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August 26, 2025 11 mins

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen are back with Mike Hosking to discuss the biggest political stories of the week so far. 

Should New Zealand swap to four year parliamentary terms? Would Kiwis support the move? 

They also discuss the Tamaki Makaurau by-election and gangs in the wake of Peeni Henare saying he’d repeal the gang patch ban. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is politics Wednesday. Mark Mitchell's Wather's Mark a very
good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
That's an interesting way of doing it. I said, Mark,
good morning to you, and then Ginny comes on and goes, no, no,
don't don't blow it. Jenny. You say good morning on
behalf of Mark as often as you want. Now. Now
Mark will try this again, Mark, good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Good morning mine.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
And it's a great morning because I'm down in Queenstown
and I've just opened the police in fire games and
our police commissioner is running in the cross country today.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
How opinion in the cross country?

Speaker 1 (00:29):
When you say the cross country? How many CA's is that?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
I think it's ten Kay's, isn't it the cross country?

Speaker 1 (00:34):
It's well not at the Olympics, it's not. No, but
I'm thinking probably at the probably at the I'm roffing.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm just guessing.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'll find out what what what are you competing in? Mark?

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Well, I did have an appreciate to join him in
the cross country. I said, unless you've got a draft
war seation, then that's probably not going to happen.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
I used to compete when I was in the police.
I did. I competed in rugby rowing and surfing.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I gotta say the commissioners and you go back to
friend that we no longer mentioned anymore. He was fit.
This guy is fit. I mean, you know, so by
the time you get to the cop how many do
you reckon?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Mark Kness is very fit?

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, exactly. But you don't have to be, do you,
because once you get to a desk job you can
let yourself. Government can't.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Let's do it the wall.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Do you have to get over the wall?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Still?

Speaker 1 (01:20):
How high is the wall?

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:22):
I mean apparently at my age you don't have to
get over We just got to tap it. But if
I'm going to do the piece, make no mistake, I'm going.
I'm going over the wall.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
That could you go over the wall? Hello? Sorry, we
should explain, We should explain you'll be interested in this.
Mark Jinny is offshore in a secret location. Do you
want to disclose your location? Jinny?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, I'm in Fiji at the Interparliamentary Meeting of all
the Fiji sort of MP. All the Pacific parliaments come
together once a year, so representing New zeal in parliament edit,
which has been fascinating, to be honest, really interesting.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Is she tell me the most interesting thing, well, I.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Have to say probably the increase of methan fetamine coming
in through the Pacific and to New Zealand. So hearing
firsteen from other MPs about the impact they're seeing in
their own communities, and probably that the sort of US
China and geopolitic unctions instead of having those in between
conversations with MP's face to faces where you get some
really interesting takes.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
See the commissioner, the commission actually hosted we had all
of the Pacific commissioners, police commissioners up in Whiting you
last week, you know, dealing with with all of those issues,
along with of course the Secretary General for Interpol first
on that had been down to New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Well, Jenny, when you deal with all the Pacific islands,
the Pacific Islands deal with China and a different depending
on which Pacific island you're dealing with, they see China differently,
do you Is that reflected in your chats with ministers?
Do they see China as a foe and a problem
or a friend or a foil.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Or one It really depends on the country to get
quite different takes from the party they're from and also
from the you know, their role in different islands. But
there's a huge variety we've got, you know, Nauru, Palo Tongue.
You know, you've got the whole suite of you know,
different Pacific nations and they have got quite different takes
depending on what their possession is and how they're impacted.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, can we reveal we let to believe you're on
a burner phone? Is that true?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
That is right? Yes, I am on a burn a phone.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Why are you on a bona phone? Are you not
playing the bills again? Or what's happening there?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
So I think I'm right. So when your advisor Mark
will know this, you're advised quite strongly not to collect
connect to Wi FI if you've got you've got parliamentary information.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
In Fiji or anywhere.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Well, places places which are listed informative.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Probably what who's on the list? I never saw Fiji
as a problem. Every time I've gone the Fiji have
taken my regular find Do I need to take a
burner No?

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Look, we just we get advised by parliamentary security when
traveling internationally what we should do, and and we've heading
peace in the past, have not abided by that advice
and the ramifications have not been great, you know, so
the last thing you want is the parliamentary system being
heaped into by another nation state in the compromising New
Zealand's website and information.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
So I read report the other day. None of this
was in that.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, we get a pretty good briefing. We're also probably advised.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Not to say on the radio a few state secrets
just lead out, but that's okay, fortunately, fortunately off the.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
Hook, to let Jenney off the hook.

Speaker 4 (04:44):
That's our security agencies always here on the side of
caution as they should.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Fair enough, do you have to do it in Australia? Mark,
do we we find them a bit suspicious as well
or not really.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Really good? We're all good on Australia. But the other
interesting one is like when you're in a hotel in
some countries. You know how they had the USB port
that you can just plug into the wall. Yes, well
that's not a goer. So once you plug your phone
and with the USB and they can get into your
phone right through that way, get all your contacts or
your emails. Why you plug into a hotel.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
So if there's somebody say you're saying that the sheriff
and dinner, how somebody goes whole or welcome for your
due you go, hang on, hang on, tell me Mark
four year terms? What do you reckon?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
I mean, you know, if you're in opposition, you don't
want a four you if your government you do. I
think in terms of what's best for the country. I
actually I do lean more towards a four year term
only because you've got your first year of sort of
coming into government, you've got your policy settings, you're getting
the public service sort of head in the right direction
in terms of delivery on those. Then you've got one
year in between your delivery done, and then you beckon

(05:51):
to the election cycle again. So it would give you
two years in the middle to actually be able to
get those policy settings delivered embedded.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
In what about you, Ginny.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
I was actually talking to someone last night from one
of the Pacific countries and they were saying they changed
from three to four and the big difference was there
was least kind of politicking that when you've got a
three year term, people just do stuff that are more
populist and just to take the list to get voted
in the game, and when you have a four year term,
people actually were more likely to deliver long term structural
change that benefited the people.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
The second part of that question, then, Jinny, is do
the public vote. Would the public vote for it? Do
you think?

