The Huddle: What did we make of Golriz Gharaman's sentence?

Tonight on The Huddle, former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro and Phil O'Reilly of Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Disgraced ex-Green MP Golriz Gharaman has officially been sentenced, with an order to pay a $1600 fine - and additional legal fees. Do we agree with this verdict? 

A new report says less Kiwis have trust and confidence in the police - can these figures be fixed? What will it take to make people trust the police again?

Wellington Council has passed its long-term plan, avoiding Government intervention. Is this good news?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty exceptional marketing
for every property.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Huddle with me right now, Mike Munroe, former chief of
staff to just Into Adern and Phillo Riley of Iron
you Partner's former boss of business New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Hell, are you two there?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
You go very well?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Thank you now, Mike, I was surprised that Goalras got convicted,
were you.

Speaker 4 (00:22):
No, I wasn't surprised. No, I wasn't surprised. I thought
that I thought in the end, the court and the
judge handled it very well.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (00:31):
And I thought they struck you know, that they struck
it right in terms of the conviction and the fire
and in the penalty. Uh. He goes. Bear in mind
that he did be guilty, that she took responsibility immediately
for her actions. You know, it was quite it was
quite a significant theft of good women. So so I

(00:52):
think I don't think many people would have expected her
to escape, you know, a conviction on this occasion.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Do you feel about her blaming the pressure of the
job for what she did.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Lots of people blame the pressure of the job for
what they do, and they blame their upbringing and they
and sometimes those things are entirely appropriate to blame or
to pay attention to, and in her case, sounds like
she was facing some pretty ugly threats and some nasty
stuff that was going on. But at the end of
the day, her offending was was pretty significant over three occasions.

(01:26):
And you know, I think justice was done today. If
the judge had said, well, because of all these other things,
we're not going to discharge with that conviction, I think
the public would have said, how does the justice system work? Again?
A young mari woman, you know, versus goals? You know.
So I think the judge had to balance all of that,
and I think I think the touchment possession a fair
one of the circumstances, and I think most of much

(01:48):
of the probable well fair enough. It looks like MPs
are treated like everyone else. I think they were sensible.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, I think, Mike. Actually, because the judges come under
a lot of criticism for you know, for good reason.
It's actually a pleasing surprise to see a judge hand
down a sentence that you actually want to see handed down, right.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
Yeah, I think that fight and really what Phil said that,
you know, the public outcry would have been quite significant
if she means allowed to go free today. But I
think you do have to look look at her background
and her life and Dora was herself is seen in
the pass. You know, her life was shaped by one

(02:25):
of the most repressive regimes in the world. She arrived
here as a nine year old. If you achieved them around,
she was a child of silence, said basically, and she
sort of turned her life around and became an international
human rights lawyer and an MP. But but there's no
doubt there's a lot of stress in her life. And
she had a medical diagnosis showed that she had this

(02:48):
previously unrecognized trauma. And we've got a remember too that
she's living with a mucleporessi's diagnosis, which would have had
it like a speech in a few years ago. So
there's a lot going on in the life as Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
The fair point on the MS actually come back to
you guys, and just to.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Take the huddle with New Zealand Southerby's International Realty Exceptional
Marketing for every property.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Back to the huddle for Loo Raleigh and Mike Munroe. Phil,
why do you think that the trust in police is falling?

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, it's interesting matter. I should say. Looking at the numbers,
it looks it's still pretty high. It's not as though
that people don't trust the police, but gee, it's dropping
quite quickly, as we said. And I actually think that's
because the felt experience of people. In other words, I
see someone doing some bad stuff and they seem to
get away with it. It's usually at quite petty crime level.
It might be people, you know, running a red light

(03:39):
not caring about it. It might be someone kicking someone on
the street, so relatively low level stuff and then not
police react. And I think it's that sort of visible
street policing, neighborhood policing that people don't see. I think
that's that's what's getting and that's what's getting in the way.
I think that's what's contributing to lessening trust. So I
think the right strategy by the police is now being

(03:59):
carried out where they are focusing on some of those things,
more visible policing.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
If you're like, yeah, totally agree, I mean it should.
It should be helped a lot, Mike. I imagine by having
the beat police and coming back, which was announced I
think this week or last week, but they're going to
need more cops really aren't they.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Well, yeah, and we can't have a big policeman outside
every bottle spoil, every gully, every dairy, every jewelry stort
around the countryside. Look, I think the thing here is
that we get to the diet through our television screens
of depressing pictures about what's happening out there. We saw
that footage Devil Night of that poor guy got attacked

(04:36):
with a hanimals juries than I mean, these things really
distress people and they're coming at us all the time,
so you know, through his ram rags and violent robbery,
and I think the cops are sort of getting the
backlash of that. People are saying, well, look, why can
the cops do something about it? There's only so many
policemen and while putting some more back on the beat,
there's a good idea. We simply cannot put them everywhere

(04:57):
to stop the crimes that people are really concerned about.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
No, that's fair, but more will always help one't they. Hey,
and listen, both of you are Wellingtonian. So Phil, are
you relieved at Wellington City Council passing the long term
plan or were you secretly wishing that actually you might
get some commissioners.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, actually I was a bit betwixt in between about that.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
I was thinking, maybe, you know, Commissioner.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
But the Green councilor who you just had on before
we came on. It was an illustration of the problem.
With the greatest respect. So he says that he follows
all the Green Party's recommendations and stuff. In other words,
he's not really listening to my view, he's not really
listening to people who might have a view. He's just
taking some instructions from somewhere in voting accordingly. And that's

(05:38):
part of the problem. I think when you get politics
involved in local government, what I'd hope is that people
are elected by people here in Wellington, that they'd be
actually reflecting the views of the people that they represent.
And I just think this is a startup for ten.
I think there's going to be further sort of into
niceeing warfare. And I think, you know, Tory foind out.
Good for her for standing up and sell those shares.

(06:00):
I think it was the right thing to do. But
you know, it's just you're going to see this warfare
to carry on now. And I have no face that
the City of willing To will be any bit of
governed in the years time that it is now.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Do you have that faith, Mike?

Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, look, I think that you know, I in some
city like cities country are under enormous pressure because of
our company infrastructure and enormous problems, and the cities have
to find the money another way other than just bumping
up rights of the year by watering sums. So I
think I was probably the right call. In the end.

(06:33):
This asset, all the council cheerholding, has worth about two
hundred and eighty millionaires. I understand might be a bit
more than that. And the money is going to go
into a perpetual investment fund. And that's a good idea
because you know the investment costing and an enormous over
the decades ahead. So look, I think that may be
right call. I wouldn't take this call about all these

(06:54):
muffings about a commission of being brought in very seriously.
I don't think Cindy and Brown wants to do that.
I think what's the councilor to get on with the
important business of.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Building the feet Yeah too, right, Hey, Mike, while I've
got you, have you heard have you heard musterings though
within the Labor Party that they want to punish the
labor counselors who voted through the long term plan or
for the airport airport share sales.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
I didn't, don't punished, but I know that there's you know,
there's different views in the labor camp about this. Yeah,
well well within the left camp gender league with a
green meal of course, is you know, spearheading of sale. No, look,
I don't. I don't think so. I think that people
want to see the councils of get on with rebuilding
the social infrastructure of our cities. They want to get

(07:40):
on with the business of fixing up our three waters infrastructure,
which has taken about one time and before right now,
and I think they'll look back on this decision this
week has been a step in that direction.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, I think it was the right call in the end. Actually, guys,
thank you very much. Mike Monroe, Felo Ralier. Huddle this evening.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
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