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August 19, 2025 11 mins

Today on Politics Wednesday, the Covid Inquiry is still at the top of mind for many. 

Chris Hipkins, Dame Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, and Ayesha Verrall have declined to publicly answer questions for the Royal Commission's second Covid Inquiry. 

Labour’s Ginny Andersen and National’s Mark Mitchell delved into the situation, as well as touching on Trevor Mallard’s ousting from the role of Ambassador to Ireland. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mark Mitchell's with us along with Ginny Anderson. Morning to
both of you.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Good morning Jenny.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
You should you should trust your producers because they got
jk od last week and I thought he was bloody outstanding.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
He was outstanding. He was very very good, indeed, and
I do trust my producers. But the management, you know,
I've got to adhere to the management because they're like,
you know, higher up, what do you doing? You ever
had a screaming match in your office?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Ginny?

Speaker 4 (00:25):
No, heavens, actually no, when you were.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
A minister and under pressure and somebody came and press
secretary came in with something stupid, do you ever yell
at them or you have a sort of a bit
of back and forward.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
No, No, it doesn't really help you get anywhere. I mean,
I'd worked as an advisor in those situations before, and
I've seen ministers do some of those things. When I
was Beckham the day.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Who are the moss? Who are the troublesome ministers in trouble?
Give me it was.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Your will get the one. You get a few do
buns sometimes who just kind of win the pressous bag
you can And then when you see that happen, you
see that it never helps the situation and resolves the problem.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Did you use the term do bum?

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:09):
What is that you do?

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Your bum? You know you have that all T T
so like a hut to say it, but actually actually, well,
it's funny you mentioned the hat because there's something happening
in the hot tonight that I'll bet you want to
know about. And it's a public meeting on pay equity
down at Hot Park Roads house. It's sex cityp tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
What's the hut Park Road?

Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah, Hot Park Roads is also jump a rama down there,
bit you probably wouldn't be interested.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
I would rather go to jump a rama than a
meeting about.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
J and Carmel will be down there? Oh no, anyone
who was.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Last time?

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Twenty five Hat Park Roads?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Last time?

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Last time Labor held a meeting in christ Buship's electa.
I think half a dozen people to.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
For goodness, Jansi and Carmel Sepaloni at a meeting in
the Hut.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
On equity women's ony equity.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Geez, talk about exciting, do you Mark? I mean, you
wouldn't lose because you're an affable sort of likable kind
of guy. But but but I mean does it? But
there must have been. You must have seen the screaming
and the bee hive, mustn't you? There must be you know,
someone losing the rag.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Only in the house. You see it happened in the house.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
I haven't seen it happen in officers of Look, you know,
I'm very proud of my team, and we operate as
team and if the pressures on, we all absorb it together.
And you know, I feel very fortunate, very lucky to
have the team that I've got.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Good on you.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
That was about as diplomatic as you possibly get. You
should actually replace Mallard on that broad subject, Jenny.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, it do come from an Irish background.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
There you go on that broad subject.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
I've got something we've got in common.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Well, there you go. Now do you think that I mean,
was Peter's right yesterday? Jinny? I should diplomats be actual
diplomats as opposed to political appointment.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Well, it's a bit tricky when they're kind of in
those positions. And I'm still not quite clear as to
why his time was terminated, because he's like, but why
now he's been the Minister for ages and maybe he's
looking for the replacement.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
It's a good point. I raised it earlier, he didn't.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Do it day one.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
Yeah, what does he do this now? And he seems
to be no other real driver or reason as to
way to that.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
I know what it is. Do you know what it is?

Speaker 1 (03:31):
Because he wants to take the heat off and from
the very broken contract payment.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
It's a good point or the fact that there was
these COVID issues and there's some voter base in their
foot could be there.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
You could have gone to both.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Did he try did he try tristpassing? What's from parliament grounds? Yes?
The stage coming out, So I mean it's a crime
if you're playing very Menilow.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
That is true. It's very is almost as bad as
a pay equin meeting in the hut with Carmel Ceplan.

Speaker 4 (04:05):
We cauld place in very mentalo at the Pequoty meeting
and you can that makes it exciting.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
So what do you think?

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Do you have a view mark diplomata it should diplomat
to be diplomats or is there room for political appointment?

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Well, I think there's my view as it depends on
the individual. But you know, we do have our mfats
world class and that's what they do. Strive and a
posting like that is the ultimate sort of career pathway
for them, and I think Winston recognizes.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
That, Mark hand on heart, would you, if you were
called to a COVID inquiry, having been the government of
the day during a COVID period front up publicly?

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes? I would.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
And I feel very strongly about this because we are
public servants. We're there to serve the public. We're voted
in by them, and a big part of that is
fronting up. And sometimes, look, you know, I know myself,
I don't like being I don't feel I'm very good
at media, but I front up to every media request
that I get because actually that is our job. And
so I feel very strongly that yes, they should be

(05:02):
fronting up to a public inquiry.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Problem, Jinny is that the poll came out post the
decision by those four in the party that most New
Zealanders don't see it as a right decision. Would you?
I mean, you know, I don't. I don't know what
thought process went into this. Because it looks bad. It's
it's irrefutably looks bad.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
So all other Royal Commissions of inquiry, I've heard that line.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
I get it evident, but this is different. It was
different COVID was a life changing, country changing, his changing.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
All the UK front finished. Do I get to finished?

