The Greens have seen resignations from party members after accusations of mistreating Darleen Tana. Still, the now-independent MP's days might be numbered as the party considers invoking the waka-jumping law.
Meanwhile, the cost of the Defence Force 757 breaking down on the Prime Minister's trip to Japan last month has been revealed.
Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls joined Nick Mills with the latest in political news.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk, said B Direct from news Talk Saidb's
team at tolerance the bee Hive Buzz.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us for the bee hyph Buzz this news Talk,
said be Political editor Jason Wall's good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Jason, Good afternoon, neck. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good afternoon? Where are you? Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm in the beehive in the heart of Parliament.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's only ten forty four.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Buddy, Did I say good afternoon?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You did? But that's all right.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's because I'm so nervous to talk to you. You're
the premier radio announcer, so I get a bit nervous. Still.
We do it for a number of years, but you
still still make me nervous.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I've just woken you up the middle of the night.
Let's start with the big story of the day. Government's
much discussed and we've been talking about it this morning
on the show. Boot Camp begins in Palmerston North. What
can we expect? Have you had a look through it?
Do you know what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Oh? I haven't actually been there in person, but there
was a number of media that we're allowed to explore
it last weekend and listen, it's path of the course
at the stage in terms of what they've revealed, it
would be this stage it's a pilot programs, so they're
basically putting a number of young offenders in there and
just almost testing this out.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I know it sounds a bit callous when we're talking
about the lives of young people, but this is exactly
what the government have really been promising for so long
and now it's in full force. Now we don't have
too many details on what happens after the pilot. You'd
assume that they was essentially extrapolated and make it a
lot bigger scale. But they'll have a number of sort
of weight and seeds within how it goes, and a
(01:42):
lot of learning opportunities. But at this stage it's just
getting it's just underway. So the Children's Minister, who is
Karen Shaw, who's in charge of it, is marking it
up as a success so far. But that's not to
be unexpected from a minister in terms of a project
that they're leading.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I mean, how can she expect to say that it's
been a success when no one's even been in there.
I've got two questions for this. A long the time
I are running it. And now I don't know whether
you saw Q and A last yesterday yesterday morning, but
you know, obviously there's still a hell of a lot
of questions around along the tamariki. We no one can
find the CEO for a start, and the timing of
(02:19):
it after the release of that report.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, I mean that was brought up last weekend last
week with the Royal Commission report about how some people
saying it was tone deaf to do it in the
same week, and of course the government's argument was, this
is a completely different time and a completely different place
from what we saw in the nineteen fifties up until
nineteen ninety nine, and of course they'd use that report
to draw on experiences to make sure it never happens again.
(02:45):
And they will continue to argue that the young offenders,
the people that are bringing such pain and misery to
so many people across the country, can't just get a
slap on the wrist with a wet bus tech and
it's time to actually do something about this and put
these kids on the right track. And they'll continue to
argue that as this program rolls out.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah. Still, once again, you know, the timing thing concerns me.
It looks like Darling Darling Tanner's days might be numbered
after the Greens made over the weekend, but some of
the party are unhappy. Now I'm getting a few stories
coming through that there is quite there's a movement within
the Greens that maybe not that rep with what's happening
with the Greens. Are you getting that same vibe?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Absolutely, And I mean listen, this is not the first
Green Party AGM to not have some sort of conflict
come out from whatever is happening in the news at
the time. In fact, it's more often than not that
you see some sort of fractious disconnect within the party.
Who writes some sort of open letter And this time
it was the Greens pacifica caucus that have written an
open letter, and in fact a few of them actually
(03:46):
defected from the party because of this. Now their secretary
of the Pacific When has written an open letter basically
just admonishing the party for the way that it treated
Darlene Tana, for the way that it treated Elizabeth Ketty
Keddy and also I mean quite a surprise the way
that it treated Degree or the Pacific Caucus in the
(04:07):
wake of Officio Collins untimely death earlier this year. It's
a terrific read if you want to go through the
whole party, because it paints the party as a really,
really unstable from within the inside, especially as the way
that the leadership of the Green Party interacts with the
Pacifica Wing. For example, one of the quotes is we
(04:27):
cannot watch another Wahmi Marti be cannibalized by this party
without voicing our condemnation of the choices and decisions made
by party leadership. So this is the secretary of the
Green's Pacifica Wing saying this about Chloe Swarwick and Mara
Madam Davidson. It goes on to say or ask the question,
will Wahiti Marti MPs who are perceived as a threat
(04:49):
to the co leaders comfort levels and ambitions always be
an endangered species in the Green Party, Which is a
phenomenal thing to say, just given the issues that the
party have had. But then again I come back to it,
it's not unlike the Green Party to have these sort
of fractures, but it really does put a lot more
pressure on Chloe Swarwreck in the weeks and days leading
(05:09):
up to this special Annual General meeting that or their
special General meeting that they're having in early September.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
How do you think chloes guys, You see, I think
that she might be getting the power, might be getting
to it. She seems to be a little bit over
the top of the moment.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I actually think she's doing quite well here. I mean
the question you have to ask is what more could
she be doing here? I mean, the Greens are just
so democratic in the way that they deal with things.
