March 9, 2026 • 11 mins
Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
There's bee plenty of speculation over the weekend about Luxon's political future, but after today's round of interviews, it's unlikely he's going anywhere just yet. Do we think National will roll him eventually?
The Government will be keeping an eye on fuel prices as the conflict in the Middle East continues. There's growing calls for the Government to cut the fuel tax - do we see them going through with this?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And were joined on our huddle by Tris Shearson, Sherston,
Willis pr and Joseph Agunny, the chief executive of Child Fund,
who was so great gracious, took it so graciously when
they were stood down as the emergency huddle on Friday
A and off.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The flashing red light and went back to the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Did you think, actually on that subject, which is the
lux and leadership thing that happened on Friday, Trisha, I
thought it's probably got a bit silly to have the
media chasing him through the airport on the Monday when
the thing is already wrapped up and done by Friday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, I mean I thought it became very clear that
it's not a coup, it's a competence issue, and for
that reason, over the weekend the whole thing went quiet.
So yeah, I didn't think it had the excitement level
today that would require chasing through Parliament. I mean, if
it was a coupe you would have seen leaking out
(00:50):
over the weekend, you would have already by today we
would have names in a ring. And unless you have
an organized group in caucus or including backbenchers who are
doing the numbers, then this is actually a story I
think about competence and authority of the Prime minister and
one bad poll is not a death certificate for him.
(01:13):
But what it is is several missteps like he continues
to make over time. They are eroding the view and
his competence and they're eroding his authority.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, what do you think true?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Oh, Josey, Yeah, I mean all that's changed since Friday
is that we know when he came on your show
and we got pushed aside quite rightly. All that's changed
is we know he's fighting, so he's making a decision
that he's not letting go. It might not be his
decision in the end. And you're right, this isn't really
just about one bad poll. It is about that sort
(01:45):
of sinking feeling you have that he's just not quite
up to it. And I'm not sure that he's said
anything between Friday and now, and he's done a whole
media around today that will have changed anybody's minds about that.
So his line has been I'm not here, I don't
care about pole, I'm here for your children and your grandchildren.
Well that's not why you're unpopular. I mean, yeah, you know,
(02:05):
we're not looking at an opposition that's there, you know,
not for your children and grandchildren. So I'm not sure
that he's put people's minds at rest that he can
articulate a vision for the country, that he can sail
a ship in stormy seas and reassure us that he's
not going to sink the good ship New Zealand. And
he set up this that they've announced they've set up
(02:27):
this thing called something like the Economic Supply Chain Security
Advisory Body. Good doesn't quite have the ring of Cobra
in the UK or epic fury or something like. So
you know he's done that, that's okay, but it's just
you know, he's got the work, ethic, the decency of
a prime minister. He just doesn't have the character.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So the question is, Trish, whether you think that they
are going to go to the election with him National?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
What do you think again, in the absence of somebody
actively doing the numbers. And here's my question, Mark, I
just am not convinced that anyone in National has got
the stomach for that at the moment. I mean, there
was everyone's talked about that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But so then what you're arguing is that the because
remember the reason that this is even a thing is
because at twenty eight percent, they lose twelve MPs, right,
they lose Nikola Willis, they lose Paul Goldsmith, depending on
how the electorates shape up. Now, are they really going
to go to the election sitting on levels like this
and being like unresigned to my fate. It's absolutely fine?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, well, I did the number. I did a bit
of a breakdown of the numbers on that over the weekend.
And in fact, as usual, where the where the nervousness
should be is those electric MPs who are in marginal
seats and do not have the list cover, so you're
actually talking quite low down the list. And again one
(03:50):
of my observations over the last little bit is that
as our politics have changed, I think there is a
decrease in the capability around staging a coupe. These things
they are really tough, they are really hard, and you know,
I just am not convinced that within national there is
(04:14):
the stomach to go again right now without something really
fundamental happening. And I also think that just one of
the things that is in the back of my mind though,
and we saw it today with Luxin at the press conference.
