Labour's yet to rule potential coalition partners in or out.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is refusing to work with Chris Hipkins next election, but has not entirely ruled Labour out.
On social media, Peters posted a Government of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori would be a "circus" and a "radical woke show".
Hipkins told John MacDonald that they actually ruled out working with Peters before the last election, and he’s said since that that’s unlikely to change.
However, he says potential coalition decisions will be made closer to the election, based on principles and the party’s compatibility, rather than the petty personality vendettas that seem to be occupying Peters’ time.
The Labour Leader is also calling the role of the Minister for the South Island a "PR job."
Rangitata MP James Meager picked up the new portfolio in January, alongside Hunting and Fishing, Youth, and Associate Transport.
The Prime Minister says he will be a critical voice for the South Island.
But Hipkins told MacDonald there would be no need for Meager's role if the Government was actually prioritising the South Island.
He says Meager's not doing anything because he has no budget or decision-making ability, and this is just a way of telling the South Island it hasn't been forgotten.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB morning.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
One out from now, Minister for the South Island James
and Meaga will be with us and you'll be able
to put your questions to them as well. That is
straight after eleven Right now the Opposition and Labor leader
Chris Hopkins is where it's going Chris.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Good morning John.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So we've been talking this morning about the tragic death
of the nineteen year old who was taking part in
the private run it straight game. What's your position on this?
Do you think the government needs to crack down on
the official run at events and similar type events.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Look, I don't know the details of that, and so
I'm not going to venture a comment on it, just
because there will, no doubt the investigations underway, and you know,
to respect for the family obviously it's a very very
tragic event. In my heart goes out to them. I
don't want to get into speculation around that without knowing
all of the facts.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, there's no shortage of experts calling for a ban.
You must have a personal opinion at the very least.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, Look, I mean I as a parent, I think
you know you look at that and you know your
heart just breaks. I think we've but I also respect
but the parents involved, and I think only them have
their space.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So Winston Peters has said that it never wants to
work with Labor again as long as you are leader.
How's that going down with your labor colleagues.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I don't think anyone's particularly faced by that. You know
the fact that Winston Peters and the government seemed to
be spending all of their time post budget talking about
the Labor Party rather than talking about their government's budget
and itself sends a pretty clear message to our team
that we have reason for a lot of optimism. You know,
Winston Veters has made all these sorts of claims in
the past. From member he said he wasn't going to
work with Jim Bolger and then became his deputy prime minister,
(01:50):
he said he wasn't going to work with Al Clark
became her foreign minister. I don't think people really pay
much attention to what Winston Beaters are saying on these
sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So do you not believe them?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, we actually said before the last election that we
weren't going to work with Winston Peters. And I've said
since the election that highly unlikely to change. You know,
we'll make those decisions closer to the election based on principles.
We'll do it based on where we see our values
and our policies are compatible with other parties, rather than
petty personality vendettas, which seems to be occupying Winston Peter's
time at the moment.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
How do you know that your colleagues aren't faced by it?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Because I speak to the men all the time, and
nobody's concerned about what Winston Peters has to say.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Are they concerned about you staying on as leader?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Absolutely not, No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And again to do again. How do you know that?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Well, because they I regularly talk to them and they're
very clear with me on that. You know, the Labor
Party has actually been the most unified over the last
couple of years, I think that it's ever been, and
that's not going to change because Winston Peters decides to
insert himself into the business of another political party.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
How do your colleagues, since you're talking to them regularly,
as you say, how do they feel about working with
Winston Peters?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I don't think anyone's lining up to do that in
a hurry, you know, and we're pretty clear about that
in the last election. Winston Peters is a force for
chaos in government. He's been a force for chaos in
this government. Is he was a force for chaos and
the government that we were part of.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Give me an example, Give me an example of that
of the chaos he's created in this current administration.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Well, the thing about well, for a start, having a
Minister of Foreign Affairs traveling around the world directly contradicting
what the Prime Minister is telling other countries isn't really
great for New Zealand. When Christopher Luction's out there touting
