The Huddle: Will Paul Henry be a problem for Chris Luxon?

Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! 

Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty is calling for tougher regulations on misbehaving councillors, including docking pay, banning people from meetings - or even recall elections. Do we think these changes are needed, or is this anti-democratic?

We got our first case of bird flu in New Zealand today - should we be worried? What could this mean for our poultry sector? 

Paul Henry recently gave an interview about why Prime Minister Chris Luxon isn't clicking with voters after he announced his bid to run for ACT. Does he have a point here?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the Huddle of Us this evening, Timbulson maximums to
Mike Monroe, former Labor chief of Stuff and director at
Mike Munroe Communications. High Lads, Heather, Mike, do you like
the idea of recall elections?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yes, I do. I say that slightly seguardedly. I do
understand the frustrations that these that these councils had, that
mayors have when you've got a dysfunctional council because of
one or two individuals are just sort of running a
muck all the time. And you know, you've got to remember,
as being pointed out, you know, behaviors are gotten away
with that would not be gotten away with in the

(00:36):
private sector, and even around the central government in the
cabinet room, the Prime Minister is very quick to sort
of get rid of people who are breaking the rules
or you know, creating sort of mayhem or engaging in misconduct,
et cetera, or even non non performers get get relegated
by the Prime minister. So I just think it would

(00:56):
still follow that the head of the council, the head
of our big councils, should have some power of some
authorities to sort of deal with people who are constantly
causing sort of disruption and.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
They do, and they do like they can take them
off committees and take them to remove the chairpersonship whatever. Yeah,
but removing them all together from council is quite all
dock in their pay is quite extreme, Tim, What do
you think?

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah? I think Ben struggled to determine the point at
which you could actually action you recall elections. Oh well,
if they commit a crime, I think everyone agrees. Well,
you know, you commit a crime, your jail bound. Of
course you're going to be taken off the council. And
then it was like, okay, so you leak information that
costs rate payers fifty million dollars. Okay, how do we

(01:40):
figure out who's leaked the information and just exactly what
we're doing to deal with that? Wonder? I wonder is
there some way and I think you know, Mike, you
were saying, okay, so that the mayors and heads of
council have some role, can you tell the local government
minister on them so it's still part of the democratic

(02:01):
process in some way, and that that will action the
recall election. But can I just ask, is there some
way that you can boot people off for making well
while still functional counsels making really stupid decisions, is there?
Can we do something about that?

Speaker 1 (02:13):
That would be called democracy and elections?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah? Good, I like the sound of that. That's good.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Actually that's not about idea. Maybe we should adopt that idea.
Actually that should be the model that we use. Take
a quick break, come back to you guys, talk about
Paul Henry and Chris Luckson. Right, you're back with the huddle,
Tim Wilson, Mike Monrolison. Before we get to Paul Henry
and Chris Luckson, just quickly on the bird flu to
are you panicking here or do you feel like we've
got this under control?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Look, I'm not a poultry farmer. I love m KAMC
so I'm a bit of a poultry expert. Is this
seems to be like about one crook bird found on
Patony Beach and we hear it's a low health risk
and you can eat the eggs and poultry of these
krok birds. So how do you get the thing? Is
it if you kiss a kroc bird? Well, don't kiss

(02:56):
any crook bird.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
We worried about us getting at Tim? Or are we
worried about the devastation would cause to the industry if
it got into one of those farms.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Well, if it gets in there, that's that's absolutely a problem.
And I see that, but it's sort of yeah, it's
it's about the industry.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
What's that you're just thinking about yourself again.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, it's that's that's what we tend to do.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, what we we being meant? No, that was harsh,
apollonized load.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Mike, Come on, let's to the bar is A right, Well,
i'll repletely yes, I'll.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Be writing a strong letter.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Straight to the you know what. You know what this is?
This this, this requires another chapter in ring side, that
wonderful political memoir about the sidelining of masculine virtues in
the public square by these aggressive women.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Or Hey, Mike, sounds going.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
I haven't had a report yet, but it's been it's
been a busy time to me promoting your book in
the last few days, I must say. And I've had
a lot of very positive feedbacks on all sorts of
you know, odds and sides from around the country side.
So yeah, I'm so hopeful it's going to do all right.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
What's the best gossip in there?