His line today, which was, you know, on Friday, the
(04:35):
media went a little bit bananas frankly around this. So
in my view, where he consistently loses is he hasn't
built a relationship with the media. He's put a whole
lot of focus on going direct on social media that
isn't and hasn't worked. He needs to rebuild a relationship
with the press callery. He needs to start listening to
(04:56):
the feedback of his team, which is fundamental. And I
understand that what's driving a lot of the frustration right
down from his office through the beehive is that he's
not a person who can take advice.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
And he's look, I mean, he's one stumble away from
a bunch of people, all of whom we know, the
names we know, ready to pounce. And the thing is,
even you watch them today on the post cabinet press conference,
you're waiting for him to say something that might stumble
or not quite get right. And then of course, every
(05:29):
time one of those ministers walks out their front door
or walks into their office, they're going to be stopped
by the media and the first question will be, are
you do you have does a preme minister have your
full support, and the answer will be something like it's
today the Prime Minister has my full support, oh not tomorrow. Well,
I couldn't be any clearer, you know. So you're just
going to get this over and over again. And look,
I just think the confidence is just dropped and I
(05:54):
don't know how you get that back. And the right
track ron track is not in the government's favor, and
I just think they're going to go. Look, one final
statistic will give you about this time in the electoral
cycle was when Mark Carney rolled Justin Trudeau in Canada.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Wyepped out pretty well, Okay, take a break, come back
and talk about the fuel tech. Right, you're back with
the huddle. Joseph Ganni and Trisius and Josie, do you
reckon they should keep the option of a fuel tax
cut open?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
You know, yes, and no, I do think it's slightly
ironic that the Taxpayers Union is in effect calling for
a subsidy for the government to subsidize drivers. And you know,
they're calling for a tax cut, a tax cut and
inverted commas. But it's actually a subsidy, isn't it. And
so the problem is, though you know it's a temporary measure,
(06:44):
and you're basically asking future taxpayers to pay for it.
It's a big borrow. Iou from the future, And I
don't think. I don't think it's the right thing to
do right now. I do wonder. You know, this could
be over quite quickly or drag on. You know, this
is the nature of war now, it's drones, it's robotics,
(07:05):
it's autonomous weapons that could just sort of drag on
without necessarily impacting supply chains further than a few weeks. Now.
I don't know. So no, I don't think it's the
right thing to do now. But yeah, thanks Taxpayers Union
for calling for a government subsidy. Big government.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Go. Well, I'm going to give a boquet to the
government here. I thought this was smart politics their press
conference today. Number One, to really take back the narrative
on this whole I run situation in the uncertainty. Number one,
to sort of move the PM off to the side
and have this focused on Nikola Willis. And I think
(07:42):
the message that they were trying to send to New
Zealand is we get this as serious and we are
really serious about it. So they've put in this Ministerial
Oversight Committee great. The other thing that I cy, the
other thing that I really like today was when Nicola
Willis was asked about the field lowering the field texs,
she immediately said, you know, we cannot go to short
(08:04):
term sugar hits. We know what happened last time under
the previous labor government when they were you know, sugar
hitting all over the place, whether it was petrol tax
or whatever else. And I think the one thing that
is terrible in politics is when you do a sugar
hit today and you continually put off the big stuff
(08:26):
because we haven't got any money. Yeah, and I and
I really like the fact that Willis today was being
the grown up in the room and actually saying to people,
it's hard. There's a there's a very tough situation and
I'm not going to go now and make a make.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
A move like this.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I really liked it.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Okay, it does make it harder for them at the election,
though it doesn't mean yeah, well and till November.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
But as a voter, I want a government who does
hard stuff so I can evaluate about the trade offs.
They are really honest about.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It now, i'd and I didn't want to be immediately
negative about the story about today l Mahry in schools, Joseph.
But I can't help but get there because I mean,
while the numbers are fantastic, if you've got like twenty
eight thousand kids learning it, learning the curricul that's not enough.
