December 21, 2024 • 10 mins
This week on the Sunday Panel, Coast Day host and host of the upcoming Trip Notes travel podcast Lorna Riley and Senior PR consultant at One Plus One Communications Damien Venuto joined in on a discussion about the issues of the day - and more!
One year in, is the coalition Government on track? And how have they managed the big issues we are facing?
If one person is hosting Christmas dinner, should you pay?
Plus, what's your word for 2024?
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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 Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joining us on our final panel for twenty twenty four.
I have got Coast Day host and host of the
upcoming trip Notes travel podcast Laurna Riley Hi Lorna Kyotra
Kyota and also senior PR consultant at one plus one Communications,
Damien Valuto.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Gooda, Damien, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good to have you both with us. Hey, look, today
we started off our show here on the Sunday Session
by just talking to Cletrovet and Jesse Walls, just sort
of trying to get a feel for how the year
has been in politics, and I'd love to hear your views, Damien,
maybe looking big picture, you know, do you feel like
the Coalition government is on track with they what they
sort of promised to achieve in their first year in power.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's been a bit of a mixed year. I'd say
there have been some things that they've done pretty well
and then some things that they've really struggled on. I
think the one challenge with kind of determining the quality
of the the Coalition government's performance is that the opposition
has really struggled. So it's kind of like when you
have a big sporting team. You don't judge the All
(01:14):
Blacks by how they've performed against the maybea you judge
them by how they've performed against like the bigger teams. Right,
So the reality is that, like the Greens have really struggled,
Labor's kind of been an autopilot. You don't really know
what they're doing. So it does feel a little bit
like the opposition really needs to step up so that
we can see the government being tested because at the
moment it just feels like they're not being tested at all.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I like the sporting analogies Lorna.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think the government's been very busy,
but with things that possibly nobody ever asked for, like
cell phone bands and schools changing waka kotahi z nta
zat boot camps which something to be working, raising speed
limits on certain roads, and also the Treaty Principal Bill
what a what a distraction. It only seems to work
(02:01):
for David Seymour and his party. And I would say
in terms of opposition, actually that Tipati marii an opportunity
to really shine, and I think they did and I
think in terms of opposition, they are the ones who
have really stood out this year. The government's chipping away
at economic reforms, but they don't seem to be pleasing
either their power base on the right or anyone on
(02:24):
the left as well. You do wonder a little bit
who's leading the country. When your own deputy says you're
struggling in the job. I mean, that's unbelievable, and also
says that the tax cuts are unaffordable even though he
voted for them. You've got to feel a little bit
of sympathy, I think for Christopher Lackson, stuck between a
rock and a hard place.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
But yeah, I mean nine.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Noman expect David nine expected them to come in and
fix all the problems of the world. Every government around
the country is struggling to recover post COVID and deal
with the political and economic disruption which has taken place,
I think, and I think a lot of what they
initially did was a lot of repealing. They stopped things
that they didn't like, and I wonder whether going into
twenty twenty five, it's going to be about seeing, you know,
(03:10):
policy put into place, which indicates to us we're hitting
in the right direction when it comes to our economic recovery,
which I think is on most people's minds.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I think a lot of people would have been alarmed
in the last week when we saw that big GDP
figure come in and it showed how dire our financial
situation was, and that in the past year, while we,
I mean, anyone out there will tell you it's felt
really really tough, twenty twenty four has not been an
easier for business, and I think there are very few
businesses out there that have had a good time. So
(03:41):
I do think that we need to see some active
moves from the government of the coming year. I think
you're spot on. I think that you can't define your
tenure as a as a leader by what you've repealed.
You have to define it by what you've actually added
to the game. And I think we really need to
see a shift. And then the other thing that Laurnas
has touched on there there are so many things that
(04:04):
New Zealanders currently have common grounds on. If you talk
about the economic crisis, if you talk about the cost
of living crisis, and yet this last year it feels
a lot like politics has been defined by this one
thing that we're divided on, and that is that is
a that is a sign of a government that hasn't
really felt the pulse of the nation. Why are we
(04:25):
focusing so much on the treaty principles? But when there
are so many things that we are united on, the
where we where we're we're one on, and then we
focused on this one thing that the whole country's divided on,
and it just kind of like it kind of takes
five steps back when we should be looking at how
we can take a small step forward.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Yeah, what I want to see, what I want to
see next year is less blame on the last government
and more focus on the future and delivering some of
those election promises in terms of economic growth. Yes, you've
touched on that. But also something that affects us all
in this country are our health services. And I think
we're all concerned that, you know, one point five billion
dollars cut from a system that was already in crisis.