free trade and Winston Peters is telling him to calm
down and stop panicking, and he's doing that publicly, I
think that's a disaster for New Zealand. It reflects very
(03:48):
poorly on us.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You don't think that you would have the same challenge
with your potential coalition partners.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I've been really clear that I think one of Christopher
Lucx's great failings as Prime Minister has been letting the
smaller parties call all the shots. I think under MMP,
the New Zealand public accepts that we've got to work
with other parties under MMP. It's the nature of what
New Zealanders chose when they chose EMMP. But it doesn't
mean those smaller parties get a blank check to do
whatever they want. There are still rules, There are still
(04:15):
things that you know, there are still standards of conduct
that ministers need to do it here to and they
should hear to them, regardless of which party they come from.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So if you were in coalition with to party, Mari,
how would you have handled the co leaders not turning
up for the budget?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, you know that's a question for them.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Well I'm not it's not actually, it's not actually because
because it's not, it's a question for you, because you
were the guy who stood up and demanded them to
have a presence on budget Day.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah, and I was disappointed that they didn't take up
that opportunity. I think they missed an opportunity to show
leadership and to speak to the people who they were
elected to speak on behalf of. But ultimately that's a
question for them. You know, we're not in government with them.
But my message to all of the parties in Parliament is,
you know, if I am the Prime Minister, anyone who
serves as a minister will have to follow the same
rules as everybody else. The Cabinet Manual will apply equally
(05:05):
to everyone, regardless of which party they come from.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
You must have felt more than just disappointed. You must
have felt let down by them, surely.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh, I mean they never made much difference to me,
but I think it does make a difference to the
people who they who voted for them, and I think
not showing up to give them voice and the budget
debate really is something that the multi party should reflect on.
But that's their call, not mine.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Speaking of the budget, what would Labor do in relation
to the keyv Saber changes announced by the Finance Minster
last week.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
We'll set that out closer to the election. Obviously, we're
disappointed to see the government contribution being cut in half
again what we had been clear on those. We do
want to see greater refinement savings. So I think you
know we will support the increase in both employer and
employee contributions because we think that's in New Zealand's best
long term interests to increase our retirement savings. That gets
(05:56):
us up to about eight percent combined. If you look
across at Australia it's more like twelve percent. So we're
still away behind. We're still behind. You know what other
OECD countries are doing in terms of retirement savings. So
I think it's a start, but we need to have
a mature conversation as a country about how we continue
to increase our retirement savings over time. The audiest didn't
do it all in one fell sweep. They did it
(06:17):
over the course of about a decade and a half.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think sure, so would you?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Would you we need to have a similar approach, all right?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Would you be inclined to restore the government contribution.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I'm not making any commitments on that. We'll set out
before the next election what we're proposing to do differently
and how we would pay for all of that. The
government still had a whole another budget to deliver yet,
and so we don't know at this point. You know
what we'll be facing at the next in the next
election campaign.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
So the Minister of the South Island is going to
be with us in about an hour's time. I know
you've got an Arkland issues spokesperson. How come you don't
have a South Island shadow minister?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We even needed one, so you know, we've had ministers
sitting around the cabinet table in our previous government from
all over the South Island. You know, had people like
Megan Woods, David Parker, Duncan web Port or Williams with respect,
with respect, with respect, all actually directly in putting into
the decision making process.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Sure with respect, Chris, I think a very common question
people have had is where are those people because they
seem to have been largely invisible. So you don't think
there's a need for even a government minister for the
South Island.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I don't agree with it that, you know. I think
if you look at what we did with the South
Island in government, you know a lot of the projects
that we had underway in the South Island, the ones
that the current government are scaling back. I think that's
why they need a minister to the South Island. But
we were building didnt In hospital, Nelson Hospital, we did
have roading projects in the Canterbury region that have been
cut back by this government. I'm not surprised they feel
(07:49):
they need to suddenly insert a new voice of the
South Island because clearly the South Island isn't getting a
look in in their government.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So it's a PR job.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Oh, totally a PR job. I mean he's not actually
doing anything. He doesn't actually have any authority to do anything.