It's just like if we have dreams of being bilingual,
we're not going to get there with numbers like that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Well, and also they're struggling to get Torio teachers because
they can't pay them enough, which you know again comes
back to the whole ability to pay good teachers more.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And because you can make if you can speak to
El Mahari fluently, the money that you can make in
consulting to government departments is eyewater.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So you've got to pay teachers more. And you know
that's only the unions have got to get behind that.
And part of the problem is I look back at
my kids who are at school, you know, relatively recently,
and you know we're paying teachers to teach them about
American Civil rights movement. Great, but I'd rather pay them
to learn Torio. I'd rather pay them something New Zealand
e rather than paying them to learn about, you know,
(09:54):
the Vietnam War or something so that's the problem. If
you if you can't pay them enough, we're not going
to get enough teach We're not going to teach more
kids Toe or Mary. And actually we feel really proud
of that, right, We feel proud when we've you know,
managed to speak a bit of Marii or you go
overseas and you know, we know we can do a
water and a bit of a Mei.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And it's to do with you overseas trips, is it?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Now? What do you think, Trish, Well, I'm going to
I'm throwing at the bouquets here, but I'm going to
give you a big bouquet a termina high school because
when I was in the third form in nineteen eighty six,
I just ticked over forty years before you do the
calculation and fourth form in nineteen eighty seven, we had
those first two years where TODA was compulsory and in
(10:37):
my my education at high school, that is one of
the things that I appreciate the most. It was absolutely fantastic.
I think having a problem with the pipeline of teachers
is a much better problem for New Zealand than having
a problem with demand. Yeah, I think it shows how
much we are into this as a country. I think
(10:57):
it's a fantastic things and it's.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Going to be slow going.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well it is slow it was, but also don't remember,
you know, remember the base that we're coming off. It's
slow going, but we have made fantastic progress and you know,
we know what the problem is. So we just need
to turn the spotlight on.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
It and relentlessly positive.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, let's do it, just do it exactly, let's let's
do it. I mean, knife would heal?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Sorry about that, I was draw and apologize. Ladies, Thanks
very much for coming in. It's great to chat to you.
Tris Sharson, Joseph Garney a huddle this evening. 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
And were joined on our huddle by Tris Shearson, Sherston,
Willis pr and Joseph Agunny, the chief executive of Child Fund,
who was so great gracious, took it so graciously when
they were stood down as the emergency huddle on Friday
A and off.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The flashing red light and went back to the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Did you think, actually on that subject, which is the
lux and leadership thing that happened on Friday, Trisha, I
thought it's probably got a bit silly to have the
media chasing him through the airport on the Monday when
the thing is already wrapped up and done by Friday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, I mean I thought it became very clear that
it's not a coup, it's a competence issue, and for
that reason, over the weekend the whole thing went quiet.
So yeah, I didn't think it had the excitement level
today that would require chasing through Parliament. I mean, if
it was a coupe you would have seen leaking out
(00:50):
over the weekend, you would have already by today we
would have names in a ring. And unless you have
an organized group in caucus or including backbenchers who are
doing the numbers, then this is actually a story I
think about competence and authority of the Prime minister and
one bad poll is not a death certificate for him.
(01:13):
But what it is is several missteps like he continues
to make over time. They are eroding the view and
his competence and they're eroding his authority.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, what do you think true?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Oh, Josey, Yeah, I mean all that's changed since Friday
is that we know when he came on your show
and we got pushed aside quite rightly. All that's changed
is we know he's fighting, so he's making a decision
that he's not letting go. It might not be his
decision in the end. And you're right, this isn't really
just about one bad poll. It is about that sort
(01:45):
of sinking feeling you have that he's just not quite
up to it. And I'm not sure that he's said
anything between Friday and now, and he's done a whole
media around today that will have changed anybody's minds about that.
So his line has been I'm not here, I don't
care about pole, I'm here for your children and your grandchildren.
