Heather du Plessis-Allan: Luxon's right to skip some sessions with the Press Gallery

As you might have heard earlier, the Prime Minister is copping a bit of flak because he’s going to cut one of his regular media opportunities on Tuesdays from here on in.

It's been a convention for years now that the Prime Minister stops on the way to Parliament’s Question Time on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday if he's there and he'll let the Press Gallery ask him questions. That's now going to stop on Tuesday.

Now, the Press Gallery are trying to convince him to change his mind and they've gone public with it - and I suspect that's probably to put a bit of pressure on him.

But I think they're going to struggle to get any sympathy on this, and I'll tell you why.

Let me run you through his media appearances on weeks when Parliament is sitting:

Monday afternoon at 4pm, he's at the Post-Cabinet press conference letting the Gallery ask him questions. Tuesday morning from 7am, he does a round of media interviews with Mike Hosking and other breakfast programmes across radio and TV. 

Later on Tuesday morning, he stops on his way into the caucus meeting to let the Press Gallery ask him questions. On Tuesday afternoon just before 2pm, he stops again.

Wednesday afternoon, he stops on his way into the House to speak to the Press Gallery. And on the rare occasion he's in on a Thursday, he stops for the Press Gallery again.

Plus, he's there for any other press conference that he might call during the week to announce some Government initiative. 

That's a lot of media to be doing across a week. It's a lot more than you get from other world  leaders. Just look at Biden, his press conferences are fronted by his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

This is very different to Jacinda Ardern dropping her media interviews, because the kind of interviews she dropped were the hard ones. You know, the ones with Mike Hosking - arguably the best interviewer in the country - or with Q+A and Newshub Nation which were long format interviews, which means they get difficult.

Or, as you might recall, refusing to take talkback calls because that’s awkward and unpredictable and uncomfortable.

That's different to just seeing the Press Gallery one fewer time in the space of 72 hours.

What is it that the Press Gallery wants to ask on a Tuesday afternoon that they couldn't have asked on a Tuesday morning or a Wednesday afternoon?

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listen, the Prime Minister, if you've been following the news today,
is copping a little bit of flat because he's decided
he's going to cut one of his regular media appearances
with the press gallery on a Tuesday from here on
and now, this has been a convention for years now
when the Prime Minister goes into Parliament's question time Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday, if he's there, he will stop on
the black and white tiles on the way in and
he will let the press gallery answer him, ask him questions.

(00:23):
That is now going to stop on a Tuesday. Now.
The press gallery are trying to convince him to change
his mind, and they've gone public with it, and I
suspect that's probably a bit of a bid to put
a bit of pressure on him. But actually I think
they're going to struggle to get any sympathy on this.
And I'm gonna tell you why, because let me run
you through his media appearances on weeks when Parliament is
sitting Monday afternoon, at four o'clock, he is at a

(00:45):
post cabinet press conference where the press gallery ask him questions.
Tuesday morning from seven o'clock he does a round of
media interviews with Mike Hosking and other breakfast programs across
radio and TV where he answers questions. Then later on
Tuesday morning, around about ten, he stops on his way
into the caucus meeting to let the press gallery ask
him questions. Tuesday afternoon, just before two o'clock, on his

(01:06):
way into the house, he stops to let the press
gallery ask him questions. Wednesday afternoon, just before two o'clock,
on his way into the house, he stops to let
the press gallery ask him questions. On the rare occasion
that a Prime Minister is in the House on a Thursday,
he goes on his way to the house stops to
let the press gallery ask him questions. Right, plus any
other press conference that he might then call during the

(01:27):
week to announce some government initiative, he will answer questions.
That is a lot of media to actually be doing
across a week, right, It's a lot more than you
would get, for an example, from other world leaders, for
example Joe Biden, whose press conferences are actually run not
by him but by his spokesperson. Now, this I think
is very different to Jacinda Ardun dropping her media interviews

(01:47):
because the kind of media interviews that she was dropping
with hard ones, you know, the ones with Mike Hosking,
who is arguably the best interviewer in the country, or
with Q and A and news Hub Nation, which will
long format interview which means that you sit there sweating
and things start to get really difficult, or you might
recall she started refusing to take talkback calls. That's also
a bit awkward and unpredictable and can get a little

(02:09):
bit uncomfortable. Now, that is different to what's going on here,
which is just seeing the press gallery one fewer time
in the space of about seventy two hours. Let me
ask you this, right, what is it that the press
gallery want to ask on a Tuesday afternoon that they
couldn't have asked on a Tuesday morning or couldn't wait
to ask on a Wednesday afternoon. For more from Heather

(02:30):
Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to News Talks. It'd be
from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.