He doesn't have any budget, he doesn't have any decision
making ability. It's basically just a way of saying, oh, chaupun,
and we haven't forgotten you yet. We're not doing anything
for you, but here have somebody who you can look
to and say, oh, that cho.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Up to some all right, we'll put that Tom straight
after eleven meantime, Cross Thankspy. Time will catch up in
two weeks time John.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
For more from Category Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news talks at be Christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB morning.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
One out from now, Minister for the South Island James
and Meaga will be with us and you'll be able
to put your questions to them as well. That is
straight after eleven Right now the Opposition and Labor leader
Chris Hopkins is where it's going Chris.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Good morning John.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So we've been talking this morning about the tragic death
of the nineteen year old who was taking part in
the private run it straight game. What's your position on this?
Do you think the government needs to crack down on
the official run at events and similar type events.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Look, I don't know the details of that, and so
I'm not going to venture a comment on it, just
because there will, no doubt the investigations underway, and you know,
to respect for the family obviously it's a very very
tragic event. In my heart goes out to them. I
don't want to get into speculation around that without knowing
all of the facts.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, there's no shortage of experts calling for a ban.
You must have a personal opinion at the very least.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, Look, I mean I as a parent, I think
you know you look at that and you know your
heart just breaks. I think we've but I also respect
but the parents involved, and I think only them have
their space.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So Winston Peters has said that it never wants to
work with Labor again as long as you are leader.
How's that going down with your labor colleagues.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I don't think anyone's particularly faced by that. You know
the fact that Winston Peters and the government seemed to
be spending all of their time post budget talking about
the Labor Party rather than talking about their government's budget
and itself sends a pretty clear message to our team
that we have reason for a lot of optimism. You know,
Winston Veters has made all these sorts of claims in
the past. From member he said he wasn't going to
work with Jim Bolger and then became his deputy prime minister,
(01:50):
he said he wasn't going to work with Al Clark
became her foreign minister. I don't think people really pay
much attention to what Winston Beaters are saying on these
sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So do you not believe them?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, we actually said before the last election that we
weren't going to work with Winston Peters. And I've said
since the election that highly unlikely to change. You know,
we'll make those decisions closer to the election based on principles.
We'll do it based on where we see our values
and our policies are compatible with other parties, rather than
petty personality vendettas, which seems to be occupying Winston Peter's
time at the moment.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
How do you know that your colleagues aren't faced by it?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Because I speak to the men all the time, and
nobody's concerned about what Winston Peters has to say.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Are they concerned about you staying on as leader?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Absolutely not, No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And again to do again. How do you know that?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Well, because they I regularly talk to them and they're
very clear with me on that. You know, the Labor
Party has actually been the most unified over the last
couple of years, I think that it's ever been, and
that's not going to change because Winston Peters decides to
insert himself into the business of another political party.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
How do your colleagues, since you're talking to them regularly,
as you say, how do they feel about working with
Winston Peters?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I don't think anyone's lining up to do that in
a hurry, you know, and we're pretty clear about that
in the last election. Winston Peters is a force for
chaos in government. He's been a force for chaos in
this government. Is he was a force for chaos and
the government that we were part of.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Give me an example, Give me an example of that
of the chaos he's created in this current administration.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Well, the thing about well, for a start, having a
Minister of Foreign Affairs traveling around the world directly contradicting
what the Prime Minister is telling other countries isn't really
great for New Zealand. When Christopher Luction's out there touting
free trade and Winston Peters is telling him to calm
down and stop panicking, and he's doing that publicly, I
think that's a disaster for New Zealand. It reflects very
(03:48):
poorly on us.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You don't think that you would have the same challenge
with your potential coalition partners.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I've been really clear that I think one of Christopher
Lucx's great failings as Prime Minister has been letting the
smaller parties call all the shots. I think under MMP,
the New Zealand public accepts that we've got to work
with other parties under MMP. It's the nature of what
New Zealanders chose when they chose EMMP. But it doesn't
mean those smaller parties get a blank check to do
whatever they want. There are still rules, There are still
(04:15):
things that you know, there are still standards of conduct
that ministers need to do it here to and they
should hear to them, regardless of which party they come from.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So if you were in coalition with to party, Mari,
how would you have handled the co leaders not turning
up for the budget?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, you know that's a question for them.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Well I'm not it's not actually, it's not actually because
because it's not, it's a question for you, because you
were the guy who stood up and demanded them to
have a presence on budget Day.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah, and I was disappointed that they didn't take up
that opportunity. I think they missed an opportunity to show
leadership and to speak to the people who they were
elected to speak on behalf of. But ultimately that's a
question for them. You know, we're not in government with them.