Well that's not why you're unpopular. I mean, yeah, you know,
(02:05):
we're not looking at an opposition that's there, you know,
not for your children and grandchildren. So I'm not sure
that he's put people's minds at rest that he can
articulate a vision for the country, that he can sail
a ship in stormy seas and reassure us that he's
not going to sink the good ship New Zealand. And
he set up this that they've announced they've set up
(02:27):
this thing called something like the Economic Supply Chain Security
Advisory Body. Good doesn't quite have the ring of Cobra
in the UK or epic fury or something like. So
you know he's done that, that's okay, but it's just
you know, he's got the work, ethic, the decency of
a prime minister. He just doesn't have the character.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So the question is, Trish, whether you think that they
are going to go to the election with him National?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
What do you think again, in the absence of somebody
actively doing the numbers. And here's my question, Mark, I
just am not convinced that anyone in National has got
the stomach for that at the moment. I mean, there
was everyone's talked about that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But so then what you're arguing is that the because
remember the reason that this is even a thing is
because at twenty eight percent, they lose twelve MPs, right,
they lose Nikola Willis, they lose Paul Goldsmith, depending on
how the electorates shape up. Now, are they really going
to go to the election sitting on levels like this
and being like unresigned to my fate. It's absolutely fine?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, well, I did the number. I did a bit
of a breakdown of the numbers on that over the weekend.
And in fact, as usual, where the where the nervousness
should be is those electric MPs who are in marginal
seats and do not have the list cover, so you're
actually talking quite low down the list. And again one
(03:50):
of my observations over the last little bit is that
as our politics have changed, I think there is a
decrease in the capability around staging a coupe. These things
they are really tough, they are really hard, and you know,
I just am not convinced that within national there is
(04:14):
the stomach to go again right now without something really
fundamental happening. And I also think that just one of
the things that is in the back of my mind though,
and we saw it today with Luxin at the press conference.
His line today, which was, you know, on Friday, the
(04:35):
media went a little bit bananas frankly around this. So
in my view, where he consistently loses is he hasn't
built a relationship with the media. He's put a whole
lot of focus on going direct on social media that
isn't and hasn't worked. He needs to rebuild a relationship
with the press callery. He needs to start listening to
(04:56):
the feedback of his team, which is fundamental. And I
understand that what's driving a lot of the frustration right
down from his office through the beehive is that he's
not a person who can take advice.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
And he's look, I mean, he's one stumble away from
a bunch of people, all of whom we know, the
names we know, ready to pounce. And the thing is,
even you watch them today on the post cabinet press conference,
you're waiting for him to say something that might stumble
or not quite get right. And then of course, every
(05:29):
time one of those ministers walks out their front door
or walks into their office, they're going to be stopped
by the media and the first question will be, are
you do you have does a preme minister have your
full support, and the answer will be something like it's
today the Prime Minister has my full support, oh not tomorrow. Well,
I couldn't be any clearer, you know. So you're just
going to get this over and over again. And look,
I just think the confidence is just dropped and I
(05:54):
don't know how you get that back. And the right
track ron track is not in the government's favor, and
I just think they're going to go. Look, one final
statistic will give you about this time in the electoral
cycle was when Mark Carney rolled Justin Trudeau in Canada.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Wyepped out pretty well, Okay, take a break, come back
and talk about the fuel tech. Right, you're back with
the huddle. Joseph Ganni and Trisius and Josie, do you
reckon they should keep the option of a fuel tax
cut open?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
You know, yes, and no, I do think it's slightly
ironic that the Taxpayers Union is in effect calling for
a subsidy for the government to subsidize drivers. And you know,
they're calling for a tax cut, a tax cut and
inverted commas. But it's actually a subsidy, isn't it. And
so the problem is, though you know it's a temporary measure,
(06:44):
and you're basically asking future taxpayers to pay for it.
It's a big borrow. Iou from the future, And I
don't think. I don't think it's the right thing to
do right now. I do wonder. You know, this could
be over quite quickly or drag on. You know, this
is the nature of war now, it's drones, it's robotics,
(07:05):
it's autonomous weapons that could just sort of drag on
without necessarily impacting supply chains further than a few weeks. Now.