(05:06):
I want to see how that is going to be
reformed to actually deliver more for New Zealanders because all
of this stage I can see, is less for all
of us, and at some stage or another we're all.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Going to need it completely. Yeah, what about you, Damien,
if you from the government next.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Year, if you've sat in the emergency room with a
toddler who's really ill for hours on end. I think
that any person in New Zealand could agree that that's
something that we should be looking to fix. So I
think that those focusing on those things that appeal to
all New Zealanders and we all want fixed, that should
be the priority of the government.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Oh look, it's not just toddlers, is it's teenagers and
our older people and.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
All our cancer patients who are having to wait way
too long for diagnosis. That then changes, you know, it's
false economy because we might wait, we make people wait
so long that the treatment then becomes much more extensive
and much more expensive. You know, early detection is the
key to during any cancer and so we need to
get onto that.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
All right, guys. On a slightly lighter note, I was
talking to the chef Mark Gregory yesterday, who has had
an incredible career around the world as a chef, and
he was saying, look, if a family member is largely
hosting you, everyone should just put forty dollars in the
kitty and pay for the Christmas and just alleviate that
(06:32):
sort of financial pressure. It's what you know European people
do quite often and things like that. Laura, would you
sort of feel that it was jes Chest to your family?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
That? I mean, if I don't think.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
No I was going to say everyone was going to
bring a plate, everyone was contributing, I wouldn't. But actually,
if the majority of the family we're all just turning
up with a bottle of wine that they were going
to drink and not much else, I probably would be
tempted to go, hey, I'll take care of all this.
How anyone to throw forty dollars in the kiddy and
I'll provide other ways?
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Past and I always pay and this year because I
don't like to spend all day in the kitchen and
not with the family getting one of those whoop boxes.
But oh my god, they're expensive, Like for eight people,
it's four hundred and eighty dollars a new lots of money. Yeah. Yeah,
And my fiance has very generously gone halves with me,
even though it's not his family, which I think is
(07:30):
pretty decent.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
But sixty, that's sixty It really cut to your family.
That's sixty dollars ticket for them.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But I have chosen to do that, and I've chosen
to do it in a certain way, and I've chosen
to do it with the fancy dishes. I mean, yes,
we could all bring a plate, and I'm sure everybody
would help if we wanted to just do a traditional
turkey and roast potatoes and all the rest of it,
but it would be chaos and it wouldn't be quite
the you know, the time I get to spend with
my family and all that kind of thing. So I
have chosen to do that. I'm willing to take it
(07:59):
on the nose. It's just all part of the Christmas
cost for me, which grows every year. But we're having
a barbecue laid in the day. All comers bring your
own meat, will provide the salads, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And I think that's here.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah nice. What about you, Damien, Would you have a
charge your family member to come for a meal.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
We probably wouldn't, But I mean, I can't speak for
all families because our unit in New Zealand is pretty
small and we normally do Christmas even the Latin American style,
So we bring the whole family over at about nine o'clock,
ten o'clock at night on the Christmas Eve, and what
we generally do is we make quite like humble food,
so empanadas, and then we barbecue pork on the bone,
(08:37):
and so these things aren't very expensive, but they're absolutely delicious,
and there is something special about making the empanadas altogether.
You get flower footprints through the house of the toddlers.
Whole thing. It's as lovely and there's no way that
I'm gonna it's It's a special thing that I look
forward to every year. So in terms of who's paying,
like right now, I can say I'm comfortable with that.
Maybe maybe if the economic crisis continues, are not going
(09:00):
to be so comfortful.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I shall look forward to talking to you both this
time year to see how you're still feeling about shouting
how much more expensive that box is? Laura, very quickly.
I have a dear friend who gets very organized, and
she comes up with the word for the next year
that's going to describe how attitude, how she's going to
approach the year. I was wondering whether you'd be able
(09:24):
to give twenty twenty five a year for you, Laura.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, I was looking at the dictionaries, you know, words
of the year and we had brain rot and bratt
and manifest and although I believe in manifestation, I think
my favorite was Macquarie Dictionary, which had enshitification, which is
a graduate diseriation of something, because I think we could
see that all around us. For me, though, it's going
to be the same word I had last year, and
I know it's all very hippy to be, but it's believe.
(09:49):
I believed in finding love again and I achieved that
this year. I believe that in my mid fifties I
could still loossom career wise in an industry that's shrinking.
I believe that we will get through this tough time economically.
I believe that things will get better, you know, the
whole believe achieved thing. In a way, I guess that
is manifestation. Oh.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I always hear other people's words and I go, I'm
just taking that. That's brilliant. I love the way you
see that.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Lord, you made me so happy now, like you gave
me so much optimism, and like you really gave me
a bit of a buzz. I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Done.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
What's your word, Damien minus completely self serving? Mine's going
to be offshore because I just want some offshore winds
so that I can go surfing as much as possible,
and I think every surfer in New Zealand who serves
on the West Coast will be hoping for the same thing.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I thought you were basically saying, I'm out of here.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Offshore winds. Offshore winds, that's all I want.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh well, look, it's been. It really is a delight
to have you both part of the Sunday Session. We
really appreciate it here, so thank you both very much
and have a very merry merry Christmas. It was it's
been love you to have you a part of the show.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudken, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joining us on our final panel for twenty twenty four.