I mean other parties might have got together this weekend
and just say this is it. We're writing to the
speaker and it's done. I know these things take twenty
one days, but the Green's had a conversation before they're
(05:42):
heading to the special General meeting later in the year,
and all of meanwhile, Darling Tana still remains here talking
to media, really laying out her case as well. So
I think that, you know, Chloe's handled this in a
way that is a balance between the Green Party and
what they would expect, but also being a decisive actor.
And as she does fall back on the problem is
(06:03):
that Madame Davidson is away being treated with breast cancer.
She has to take dismantle by herself and I don't
think it's being very easy. But no, I would say
that as far as things go, I think she's probably
struck the balance quite well.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Okay, don't forget it was twenty one working days working days.
Of course she had to remind us that three times,
didn't you. You had an interesting story this morning about
the Defense Force plane. I thought it was chump change, you.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Know, Yeah, yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't a whole lot
of money. In fact, I was talking with my colleague
Sophie Trigger, and the numbers came in and we thought
it would be quite a lot more so. The numbers
were basically from You'll remember a couple about a month
or so ago when the Prime Minister was going to
Japan and then they had a pit stop in Papua
New Guinea that turned into a breakdown, and so the
Prime Minister sweet got out of there to get on
(06:50):
a plane to go to Japan, and the rest of
us had to fly back to Brisbane and then onto Japan.
So I o ate how much it costs, And it
turns out for Lux and his wife and four of
the staff members, it costs thirty thousand dollars for them
to get from Papa New Guinea to Japan, including flights
and accommodation and all that and the rest of us.
It was thirty six thousand dollars. It was a little
(07:10):
bit more for I think it was caused it as sixty,
but the Business Delegation paid their own way in terms
of the invoicing and the rest of us. Obviously we
just left it up to the government. So we hopped
on a plane and got to Japan. But the whole thing,
you know, it was expensive. I think it'll be enough
to put a little bit more pressure on the government,
on the Prime Minister to get a new plane. But
it's not the end of the world in terms of
(07:31):
it costing an arm and a leg for taxpayers. But
still interesting enough.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So you're telling me that the poor old Business delegation
had to front up for their own bedfoot because the
plane broke down. They had to buy their own tickets. God,
what sort of cheek country are we?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, I think the Business Delegation would have leaned pretty
heavily on their insurance providers to cover the costs as
my expectation for that one. So I think at the
end of the day, everybody listens out here apart from
the insurance companies.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Are they still talking about new planes and what's going
on or is that just gone by the buy like
it does every couple of years.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Oh, listen, it's still the same line that we're getting
from the Prime Minister's office, which is this new defense
leadership and they're working through a plan, and on that
plan is what to do with the plane. So hold
fast on that one. We might get some information sooner
rather than later, or we might get it later rather
than sooner.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
What have we got coming up this week in the Beehive?
What's happening?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Oh, we've got lots and lots of course. The big
thing this week is Wednesday is the tax cut Day.
That's when the tax cuts kick in, so the National
Party and the government parties will be doing all they
can to drum up support on that one. And there's
a few other bits and pieces this week before the
National Party conference this weekend happening in Auckland, so we'll
have all the news from that as it breaks and
(08:41):
before it happens. So keep an ear out.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Always a pleasure, Thank you very much. Jason Wall, who's
news talks here be political editor at the Beehive doing
the Beehive buzz. Thanks Buddy, Appreciate you as always.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk, said B Direct from news Talk Saidb's
team at tolerance the bee Hive Buzz.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us for the bee hyph Buzz this news Talk,
said be Political editor Jason Wall's good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Jason, Good afternoon, neck. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good afternoon? Where are you? Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm in the beehive in the heart of Parliament.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's only ten forty four.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Buddy, Did I say good afternoon?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You did? But that's all right.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's because I'm so nervous to talk to you. You're
the premier radio announcer, so I get a bit nervous. Still.
We do it for a number of years, but you
still still make me nervous.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I've just woken you up the middle of the night.
Let's start with the big story of the day. Government's
much discussed and we've been talking about it this morning
on the show. Boot Camp begins in Palmerston North. What
can we expect? Have you had a look through it?