I don't know. So no, I don't think it's the
right thing to do now. But yeah, thanks Taxpayers Union
for calling for a government subsidy. Big government.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Go. Well, I'm going to give a boquet to the
government here. I thought this was smart politics their press
conference today. Number One, to really take back the narrative
on this whole I run situation in the uncertainty. Number one,
to sort of move the PM off to the side
and have this focused on Nikola Willis. And I think
(07:42):
the message that they were trying to send to New
Zealand is we get this as serious and we are
really serious about it. So they've put in this Ministerial
Oversight Committee great. The other thing that I cy, the
other thing that I really like today was when Nicola
Willis was asked about the field lowering the field texs,
she immediately said, you know, we cannot go to short
(08:04):
term sugar hits. We know what happened last time under
the previous labor government when they were you know, sugar
hitting all over the place, whether it was petrol tax
or whatever else. And I think the one thing that
is terrible in politics is when you do a sugar
hit today and you continually put off the big stuff
(08:26):
because we haven't got any money. Yeah, and I and
I really like the fact that Willis today was being
the grown up in the room and actually saying to people,
it's hard. There's a there's a very tough situation and
I'm not going to go now and make a make.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
A move like this.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I really liked it.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Okay, it does make it harder for them at the election,
though it doesn't mean yeah, well and till November.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
But as a voter, I want a government who does
hard stuff so I can evaluate about the trade offs.
They are really honest about.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It now, i'd and I didn't want to be immediately
negative about the story about today l Mahry in schools, Joseph.
But I can't help but get there because I mean,
while the numbers are fantastic, if you've got like twenty
eight thousand kids learning it, learning the curricul that's not enough.
It's just like if we have dreams of being bilingual,
we're not going to get there with numbers like that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Well, and also they're struggling to get Torio teachers because
they can't pay them enough, which you know again comes
back to the whole ability to pay good teachers more.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And because you can make if you can speak to
El Mahari fluently, the money that you can make in
consulting to government departments is eyewater.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So you've got to pay teachers more. And you know
that's only the unions have got to get behind that.
And part of the problem is I look back at
my kids who are at school, you know, relatively recently,
and you know we're paying teachers to teach them about
American Civil rights movement. Great, but I'd rather pay them
to learn Torio. I'd rather pay them something New Zealand
e rather than paying them to learn about, you know,
(09:54):
the Vietnam War or something so that's the problem. If
you if you can't pay them enough, we're not going
to get enough teach We're not going to teach more
kids Toe or Mary. And actually we feel really proud
of that, right, We feel proud when we've you know,
managed to speak a bit of Marii or you go
overseas and you know, we know we can do a
water and a bit of a Mei.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And it's to do with you overseas trips, is it?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Now? What do you think, Trish, Well, I'm going to
I'm throwing at the bouquets here, but I'm going to
give you a big bouquet a termina high school because
when I was in the third form in nineteen eighty six,
I just ticked over forty years before you do the
calculation and fourth form in nineteen eighty seven, we had
those first two years where TODA was compulsory and in
(10:37):
my my education at high school, that is one of
the things that I appreciate the most. It was absolutely fantastic.
I think having a problem with the pipeline of teachers
is a much better problem for New Zealand than having
a problem with demand. Yeah, I think it shows how
much we are into this as a country. I think
(10:57):
it's a fantastic things and it's.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Going to be slow going.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well it is slow it was, but also don't remember,
you know, remember the base that we're coming off. It's
slow going, but we have made fantastic progress and you know,
we know what the problem is. So we just need
to turn the spotlight on.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
It and relentlessly positive.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, let's do it, just do it exactly, let's let's
do it. I mean, knife would heal?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Sorry about that, I was draw and apologize. Ladies, Thanks
very much for coming in. It's great to chat to you.
Tris Sharson, Joseph Garney a huddle this evening. 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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