Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on NZ Ambassador to Ireland Trevor Mallard returning early

Speaker Trevor Mallard is returning early from Ireland - ending his job as Ambassador.

Winston Peters has appointed senior foreign affairs staffer Angela Hassan-Sharp to replace Mallard.

Peters claims Mallard's behaviour during the anti-mandate occupation at Parliament should've disqualified him from the role. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Mallard's behaviour during the anti-mandate occupation at Parliament should have raised concerns.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry so Per, senior political correspondence with US Now hy Barry,
good afternoon. Hither So when Trevor says he's bringing when
Winston says he's bringing Trevor home early, He's not really
is he.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's fascinating, isn't it. It's been a long time coming,
this one. I must say, because I remember when Winston
became Foreign Minister, he says about eighteen months ago, saying
to him, well, when are you going? When are you
going to withdraw Trevor Mallard? What's he ever done to
two and a half years ago? Barry? No, No, he said,
he's eighteen months I'm sorry, yeah, And there was no

(00:34):
response really from Winston. He's sort of celebrating the fact
that Trevor Millard is coming back, he says early Winston
he seems to be claiming credit for the early recall
of Mallard.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Listen, do you know that famous song from the Seekers?
The Carnival's Over. I have been in my career ensuring
that when we have the match, they trained their experience
and it should not be a job for the boys
or the girls out of politics of a post nor
my career, And soon I'll have created it for the
third time. He's coming home and he's coming home early.
It's a circus where instead of looking at the national interest,

(01:08):
you've got people like Cinda doing appointing politicians two important jobs,
and that should not be happening. If you've got people
there are some sort of sinecure, their performance will never
be able to spress. You trained people, you give them
decades of experience to get into important jobs, and all
of a sudden you put a politician there with no
training at all. It was the wrong appointment. I cannot

(01:29):
believe that the sender didn't send somebody like him out
of the way. He behaved with respect to the protests
out here, turning up the noise, boarding cold water, over
young talking at night. This is a disgrace and you
guys should have been calling it out, not me.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Well, we were calling it out, I must say, but
you know when the.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
People he was talking to did not call it out though,
right he was talking to the press gallery.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh yes, indeed. Yeah. The two exceptions, though, You've got
to remember with Winston is that he has made political
appointments in the past. One was Brian Donnelly, who was
a former New Zealand first MP who was appointed to
the Cork Islands and he had a big association with
the Cook so and he was very successful there. So

(02:09):
that was a good appointment. The other one, I don't
think anybody would have any arguments with that Winston made.
It was a political appointment very plainly. Was Annit king
to Canberra? Now he made that in twenty eighteen. But
when you look at Trevor Mallard, I mean, for goodness sake,
his handling of the protesters at Parliament that should have
should have been warning science to anyone that this man

(02:33):
was not fit to be a diplomat. He got a
knighthood though along with his best buddy sind Dern the
ambassador's job. They claim that he made that there was
a rapist at Parliament dragged on. Well, it was me
that did the story. Yeah, and it was my big
falling out with Trevor Millard because he thought I should
never have done the story. I mean, this man, to

(02:56):
me just cut a swathe in Parliament that should never
been cut. Even though he says he improved the behavior
of parliament, look at what we've got now. I mean, honestly,
I think he's home well and truly after time.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
So Nicholas pretty stoked about the credit rating thing, isn't she?

Speaker 2 (03:15):
And she should be two. I mean, you know New
Zealand getting a double A plus from Fitch, but it
follows on from other rating agencies as well. Moodies. We've
got an a double A there with standard and pause.
We've going to double A plus the same as Fitch.
So it is good. But the thing is that she's

(03:37):
had to go at Chris Hipkins on her way in
the debating chamber today for what she says was playing
down the level of debt by saying that they have
to fund infrastructure somehow and playing down the interest bill
to this country on it.

Speaker 4 (03:54):
Here she is this kind of fiscal enumeracy is dangerous
for New Zealand because the factor is that our debt
servicing costs are currently eight point nine billion dollars a year.
I want to put that number in some context for you.
I see that I am taking over the Prime Minister's microphones. However,
I'm just going to proceed and that was not intentional.

(04:15):
That is enough to pay for the annual operating costs
of the Defense Force, combined with the New Zealand Police,
combined with the Customs Agency, combined with the Corrections Agency,
combined with the Ministry of Justice. And yet what Chris
Hipkins is trying to gaslight New Zealand is about is
that debt servicing costs are not something we need to
worry about.

Speaker 5 (04:34):
I mean, this is just vintage National Party when they're
in a hole and they're in a very big hole
at the moment, start throwing mud at the Labor Party.
That's what they do every time. But the reality is
their hole is getting deeper. They need to figure out
how to get themselves out of a hole without worrying
about other political parties.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
So where do you go from there? You don't go
anywhere really. But look, it is true that New Zealand's debt,
the government debt isn't as high as it has been
in the past. I mean I remember back to even
the Gimbolgier period. I think we had a higher debt
to GDP ratio then. So you know, we we can

(05:10):
handle debt like this. And Hipkins is right in a way,
you've got to borrow money to pay for infrastructure. Oh yeah,
what he buy us saying he did that. I'm saying
you as a general princess.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
That is the problem, Barry. It's that people have a
problem with this debt, not so much necessarily because of
the debt situation. It's what we got for the debt,
which is bugger totally.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
You're talking the COVID debt. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
No, Christ and his mate Chippy and borrowed a lot
and bought bugger all.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, and you would have.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Heard I'll deal with it next not.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
And you know it was Rachel Send of the Gossip.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
London unexplained, I'll explain. Thank you, Barry So for senior
political correspondence.

Speaker 5 (05:53):
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