The Huddle: Should Te Pāti Māori get their pay docked?

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! 

Te Pāti Māori have skipped out on their hearing with the Privileges Committee - and it's generated controversy. ACT's David Seymour has recommended their pay get docked, what do we make of this? 

New research reveals over half of us regret their career choice according to Seek data, mainly due to insufficient earnings. Do we agree with this? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty, the ones
with worldwide connections that before not a promise.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
It is nineteen minutes away from six now, Jack Tame,
host of Saturday Mornings here on ZB and Q and
A's with us Hey Jack Hey right, and Tricius and
Cheus and Willis pr Hi Trish Hi Ryan. Now what
do we start with? Maybe the Maori Party and Judge
Judy Who's and the Maori Party now saying Trish that

(00:29):
they're going to have a separate which is not a
legal process or anything. It's just for a pr purposes,
but they have a separate trial almost on in May.
To respond to this, what do we make of all
of this?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
I think it's an absolute waste of time and energy
in Parliament when there are a lot of very big
things to be focused on. The point about Parliament is this.
It is a rules based system. It's like a court.
The rules are very clear and if you go to
parliam in my view, you sign up to those rules,

(01:04):
and in particular the Privileges Committee. I mean, I remember
when I first went to Parliament. I don't know, this
is twenty five years ago. To work there, you know,
to be hauled before the Privileges Committee was a very
rare thing. Mpace took it extremely seriously because you need
to and it's and it's Parliament's way of having real
checks and balances on behavior in the House. So I think,

(01:28):
you know, to party Maori have to really get with
the program here in Parliament and follow the rules.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
But clearly they're not. And I mean they even said
today they said, oh, look I don't care what the
consequences are, so Jack, do you, I mean, what about
this idea from David Seymour that if they don't come,
you dock their pay.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
Well, it's my understanding that it is actually their right
to what not to attend the Privileges Committee hearing. So
they don't. They're not at this stage at the very least,
they're not compelled to go to the Privileges Committee. And
they have the other instances in which MPs haven't attended,
although usually they those MPs have made submissions. You know,
I've said this before on the huddle. We just have
to remember it. This is exactly what these MPs want.

(02:10):
The more that people half and half and stomp their
feet and say these guys are breaking the rules, the
happier they will be. They are activists. They are not
legislators at the stage. They don't put forward you know,
carefully worded bills or you know, or pieces of legislation
that that have gone through you know, careful drafting processes.

(02:32):
They are agitators, professional agitators. And the more that many
of us half and half and stomp our feed, the
happier their supporters will be because they will feel like
these MPs are going in there and to what they
think is sometimes a racist institution and pulling the fingers
to the system, and that's exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
What they want.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I think you make a good point, but I think
the words you use professional protesters. If you take away
the money, Trish, then they're just protesters. And then do
they turn.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Up well, well, I'm thinking should I pull back on
my huffing and puffing stock, Well, we'll putting a lot
of energy into it. Well, and this is this is
a decision for them because Parliament is not you know,
I often worry about this myself watching where Parliament is going,

(03:26):
that there are MP's in the house on the fringes who,
it seems to me, turn up there to make social
media clips rather than turning up to make legislation. And
I think what we're the sort of performative stuff today
is an example of that.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
It's interesting like this is this is the polarization of
politics in real time, right that the parties on the
fringes always benefit when they're seen to be fighting each other.
So as much as to Party Maudi will be loving
the attention they're getting today, Dave Seymour will equally be
loving the attention that slamming to Party Mardi gives him.
And I think it's really important to remember that even

(04:06):
though there are really strict rules that govern both the
Standing Orders in the House and the Privileges Committee, to
Party Mahori does have an avenue through which they can
submit to the rules. So if indeed they think and
we think that in modern New Zealand there should be
a space for hakker and greater acknowledgment of tekung and
that kind of thing in Parliament, there is a process
by which you can contribute to changing the rules to

(04:28):
allow for that kind of thing. So far, we haven't
gone through that. So far, the rules state that hakker
and that kind of thing are aren't allowed in parliament.
But yeah, like I say, it benefits all of the
parties on the fringes of this when they're seen to
be fighting over this stuff. It's just read meat to
the base.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Jack Time Trusherson on the huddle.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
The huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty achieve extraordinary
results with old parallel reach.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Jack Time Trusherson on the Huddle tonight. So more than
half of us regret our career choice. This is, according
to new data today by Seek mainly due to insufficient
earnings and a lot of us don't realize until it's
too late in life.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Now.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Trush you obviously past that point now, But if you
could have your time again, would you peck a different career.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
I'm going to overlook the little barb in there, Ryan,
but I well, I have I have changed career in
in my lifetime, my extended lifetime.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
So I went.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
I started as a journalist, went into working as a
press sect in parliament. Then I went back to journalism,
and then I went back to the kind of work
that I do now in corporate affairs. I absolutely love
what I do. I think every day what a privilege.
You never know who's going to ring what you need
to learn, and I have never regretted it for a moment.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Jack, What about you?

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Do? You know what I have done that really weird
thing that everyone used to do one hundred years ago
and no one does anymore, And that I've be with
the same company for like coming up twenty years now,
which is crazy I started with I know, I started
with one company when I was nineteen and I'm now
thirty eight. So yeah, it doesn't happen that much anymore.

(06:14):
I wouldn't change my job. I absolutely love my job. However,
given the state of our industry, Ryan, I do think
about possible second and third careers. And the curious thing
for me is that when I started in the job,
you know, I never had any hesitation in going out
and recommending it to other people. But now when I'm
asked to speak at universities and journalism schools and that

(06:35):
kind of thing, I always feel like I need to
caveat everything I say by saying, look, it's a great job,
you have amazing experiences, meet interesting people, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. You're not going to make any money and
your job security absolutely sucks.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, it's good to be honest, Jack. I remember Bernard
Heckey came to our journalism school in Wellington and he
said exactly. He was really honest. He said. Now he said,
it'll be fun, but you'll be made redundant at least once.
And I alay, want to think. Up until last year,
I thought, oh, well he was wrong about one thing,

(07:11):
and then boom and it comes so no very good.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
My daughter is doing her communications degree and when she
chose that, which is what I did, I was laughing
and I said, oh, why do you want to do that?
And she said, cheeky monkey and she said, oh, so
I can have big Gill money. And I said, oh,
what do you do when you have big Gill money?
She says, you have recurring hair appointments.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
So there's something.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Well there you go. Everyone just go and do pr
Thanks Trish and thanks Jack. Nice to have you guys on.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
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