I have got Coast Day host and host of the
upcoming trip Notes travel podcast Laurna Riley Hi Lorna Kyotra
Kyota and also senior PR consultant at one plus one Communications,
Damien Valuto.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Gooda, Damien, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good to have you both with us. Hey, look, today
we started off our show here on the Sunday Session
by just talking to Cletrovet and Jesse Walls, just sort
of trying to get a feel for how the year
has been in politics, and I'd love to hear your views, Damien,
maybe looking big picture, you know, do you feel like
the Coalition government is on track with they what they
sort of promised to achieve in their first year in power.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's been a bit of a mixed year. I'd say
there have been some things that they've done pretty well
and then some things that they've really struggled on. I
think the one challenge with kind of determining the quality
of the the Coalition government's performance is that the opposition
has really struggled. So it's kind of like when you
have a big sporting team. You don't judge the All
(01:14):
Blacks by how they've performed against the maybea you judge
them by how they've performed against like the bigger teams. Right,
So the reality is that, like the Greens have really struggled,
Labor's kind of been an autopilot. You don't really know
what they're doing. So it does feel a little bit
like the opposition really needs to step up so that
we can see the government being tested because at the
moment it just feels like they're not being tested at all.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I like the sporting analogies Lorna.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think the government's been very busy,
but with things that possibly nobody ever asked for, like
cell phone bands and schools changing waka kotahi z nta
zat boot camps which something to be working, raising speed
limits on certain roads, and also the Treaty Principal Bill
what a what a distraction. It only seems to work
(02:01):
for David Seymour and his party. And I would say
in terms of opposition, actually that Tipati marii an opportunity
to really shine, and I think they did and I
think in terms of opposition, they are the ones who
have really stood out this year. The government's chipping away
at economic reforms, but they don't seem to be pleasing
either their power base on the right or anyone on
(02:24):
the left as well. You do wonder a little bit
who's leading the country. When your own deputy says you're
struggling in the job. I mean, that's unbelievable, and also
says that the tax cuts are unaffordable even though he
voted for them. You've got to feel a little bit
of sympathy, I think for Christopher Lackson, stuck between a
rock and a hard place.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
But yeah, I mean nine.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Noman expect David nine expected them to come in and
fix all the problems of the world. Every government around
the country is struggling to recover post COVID and deal
with the political and economic disruption which has taken place,
I think, and I think a lot of what they
initially did was a lot of repealing. They stopped things
that they didn't like, and I wonder whether going into
twenty twenty five, it's going to be about seeing, you know,
(03:10):
policy put into place, which indicates to us we're hitting
in the right direction when it comes to our economic recovery,
which I think is on most people's minds.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I think a lot of people would have been alarmed
in the last week when we saw that big GDP
figure come in and it showed how dire our financial
situation was, and that in the past year, while we,
I mean, anyone out there will tell you it's felt
really really tough, twenty twenty four has not been an
easier for business, and I think there are very few
businesses out there that have had a good time. So
(03:41):
I do think that we need to see some active
moves from the government of the coming year. I think
you're spot on. I think that you can't define your
tenure as a as a leader by what you've repealed.
You have to define it by what you've actually added
to the game. And I think we really need to
see a shift. And then the other thing that Laurnas
has touched on there there are so many things that
(04:04):
New Zealanders currently have common grounds on. If you talk
about the economic crisis, if you talk about the cost
of living crisis, and yet this last year it feels
a lot like politics has been defined by this one
thing that we're divided on, and that is that is
a that is a sign of a government that hasn't
really felt the pulse of the nation. Why are we
(04:25):
focusing so much on the treaty principles? But when there
are so many things that we are united on, the
where we where we're we're one on, and then we
focused on this one thing that the whole country's divided on,
and it just kind of like it kind of takes
five steps back when we should be looking at how
we can take a small step forward.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Yeah, what I want to see, what I want to
see next year is less blame on the last government
and more focus on the future and delivering some of
those election promises in terms of economic growth. Yes, you've
touched on that. But also something that affects us all
in this country are our health services. And I think
we're all concerned that, you know, one point five billion
dollars cut from a system that was already in crisis.