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (04:07):
God, God, come on, you gave us.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Some gossip about didn't you like about how like when
they got stressed out, Justina stopped eating and Grant started eating.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
I like that. There's lots of Winston Peter's references in there.
Of course, he is a occurring theme now you know
it's starting forty years ago.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, you'd know fair, but a gossip about him, do
you think so? Audrey Young's written a piece today, Mike,
in which she suggested that Paul Henry is a problem
for Chris Luxen because if too much shifts around in
that right block, his leadership could be up for a discussion. Again,
what do you think?

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, well, I mean this one just sort of does
my head. And actually, you know, political leadership should be
sort of looking at how they're going to reinvigorate their
parties and who are going to be the next generation
of young trust us and and stars. And now we've
got we've had news yelling first, doing a lot of
us of reaching back to the past and pulling back

(05:05):
the old fossils. And now we've got sort of, you know,
a washed up broadcaster being brought in to try and
make a difference to the act party. It's really quite
distressing and so points to a sort of deeper malais
with New Zealand politics when parties do this. But yeah,
the comments, the comments I heard Henry Mate today about
Chrysta Luxon are quite right. He is still an issue.

(05:30):
He's still a problem for the National Party and for
the government. And it's just as I guess, it's just
this glibness, his glibness and his sort of gormous statements
which have landed him in this position. He's not improving
at all in his personal ratings. And yes he's had
he's seen of one challenge this year already, and you

(05:51):
could write all to a possibility that he's going to
face another one in the next sul three months with
national mounts of wedge even below twenty nine percent twenty
eight point something rather so, yeah, it is a problem,
and I think the problem sits pretty much at the
top of the party.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
What do you think to him?

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, speaking as a washed up broadcast to myself, I'm
incredible by mister crawl comments. I actually I think you've
diagnosed something there, Mike. But I see it also as
a problem for New Zealand first, because what's the New
Zealand first brand, it's sort of popular, spicy and fun,
and Paul Henry was all of those things when he

(06:29):
came out yesterday. And of course the question though is
will he be able to I think you had a
texture into the heather who were saying, oh, you know,
watch out for the foot and mouth thing, because Paul
Henry tends to telt quite far and you sort of think,
oh oh, And then sometimes this is we've seen broadcasting.
He's gone just a bit too fast. So that'll be

(06:49):
interesting to observe. And it's kind of the larger picture
as well as the celebritization of politics. So you've got
your Tane Randall's, your Michael Laws, your Paul Henry's. It's
quite it's quite an American thing. I don't know if it's.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Quite us, Yeah, you know, or do you made that
point very well today? I thought, I mean, he's the
sort of guy he hasn't come and Henry's not that
sort of who's going to get into Parliament just to
sit around and be sort of voting fodder and sit
in select comittee meetings all day long. He'll be a
headline maker. The headline making be necessarily helpful to you Mike, it's.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Been the points has been made today that he's a
sort of akin to Stephen Joyce, right, who never came
in and did the sloggy yuck work. He just went
straight into cabinet, did cabinet stuff and they never and
he never saw anything from the of the back bench.
And perhaps Paul Henry's a little bit like that.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, but the Joyce had a business, had a business background.
He sort of he knew how things worked. I mean,
Paul Henry, for you know, all due respect, he's been
a he's been a radio broadcaster. He's been a star
of the star of the medium.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
He ran a motel for a bit though in why
a Wrapper.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's small.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
Spotmashion. So everyone else on this on huddle here, this
is Peter radio broad Yeah. Great, honestly guys burning oh am,
I just building my copy of Ringside right now. Yeah,
I fear enough.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
I can understand, all right, you guys, look after yourself.
Tim Wilson, Mike Munroe, Huddle this.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Evening for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
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