Speaker 2 (06:27):
I'm not sure if they would. I think there's the
higher level of suspicion in not trusting sort of politics
in general, I think has increased post COVID, So I
think there's a higher level of public mistrust in our
state institutions, and I think it's a shame. So I'm
questionable without some sort of limitation on it, where the
people would.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Vote for it. Did you Mark? The same question to you,
do you think people would vote for it or not?

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, I sort of.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
I'm sort of leaning the same way as I just
think that you know, there's not a high level trust
and elected representatives in the system, so you know, people
are going to say, well, do we want to wait
four years if we have a government we don't like?

Speaker 3 (07:06):
So yeah, it'll be interesting though.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
It'll be interesting because you know, Kiwis are pretty pragmatic,
and they'll sort of they'll sit back and they'll they'll
look and make the decisions around what they think is
best for the country.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Did you hand on heart?

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Mark?

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Understand, read, or understand what David Seyema was trying to
do with that weird thing on four year terms and
committees and numbers and things. I like, literally couldn't understand
what the hell he was on about.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
Look, I think what's coming out of that is that
clearly David said, Look, it was a bit confusing. So
they've moved away from that.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
So they should have. Did you understand it, ginny, I did.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
The best way to explain it is, you know how
there's an upper house in a lower house. It's a
bit like that, so select committees would act at another level.
So if you had a just because the government's got
a majority on those select committees, they can push anything through.
So that would mean that you could quite substantially change
your block legislation in opposition at another level.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Have you got to him on is I'm changing the
gang patch thing? What was that about?

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Did he not?

Speaker 1 (08:03):
I don't understand what happened there. He thought he was
he speaking personally, so he personally would change the gang
patch thing, but the party isn't, or he was just
making up some policy.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
I think it was pretty clear that was his personal view.
But the view that we hold is that we wouldn't
switch that back given that though still hasn't made much
of a difference to the ninety seven percent of increase
in myth. You know, we've had police themselves saying that
he needs are making record profits out of manufacturing drugs.
I don't know if that's made any difference.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
So they wouldn't change it because people feel safer, and
I mean, you know, we feel the way we feel.
You can't argue with that, can you.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, that's great, you feel the way you feel. But
the material difference to the level of drugs they're pushing
and money they're making has increased, and the gang numbers
have increased under this government as well.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
Well. Let me let me let me speak to those
two issues.

Speaker 4 (08:54):
Number One, I'd like Genny to walk into the stadium
that I've just walked out of, un tell the hundreds
of police officer is here that you're going to get
rid of the gag pitch ben because it's given them
to enforce to where you're saying.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
It's not worked, it as clearly has worked.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
And the other thing too, is that gang members going
on to the gang register, Jenny, are starting to slow down.
It's reducing because the police are enormous, are putting enormous
pressure on the gangs. And by the way, where the
rubber hits the road is that Penny is out there
saying exactly what Ginny Anderson all the rest of them think.
They didn't support the gang legislation. They don't like it

(09:29):
here saying it hasn't worked. Of course they want to
repeal it. Of course they want to get it's great.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
But under this government's watch, we're going to see pretty
soon the number of gang members surpass the number of
police officers in New Zealand. Well, it makes life a
lot harder for keeping law and order in life, for discuss.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
Trust me that the police are doing the outstanding job
on the gangs they're taking They've taken four or five
of the major gangs completely out of circulation all together.
They are the public are no longer expose their intimidation.
They're no longer taking over provincial towns. The police sick
controlling our streets, not the games. What they want to
do what labor Greens into party Mary would like to

(10:05):
do reverse.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
I gotta, I gotta, I gotta wrap this up. But
just real quick, Ginny, do you have any vibe on
the by election? Do you want to call it? Who's
going to win it?

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Look, we're working incredibly hard to tune up the vote,
and that's what the Power Labor has. So we'll have
hundreds of volunteers to make sure that people voting for
punic out and vote. And I'll be working alongside of
a bunch of other people to make sure we That.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Sort of sounds like you're losing and you think you're
going to lose it.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
No, I know votes like this on by elections and
low tune out, low voter tune out.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
As It's funny because I would have thought this is
as far as by elections got. This is a gripping one,
isn't it? Because it could have been stolen, it could
have been given all the background to it, It's like
it's all to play for, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yes, we know it's going to be a tight race,
but we know Penny is an excellent candidate. He's been
working incredibly hard. So we'll be working you for a
single day to bring home a one for him and
it will be excited.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
All right, Nice to see you guys. Enjoy the games,
Mark Ginny, enjoy Figi and We'll catch up next week

Speaker 4 (10:59):
For more from them My Casking Breakfast Listen live to
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