But my message to all of the parties in Parliament is,
you know, if I am the Prime Minister, anyone who
serves as a minister will have to follow the same
rules as everybody else. The Cabinet Manual will apply equally
(05:05):
to everyone, regardless of which party they come from.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
You must have felt more than just disappointed. You must
have felt let down by them, surely.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh, I mean they never made much difference to me,
but I think it does make a difference to the
people who they who voted for them, and I think
not showing up to give them voice and the budget
debate really is something that the multi party should reflect on.
But that's their call, not mine.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Speaking of the budget, what would Labor do in relation
to the keyv Saber changes announced by the Finance Minster
last week.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
We'll set that out closer to the election. Obviously, we're
disappointed to see the government contribution being cut in half
again what we had been clear on those. We do
want to see greater refinement savings. So I think you
know we will support the increase in both employer and
employee contributions because we think that's in New Zealand's best
long term interests to increase our retirement savings. That gets
(05:56):
us up to about eight percent combined. If you look
across at Australia it's more like twelve percent. So we're
still away behind. We're still behind. You know what other
OECD countries are doing in terms of retirement savings. So
I think it's a start, but we need to have
a mature conversation as a country about how we continue
to increase our retirement savings over time. The audiest didn't
do it all in one fell sweep. They did it
(06:17):
over the course of about a decade and a half.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think sure, so would you?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Would you we need to have a similar approach, all right?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Would you be inclined to restore the government contribution.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I'm not making any commitments on that. We'll set out
before the next election what we're proposing to do differently
and how we would pay for all of that. The
government still had a whole another budget to deliver yet,
and so we don't know at this point. You know
what we'll be facing at the next in the next
election campaign.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
So the Minister of the South Island is going to
be with us in about an hour's time. I know
you've got an Arkland issues spokesperson. How come you don't
have a South Island shadow minister?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We even needed one, so you know, we've had ministers
sitting around the cabinet table in our previous government from
all over the South Island. You know, had people like
Megan Woods, David Parker, Duncan web Port or Williams with respect,
with respect, with respect, all actually directly in putting into
the decision making process.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Sure with respect, Chris, I think a very common question
people have had is where are those people because they
seem to have been largely invisible. So you don't think
there's a need for even a government minister for the
South Island.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I don't agree with it that, you know. I think
if you look at what we did with the South
Island in government, you know a lot of the projects
that we had underway in the South Island, the ones
that the current government are scaling back. I think that's
why they need a minister to the South Island. But
we were building didnt In hospital, Nelson Hospital, we did
have roading projects in the Canterbury region that have been
cut back by this government. I'm not surprised they feel
(07:49):
they need to suddenly insert a new voice of the
South Island because clearly the South Island isn't getting a
look in in their government.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So it's a PR job.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Oh, totally a PR job. I mean he's not actually
doing anything. He doesn't actually have any authority to do anything.
He doesn't have any budget, he doesn't have any decision
making ability. It's basically just a way of saying, oh, chaupun,
and we haven't forgotten you yet. We're not doing anything
for you, but here have somebody who you can look
to and say, oh, that cho.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Up to some all right, we'll put that Tom straight
after eleven meantime, Cross Thankspy. Time will catch up in
two weeks time John.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
For more from Category Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news talks at be Christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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