind of be nearly as natural and
every man as John Key was able to do, which
(03:27):
is remarkable given.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
John Key's worth. What a couple hundred millondollars? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
True, Okay, guys, we'll take a break, come back, very short.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Letter the huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty elevate
the marketing of your home.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Hey, Tory Farner has just put out a statement. I
can immediately see that they're in trouble. I'm going to
run you through that before the end of this half hour.
Right now, you're back with a huddle, Jack, tam and
David Baras. Speaking of which, Jack, do you think that
this meets a threshold? Do you think that they have
done enough in this meeting to be able to stop
the minister intervening in the council.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Well, it absolutely depends on the plan that she's can
be presenting to the Minister and whether or not there's
a feasible way they're going to be able to pass
this long term plan.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So the plan is this, Jack, The plan is that
they've agreed to cuts off roughly between three to five
hundred million, but they haven't agreed where the cuts are
going to come from, and they haven't identified the projects.
Is that enough?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I don't think it's going to be enough by itself
to stop the minister from intervening. But I also think
I know that this minister is very very enthusiastic about
maintaining community level democracy. We all remember that he restored
democracy and todung it as one of his very first
actions as a local government minister. So presuming he sticks
with that ethos despite the very obvious problems they have
(04:39):
in Wellington, I don't think that will necessarily be the
death knell like that, they may still have an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Remember, a Crown monitor does not remove the democracy, so
that's not he can.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
It's not a commissioner.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
No, no, it's like the first step, right yeah, and
and and they may he may well consider that it
meets that threat, meets that threshold. I certainly don't think
it meets meets the commissioner threshold just yet. But if
they can't agree on these cuts and where these cuts
need to be, and can't therefore pass a long term plan,
well clearly that you know, that makes things a whole
(05:12):
lot worse.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Than they already are, and they're already pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
David, I don't think this saves a day like to
a one and a half hour crisis meeting on a
Wednesday ahead of a meeting with the minister on a
Thursday just smacks of desperation, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
There's a band aid, but having said that, the government
shouldn't intervene in my view, both on principal and politics,
the principal cases that the threshold should be very high.
They didn't intervene when Tim Shedbot was obviously dementing that.
You know, you have to actually be failing, like e Ken,
we're at you're statutory levels.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
There's elections a year.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So the principal case isn't there for intervention just because
their muppets doesn't actually mean with their muppets we voted for.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
But the political case is stronger.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Why would you want to and to and have Wellington's
problems become central government?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is a very you make a very good point, David,
and I thought about this and I reckon, I've got
the answer for you. Right, you put a Crown monitor
in there who just basically holds their hands so it
looks like you're doing something when you're not actually doing
all that much and you're not taking on their problems.
But what it also does then it helps your local
Wellington based MP who frankly can't win a seat and
need some assistance being Nicola Willis, so she gets some
(06:23):
credit for the fact that she has actually taken this
seriously and stepped in there, but without actually having to
take responsibility.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
You see what I mean, Here's what's more important than
Nicola winning Ohario.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
If you're national's winning your next election. He's what I
would do.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I'd tell the whole country want to know a Labor
Green government because the feast promotion against the Labor Green government. So,
I mean, this.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Is actually a fair point, isn't it. Jack. If you
just let Tory carry on down the path that she's
going down, you basically just write the advertisement for what
the Greens and Power look like.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Well, I think from a strategic perspective.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
I think from a strategic perspective, David's one hundred percent right.
The thing is, though, I mean, like Tory has to
your point, has has arguably been let down by people
who are supposed to be on her side of the
political divide.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
But this also made me excuses for Toy.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
No I know I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
I'm saying I think I think Toy has been let
down by people on the left in her in her council. Like,
I think there's an argument to be made that she
has been let down by the more left leaning members
of Wellington Council, but.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Also without that she's doing a fine job of letting
herself down.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I also well, I.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Mean, you know, she was the one seeking to compromise
and sells here is well into the airport right, and
it was it was people on the left of her
who ultimately opposed that for various reasons.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's not problem, that's not the that is not.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
The I'm not saying it's good. I'm not Look, I'm
really not the at all.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
I'm not defending the council at all. I think it
also speaks to people like completely misunderstanding the dynamics and
council versus central government.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
They are entirely different beasts.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Running them is entirely different, and I think local council
is arguably much much more complex than central government.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And actually, you know, there's a good argument to be said.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
That actually, before you become here, maybe getting a bit
more experienced in local government would be a valuable thing
because you can realize the importance of consensus and.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
When you look at consensus.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
When you look at consensus, I think it's very hard
to go past how Wayne Brown has performed and surprised
a lot of people in building consensus on.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Both sides of the political aisle. Wayne has been appear
all from New Wellington right now and there you go.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
There you go vote for the old guys. Hey, what
happened to Donald Trump?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
David?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
What was up with that?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
This is what we him.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It is more benign where he just decides to stop talking.
And here's the thing, any other Pool petitian who did that,
you'd be calling the ambulance up to say, psychechick, wouldn't you?
But what this is like totally in character, probably some
of the least concerning stuff he could do. And that
(09:15):
is sort of why they like him too, Like, look,
he's crazy, but that's a fun crazy where he's so
unconventional people like we were talking but before about laxing
people who support Trump, and I don't like him because
he's himself. He does this authentic nutty stuff which any
(09:36):
professional press secretary would not be saying, Oh yeah, that's
a good idea. Just stop talking and dance.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
For guys, listen, I really appreciate talking to the bar
of you. Thank you so much, Jack. I'm David Parrison.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
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
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