(05:06):
I want to see how that is going to be
reformed to actually deliver more for New Zealanders because all
of this stage I can see, is less for all
of us, and at some stage or another we're all.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Going to need it completely. Yeah, what about you, Damien,
if you from the government next.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Year, if you've sat in the emergency room with a
toddler who's really ill for hours on end. I think
that any person in New Zealand could agree that that's
something that we should be looking to fix. So I
think that those focusing on those things that appeal to
all New Zealanders and we all want fixed, that should
be the priority of the government.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Oh look, it's not just toddlers, is it's teenagers and
our older people and.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
All our cancer patients who are having to wait way
too long for diagnosis. That then changes, you know, it's
false economy because we might wait, we make people wait
so long that the treatment then becomes much more extensive
and much more expensive. You know, early detection is the
key to during any cancer and so we need to
get onto that.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
All right, guys. On a slightly lighter note, I was
talking to the chef Mark Gregory yesterday, who has had
an incredible career around the world as a chef, and
he was saying, look, if a family member is largely
hosting you, everyone should just put forty dollars in the
kitty and pay for the Christmas and just alleviate that
(06:32):
sort of financial pressure. It's what you know European people
do quite often and things like that. Laura, would you
sort of feel that it was jes Chest to your family?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
That? I mean, if I don't think.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
No I was going to say everyone was going to
bring a plate, everyone was contributing, I wouldn't. But actually,
if the majority of the family we're all just turning
up with a bottle of wine that they were going
to drink and not much else, I probably would be
tempted to go, hey, I'll take care of all this.
How anyone to throw forty dollars in the kiddy and
I'll provide other ways?
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Past and I always pay and this year because I
don't like to spend all day in the kitchen and
not with the family getting one of those whoop boxes.
But oh my god, they're expensive, Like for eight people,
it's four hundred and eighty dollars a new lots of money. Yeah. Yeah,
And my fiance has very generously gone halves with me,
even though it's not his family, which I think is
(07:30):
pretty decent.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
But sixty, that's sixty It really cut to your family.
That's sixty dollars ticket for them.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But I have chosen to do that, and I've chosen
to do it in a certain way, and I've chosen
to do it with the fancy dishes. I mean, yes,
we could all bring a plate, and I'm sure everybody
would help if we wanted to just do a traditional
turkey and roast potatoes and all the rest of it,
but it would be chaos and it wouldn't be quite
the you know, the time I get to spend with
my family and all that kind of thing. So I
have chosen to do that. I'm willing to take it
(07:59):
on the nose. It's just all part of the Christmas
cost for me, which grows every year. But we're having
a barbecue laid in the day. All comers bring your
own meat, will provide the salads, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And I think that's here.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah nice. What about you, Damien, Would you have a
charge your family member to come for a meal.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
We probably wouldn't, But I mean, I can't speak for
all families because our unit in New Zealand is pretty
small and we normally do Christmas even the Latin American style,
So we bring the whole family over at about nine o'clock,
ten o'clock at night on the Christmas Eve, and what
we generally do is we make quite like humble food,
so empanadas, and then we barbecue pork on the bone,
(08:37):
and so these things aren't very expensive, but they're absolutely delicious,
and there is something special about making the empanadas altogether.
You get flower footprints through the house of the toddlers.
Whole thing. It's as lovely and there's no way that
I'm gonna it's It's a special thing that I look
forward to every year. So in terms of who's paying,
like right now, I can say I'm comfortable with that.
Maybe maybe if the economic crisis continues, are not going
(09:00):
to be so comfortful.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I shall look forward to talking to you both this
time year to see how you're still feeling about shouting
how much more expensive that box is? Laura, very quickly.
I have a dear friend who gets very organized, and
she comes up with the word for the next year
that's going to describe how attitude, how she's going to
approach the year. I was wondering whether you'd be able
(09:24):
to give twenty twenty five a year for you, Laura.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, I was looking at the dictionaries, you know, words
of the year and we had brain rot and bratt
and manifest and although I believe in manifestation, I think
my favorite was Macquarie Dictionary, which had enshitification, which is
a graduate diseriation of something, because I think we could
see that all around us. For me, though, it's going
to be the same word I had last year, and
I know it's all very hippy to be, but it's believe.
(09:49):
I believed in finding love again and I achieved that
this year. I believe that in my mid fifties I
could still loossom career wise in an industry that's shrinking.
I believe that we will get through this tough time economically.
I believe that things will get better, you know, the
whole believe achieved thing. In a way, I guess that
is manifestation. Oh.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I always hear other people's words and I go, I'm
just taking that. That's brilliant. I love the way you
see that.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Lord, you made me so happy now, like you gave
me so much optimism, and like you really gave me
a bit of a buzz. I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Done.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
What's your word, Damien minus completely self serving? Mine's going
to be offshore because I just want some offshore winds
so that I can go surfing as much as possible,
and I think every surfer in New Zealand who serves
on the West Coast will be hoping for the same thing.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I thought you were basically saying, I'm out of here.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Offshore winds. Offshore winds, that's all I want.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh well, look, it's been. It really is a delight
to have you both part of the Sunday Session. We
really appreciate it here, so thank you both very much
and have a very merry merry Christmas. It was it's
been love you to have you a part of the show.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudken, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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