Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on Kapa Kingi's reinstatement and our failed flag change

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper talked to Heather du Plessis-Allan about today's political hot topics.

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi has been reinstated to Te Pāti Māori, for now, after she took her expulsion from the party to court.

A leaked phone call between European leaders shows confidence in Trump's loyalty to Ukraine is not strong.

And, ten years ago we voted against changing the flag.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, our thirteen away from five. Barry Soper, senior
political correspondent, is with us.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Now, Hi, Barry, Oh, good afternoon. This is pretty.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Unusual, isn't it? The High Court ordering an MP back
into the past.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Well, highly unusual. I can never remember it happening. I
remember Winston Peter's had a fight with the National Party
in the early ninth ordered back in. No, he wasn't
ordered back, And I think it's probably unprecedented. But I
know you're going to have a legal expert on talking
about that, because I certainly in my time it hasn't happened.
And this, you know, this was a case significantly I

(00:36):
think against John Tammahetty as the president of the party.
I mean he was the third respondent in this, along
with the Council of the Maldi Party and essentially the
judge came out saying that she has to be reinstated.
I've also applied for restraining orders until a hearing will

(00:59):
be old next year. That's a restraining order against John
Tamaherry acting in his role as president of the party,
restraining the Council and executive including Tamihrry from passing any
resolution at the AGM, which is I think this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
So oh, that'll be waker jumping, won't it.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, but yes, exactly, And you can imagine what it's
going to be like now for Maremento Cappakinghi in the
caucus because she will now be reinstated to the caucus.
I'm not sure what will happen to Takuta Ferris. It
may be that the leadership of the party will look

(01:40):
at him and say, well, has he offended any worse
than their view than Kappa Kingy and restore him as well.
I mean, it's an absolute unmitigated mess in the Maldi party,
and certainly from a party that doesn't deserve any part
of government in just a year's time.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
So the restraint of mister Tamaheri from acting as the
part they Maldy president, is that acting in any capacity
as the present or just pertaining to her.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
I'm not sure. The finding is a very large one.
I've sort of speed read it and I couldn't quite
find out whether that was in fact going to be
the case.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Okay, we'll have a bit of a reader, but we're
going to talk to Grahame Echeler about it. After five o'clock, Lord,
have you come in with a bit of TDS again? Well,
have you.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
No Trump dearrangement syndrome?

Speaker 1 (02:30):
No?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I just think that you know, we all we it's
easy to put labels on people. And I know that
you've often accused me of suffering from Trump derangement syndrome. Well,
I've got to say either that I'm in pretty good company.
You have a listen to Prince Harry on the show
fronted by Jacinda Durn's mate Stephen Colbert. But your Americans

(02:51):
are obsessed with Christmas movies and you're truly obsessive with royalty,
so why not.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Hold on?

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Hold on? Look, look, I wouldn't say we're obsessed with royalty. Really,
I heard you. I heard you elected a king. He's
got a point, good, good point.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
But you do Barry. That's so scripted, right, No, No, No,
Harry is reading his line.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
No he wasn't. If you saw I watched him on
the show, he wasn't reading lines.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Heather, I see the Germans shaking her head and U
she's that whatever, Boomer.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Go tell the German to go and have a lock
and listen to the language being spoken, and watch the
mannerisms of the people in the studio. It wasn't Darry.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Whatever brings you joy.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
That doesn't bring me any joy at all. Because look,
the esteemed President Trump, the work he's doing on ending
the war in the Ukraine. There's a leak telephone call.
I don't know whether you've seen that, Heather, that was
among European leaders, and Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland,
warned that europe shouldn't leave Ukraine and Vladimir alone with

(04:08):
these guys. And that's referring to Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner,
Trump's son in law, and the leak, the highly sensitive
telephone call, the lavish praise on Trump in the past,
these leaders, but now they seem to be heaping on
them or ganging up on him. So he's not as

(04:29):
popular as some people might like to make out. And
even the man that called him Daddy, the NATO Secretary General,
he's expressed agreement with Stubb when the latter suggested the
US negotiating team couldn't be trusted. So, you know, just
putting it into perspective here, that's all stop smiling. I

(04:52):
think President Trump is a wonderful man.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Said Barry.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Whatever makes you happy now, Barry, have you have you
reflected on the fact that if we had made the
call ten years ago we would have a new flag.
Well steen years into our new flag, we wouldn't need to.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Be talking about it were ten years on. Of course,
it was John Key's passion when he was Prime Minister
to get the Union Jack off our flag. And I
think it's a word. It was a worthy fight. And
it wasn't overwhelmingly opposed to fifty six percent in the
referendum voted. There was more than one point two million

(05:25):
people voted in the referendum, and so it was a
pretty close run thing. And I think you know, the
design that was Kyl Lockwood's design, black and white with
a blue silver fern flag was chosen to go up
against our current Union Jack flag and it missed out.
And the argument would be, and I think it's a

(05:47):
fairly good argument that we had four flags to choose
alternatives on against the one flag, and I think it
should have been one against one and then they have
seen a different story.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, perhaps so, Barry, thank you very much for wrap
political week that was with you. Later on just have
to six Vary sober political senior political correspondent.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
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