Speaker 1 (05:37):
You're just running the same old line. I've heard the line.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
Truth, that's what happened. There's been no other inquiry so people,
and each of those people did give, you know, three
to four hours of evidence which is then put into
the into the report. So they have given, but you
don't get it.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
You don't get it. It's not public. We have to
front up. Believer is you know?

Speaker 4 (06:01):
I do hear the concern. But the most important thing
to remember is all those in National voted for the
COVID payment, all National voter and ask for more money
to what the relevance is that because here at the moment,
this revision is history about what happened.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
The public.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Inquiries for Jenny. Yeah, I mean, it's just I find
it hard to believe. Does it sit comfortably with you personally?

Speaker 4 (06:28):
I think that that what I've seen is the first
trial was great, the first run through in terms of
the review, and the second one overly loaded. And it
seems to be you know, why was Winston Peters in
New Zealand first excluded from the round two of them?

Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's actually not a bad point. I'll come back to
that in the moment. Mark if you've got an answer,
but come back to that. I mean, in all honesty,
if you believe, if you believe what you believe, and
you believe you did the right thing, to be seen
to be doing the right thing is the least you
can expect of a publicly elected official, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
I think what they did is they fronted and gave
hours of evidence that gave them.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
But they didn't from behind closed doors.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
You wanted.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Why you're going to go out next year and you're
going to ask the public, our communities to vote and
support you. Their expectation is that you advance their interests
and that you front up, and that you front up publicly.
It's the worst to me, it's the worst betrayal because
you know, the whole country went through a lot of
suffering through COVID, whether that was good, bad, and different

(07:29):
decisions that were made. Front up and fight your corner
and explain to the country why you did what you did.
Not doing that it looks like it looks like you're hiding.

Speaker 4 (07:38):
It's a bit rich for national to attack the COVID
response when they backed it at the time.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Well, I'm attacking it. I'm attacking it as a New
Zealand voter who wants to see somebody publicly held to account.
And that's Hipkins, and it's Robinson, and it's most certainly
a don Well.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
Let me give you an example, Jenny of what happened
during the Give me an example. As an a Glen MP,
I had Chris Hipkins contact me directly and say will
you support me on a matter because it's important. This
was during the lockdowns, and I said, yes, I will
support you as on that because it's important at the
moment that we do try and be bipartisan and try
and work together on this.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
We're facing a fairly serious situation.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Three weeks later, when I had a mother, when I
had a daughter trapped in MiQ, that we could have
got out that the hospital said they'd support her visit
to see her dying mother ghosted nothing, no response. That
is completely totally unacceptable and that is the sort of
stuff that you should be fronting up and explaining to Keiwis.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
I had that concern. Mar I get it. And the
important thing to remember is that we need to learn
how to do things better in the future and I
don't think that that's what the inquiry was was trying
to do things better in the future. It was about
a political point scoring effort. And that's why round two
and excluded New Zealand first.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
And that don't you guys.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
Don't you guys forget for one second that the human
costs and the harm that was that was caused when
a daughter.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
Absolutely, at the same time, I'm grateful that I have
my parents and we have green parents here, and that
we work to save lives and saved jobs we did.
That's why your party goes, That's why your part.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
That's the case public quick question mark the exclusion of
Winston Peter is not a bad point. How come he's
excluded excluded from from this, from this particular round of
the commission. He's not been called I.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Don't know, good question. That's that's Christian commission.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
So we need to we need to get an answer
on that down we.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yeah, well, I mean the best one to answer that
is Winston. I'm not sure you're the government matter I've
got they've got the terms of reference.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
I don't know. I don't speak for Winston. Winston's very case.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
We'll get an answer from quick question, Jinny on Denton's
who you guys are employing to help Hepkins and co?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Do this?

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Do they write the answers?

Speaker 4 (09:56):
I don't have an answer that I do not know.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
Could you find out? Because what worry if lawyers wrote
the answers and would that pace?

Speaker 4 (10:02):
Seriously seriously, I seriously doubt that lawyers would be writing
the answers. They might provide advice, but I don't think
they would be providing the answers on behalf of people
who were giving that evidence.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
And then you can ask the question, why do you
need lawyers?

Speaker 4 (10:16):
That's a good question. I think it's because you've got
a Royal commissional inquiry, and that's the usual there's a
big question and a Royal Commission of inquiry. I think
that's the usual case of what occurs that each group
representing his legal representing.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
We've got a motivate.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Like I just say on the Winston thing is that
he wasn't in government at the time.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
It's a pretty he sort of while he saw was
because he was distinctly right. I distinctly remember in the
Coalition of seventeen through twenty he was the one who
said if your overseas get home now.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
So he was.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
He was part of the early days of COVID, but
it's well worth looking into. Mark appreciated, Ginny appreciated as well.
And if you're at that meeting, Ginny, have the best time.
And if it gets really boring, head straight to jump
a ramor and just relieve the stress.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
For more from The Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to
Talk Set B from six am weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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