Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on ACT launching a foray into local body elections

ACT's David Seymour says it's time for a clean-out in local politics, as the party looks to stand candidates in local body elections this year. 

He's calling for expressions of interest from practical, community-minded people who are focused on keeping rates down and services up. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says ACT is likely looking to boost its political reach.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ryan.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
He can rot in prison. I'm not concerned about him.
This is the guy who's apparently been beaten by the
guards in prison. We'll talk about that after five o'clock
right now, Barry Soap, not you, Barry the look on
your face. You can rot in prison. Absolutely not.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Jean Whickcliffe, that's a name so well known to Wellingtonians.
It was just such a shocking crime at the time,
nineteen seventy two. I think it was he shot a jeweler. Terrible.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
He was working ye people have been texting he was
working in his dad's jewelry shop and was just awful. Yeah,
awful stuff. All right. The ACT Party is going to
stand in local body elections. Does this Is this a
big deal? Well?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
It's interesting, isn't it, because you know, some may read
it as being a big deal for ACT. They're putting
their name on candidate's ballot sheet going into the local
body elections. We know how popular local body elections are,
and I guess what they're trying to do is to
increase the popularity because ACT sees itself as a fairly
formidable part of the political pro says, But I don't

(01:01):
know about mainstream political parties putting themselves on local on
local ballots. Labour's done it for a long time, the
Greens do it. You only have to look at the
council in Wellington to see how dominant they are there.
Whether it's a good or idea or not. Well, I
guess only we'll be able to tell when it comes

(01:24):
to the election itself, and in fact before the election
if anybody comes forward to put their name up under
the ACT ticket. But the acting Prime Minister for what
that's what certainly David Seymour is at the moment because
the big boys are out of town. He's joked that

(01:46):
they could even embrace the likes of Jesus if he
came back and was willing to stand.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
I believe that Jesus very well might support ACTS from
what I know about him. He believed that Jesus believed
that each person had inherent dignity, was made in the
image of God and Margo Day, and deserved to be
treated with universal human rights. In many respects, the underlying

(02:13):
teachers of Jesus and the ACT Party overlap. But I
just want to be clear. The party is not promising
to listen to Guy Fox, Jesus or any historical figure
to stand for mayor counsel or any other position.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
I think that's horn on the background. Was an ambulance
coming to take him away. You know, really, I don't
know whether it's wise him to go down that track.
The Beatles did it at one stage. I think it
was John Lennon. They were bigger than Jesus.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
I'm got to be very care have to be careful
and and some And I've got a lot of respect
for David Seymour. Yeah, he's a very smart guy, and
he's a very smart politician. But then sometimes you just
you kind of cringe a little bit.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
The French loved the cock did he love that line?
He thought he was so right anyway.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Right, somebody who can do no wrong, it seems over
in Washington, d C.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yes, you know, I did have a bit of a
look at Luxon and India. You know, it's sort of
a foregone conclusion now what they've done, got the old
negotiations underway. But Winston Peters he's building up to the
big one. He's earlier today, well overnight really he met
with the Director of the Office of Foreign Assistant Peter Morocco.

(03:29):
This is the guy hardcore mega guy, very much part
of the drive to pull the USAD apart, which will
would would have been an interesting meeting. He said that
the USAID review would be completed in April and wed
no by then the sort of contribution the Americans would
be making to the Pacific. He was in the White

(03:51):
House today as well. He met with the National Security Advisor,
Michael Waltz, and that was the Indo Pacific was a discussion,
and I think there would have been the main one.
And then again he was back at Rosemary Banks's place,
our ambassador to Washington for dinner just a few hours ago.
Now they were hosting, which to me was quite interesting.

(04:14):
Two very hardline Trump administration figures, and I think this
is quite shrewd in a way. One of them was
Sebastian Gorker, who's a British born of Hungarian heritage. He's
the Deputy Assistant to the President, so pretty high up
in the senior Director of counter Terrorism. And the person,

(04:36):
the woman that was there, she goes with the name
of Morgan or Tigers. She says that as the Deputy
Special Envoy for the Middle East under Steve Whitcliffe. Now
the are two fairly important figures in the administration, and
I think Winston's playing the big game here to ingratiate

(04:57):
himself with the administration before that meeting which will be
early tomorrow morning, our time with the Secretary of State
Marco Rubio.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, he's playing hotline bling is to use one of
Drake's infamous songs. You get on the hotline and get
the bling. That's basically what diplomacy is about with Trump's people,
isn't it.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Absolutely And Winston knows how to play that game better
than most, unless you're a journalist and get on the
wrong side of them, and then you've got a problem.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Barry Soper, Senior political correspondent, Thank you so much for
your time this afternoon. It's always great insight.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
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