John MacDonald: Don't point the finger at David Seymour for Treaty Principles mess

An absolute circus is one way to describe David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill.  

Or you could say that the thousands at Parliament today to protest against it is what democracy is all about.  

Either way, if you want to point a finger at anyone for creating this shambles, don’t point it at David Seymour. Point it at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.  

Who kept telling us last year how much of an expert he was at negotiations. Mergers and acquisitions was what it was all about. And, as we know with negotiations, it often means all parties doing a bit of give and take to get something across the line.   

But for someone who likes to go-on about his real-world business experience, it amazes me that he’s created this shambles by acting in a way that no chief executive would. More on that shortly.  

But I reckon people are thinking less about Christopher Luxon’s negotiation skills and more about his leadership skills right now. And I bet he is ruing the day that he agreed to include this sham in his coalition agreement with David Seymour.  

I also bet he is losing a lot of people’s respect. He’ll know that. If he doesn’t, then someone needs to tell him. His MPs won’t say so, but I bet he’s losing a lot of their respect, as well.  

It’s obvious. You talk to pretty much any National MP about the Treaty Principles Bill and they’ll shuffle uncomfortably in their seat. They’ll look away. They’ll say “oh yes, but not past the first reading” blah blah blah.  

They’ll try not to let it show in their face. But look into their eyes, and you can see the dread.  

That’s because they are embarrassed to be associated with this thing. And they have every right to be embarrassed when you consider that it was only agreed to, to get a deal across the line. Agreed to in a way which means it’s not actually going to go anywhere.  

All it’s going to do is give David Seymour a platform for the next election.  

Now before you start saying “hold on a minute, hold on a minute - it was only the other week mate that you were saying that we —as a country— seem to be incapable of discussing this sort of thing without it turning into a bunfight."  

Yes I did say that. I wasn’t saying I supported the Bill, I was saying that, despite how advanced we think we might be as a society, when push comes to shove, we are incapable of having this “national discussion” that the pointy heads like to bang on about without it turning to custard.  

And we’re seeing that play out today. Which Christopher Luxon knew would happen. He would have known full well that there’d be people who would go nuts over it.   

But he went with it and, as a result, his leadership is looking weaker by the day.  

Because if he had approached his negotiations with David Seymour in a way you would expect a seasoned chief executive to, then he would have done what any chief executive worth their salt does and determine whether a deal is going to do good things or bad things for the interests of the company.  

The best chief executives —and I’m talking the absolute best of the best— what they do, is they base all of their decisions on what’s best for the business or organisation that they lead. And, if they're really good, that can sometimes mean making decisions that might even see them lose their job.  

I’ll let you decide whether the company, in this case, is the National Party or the country. But this deal with Seymour isn’t good for his party and it isn’t good for the country.   

And, if Christopher Luxon is the leader he claims to be, then he needs to show some genuine leadership —some genuine backbone— and use his business skills to get us out of this mess.  

If he doesn’t, he will be toast. He will be toast as far as his MPs are concerned and he’ll b

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
An absolute circus. That's an absolute circus. That is one
way to describe David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill, isn't it.
Or you could say that the thousands descending on Parliament
today to protest against it, and that's what that's what
democracy is all about. So it's either, you know, it's
either a circus or its democracy in action. Either way,

(00:38):
if you want to point a finger at anyone for
creating the shambles, well don't pointed at David Seymour. Pointed
at Christoph Luxon, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who kept telling
us last year, remember this, It kept telling us how
much of an expert he was at negotiations, you know,
mergers and acquisitions. That was what it was all about.
In fact, someone even made a T shirt Emerges an

(01:00):
Acquisition's T shirt for me. But as we know, with negotiations,
it often means all heart, he's doing a bit of
give and take to get something across the line. But
for someone who likes to go on about his real
world business experience, you know, it amazes me that Christopher

(01:20):
Luxon has created the shambles by acting in a way
that no chief executive would And I'll tell you what
I mean by that in a second. But jeepus, I reckon.
I reckon. People are thinking less about Christoph Luction's Luxeon's
negotiation skills and more about his leadership skills right now.

(01:41):
And I bet that he is ruined the day that
he agreed to include this sham in his coalition agreement
with David Seymour. And I bet he's losing a lot
of people's respect as well. Hell know that if he
doesn't know that, then someone needs to tell him. Has
MPs that they won't say so, But I bet he's
losing a lot of their respect as well. I mean,

(02:03):
it's obvious you talk to pretty much national MP about
the Treaty Principles Bill and what will whether they shuffle
uncomfortably in this seat, they look away and then they say,
oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but not past the first reading,
you know, blah blah blah blah blah. They'll they'll try
not to let it show in their face. But this

(02:25):
is what you do, if you're talking about it with
the national MP, look into their eyes and you can
see the absolute dread because they are embarrassed to be
associated with this thing, and they have every right to
be embarrassed when you consider that it was only agreed
to to get a deal across the line, agreed to
in a way which means it's not actually going to

(02:45):
go anywhere, and all it's going to do is give
David see Moore a platform for the next election. Now,
before before you start saying, oh, hold on a minute,
Hold on a minute, mate, hold on, hold on, hold on,
it was only it was only the other week McDonald
that you were saying that we as a country seem
to be incapable of discussing the sort of thing without
turning into a ship fight. Yes, I did say that.

(03:07):
What I didn't say, though, is that I supported the bill.
What I was saying is that despite how advanced we
think we might be as a society, when push comes
to shove, we are incapable of having this national discussion
that the point he headed. People like to bang on
about we can't have the national discussion without attorney Custard,

(03:31):
and we're seeing that play out today, which Christopher Luxen
knew would happen. He would have known full well that
there'd be people who would go nuts over it, but
he went with it. He agreed to it because it
was his job, apparently to get the deal across the line.
But as a result, his leadership is looking weaker by
the day. Now, I'll get back to the point I

(03:53):
talked about earlier, But if he had approached his negotiations
with David Seymour in a way that you would expect
a seasoned chief executive too, then he would have done
what any chief executive worth their salt does and determine
whether it is going to do good things or bad
things for the company they lead or the organization they lead.

(04:15):
And the best chief executives, and I'm talking about the
absolute best of the best, what they do is they
base all of their decisions on what's best for the
business or the organization that they lead, and if they're
really good, that can sometimes mean making decisions that might
even see them lose their job. Now, for the purposes
of today's discussion, I'll let you decide whether the company

(04:36):
we're talking about here is the national Party or if
it's the country. But either way, this deal will Seymour.
It's not good for his party, and it isn't good
for his country. And if Christopher Luxon is the leader
he claims to be, then he needs to show some
genuine leadership, some genuine backbone, and use these brilliant business

(04:58):
skills he talks about and to get us out of
this mess. If he doesn't, he will be toast. Make
my words, he will be toast as far as his
MP's are concerned, and he'll be toast as far as
the majority of voters are concerned. Because if he did
do what I'm saying he needs to do, then I
would respect him infinitely more than I will if he

(05:20):
does nothing, If he keeps on with this charade, if
he keeps on banging on about how how unhelpful the
bill is, how divisive it is, you know, it keeps
on trolling up that nonsense and then sticks with the
plan as per you know, I don't care about his
leadership experience until I see some genuine leadership right now.

(05:42):
And I'm not saying it as far as his treaty
principles miss is concerned.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
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