Do you know what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Oh? I haven't actually been there in person, but there
was a number of media that we're allowed to explore
it last weekend and listen, it's path of the course
at the stage in terms of what they've revealed, it
would be this stage it's a pilot programs, so they're
basically putting a number of young offenders in there and
just almost testing this out.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I know it sounds a bit callous when we're talking
about the lives of young people, but this is exactly
what the government have really been promising for so long
and now it's in full force. Now we don't have
too many details on what happens after the pilot. You'd
assume that they was essentially extrapolated and make it a
lot bigger scale. But they'll have a number of sort
of weight and seeds within how it goes, and a
(01:42):
lot of learning opportunities. But at this stage it's just
getting it's just underway. So the Children's Minister, who is
Karen Shaw, who's in charge of it, is marking it
up as a success so far. But that's not to
be unexpected from a minister in terms of a project
that they're leading.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I mean, how can she expect to say that it's
been a success when no one's even been in there.
I've got two questions for this. A long the time
I are running it. And now I don't know whether
you saw Q and A last yesterday yesterday morning, but
you know, obviously there's still a hell of a lot
of questions around along the tamariki. We no one can
find the CEO for a start, and the timing of
(02:19):
it after the release of that report.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, I mean that was brought up last weekend last
week with the Royal Commission report about how some people
saying it was tone deaf to do it in the
same week, and of course the government's argument was, this
is a completely different time and a completely different place
from what we saw in the nineteen fifties up until
nineteen ninety nine, and of course they'd use that report
to draw on experiences to make sure it never happens again.
(02:45):
And they will continue to argue that the young offenders,
the people that are bringing such pain and misery to
so many people across the country, can't just get a
slap on the wrist with a wet bus tech and
it's time to actually do something about this and put
these kids on the right track. And they'll continue to
argue that as this program rolls out.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah. Still, once again, you know, the timing thing concerns me.
It looks like Darling Darling Tanner's days might be numbered
after the Greens made over the weekend, but some of
the party are unhappy. Now I'm getting a few stories
coming through that there is quite there's a movement within
the Greens that maybe not that rep with what's happening
with the Greens. Are you getting that same vibe?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Absolutely, And I mean listen, this is not the first
Green Party AGM to not have some sort of conflict
come out from whatever is happening in the news at
the time. In fact, it's more often than not that
you see some sort of fractious disconnect within the party.
Who writes some sort of open letter And this time
it was the Greens pacifica caucus that have written an
open letter, and in fact a few of them actually
(03:46):
defected from the party because of this. Now their secretary
of the Pacific When has written an open letter basically
just admonishing the party for the way that it treated
Darlene Tana, for the way that it treated Elizabeth Ketty
Keddy and also I mean quite a surprise the way
that it treated Degree or the Pacific Caucus in the
(04:07):
wake of Officio Collins untimely death earlier this year. It's
a terrific read if you want to go through the
whole party, because it paints the party as a really,
really unstable from within the inside, especially as the way
that the leadership of the Green Party interacts with the
Pacifica Wing. For example, one of the quotes is we
(04:27):
cannot watch another Wahmi Marti be cannibalized by this party
without voicing our condemnation of the choices and decisions made
by party leadership. So this is the secretary of the
Green's Pacifica Wing saying this about Chloe Swarwick and Mara
Madam Davidson. It goes on to say or ask the question,
will Wahiti Marti MPs who are perceived as a threat
(04:49):
to the co leaders comfort levels and ambitions always be
an endangered species in the Green Party, Which is a
phenomenal thing to say, just given the issues that the
party have had. But then again I come back to it,
it's not unlike the Green Party to have these sort
of fractures, but it really does put a lot more
pressure on Chloe Swarwreck in the weeks and days leading
(05:09):
up to this special Annual General meeting that or their
special General meeting that they're having in early September.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
How do you think chloes guys, You see, I think
that she might be getting the power, might be getting
to it. She seems to be a little bit over
the top of the moment.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I actually think she's doing quite well here. I mean
the question you have to ask is what more could
she be doing here? I mean, the Greens are just
so democratic in the way that they deal with things.
I mean other parties might have got together this weekend
and just say this is it. We're writing to the
speaker and it's done. I know these things take twenty
one days, but the Green's had a conversation before they're
(05:42):
heading to the special General meeting later in the year,
and all of meanwhile, Darling Tana still remains here talking
to media, really laying out her case as well. So
I think that, you know, Chloe's handled this in a
way that is a balance between the Green Party and
what they would expect, but also being a decisive actor.
And as she does fall back on the problem is
(06:03):
that Madame Davidson is away being treated with breast cancer.
She has to take dismantle by herself and I don't
think it's being very easy. But no, I would say
that as far as things go, I think she's probably
struck the balance quite well.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Okay, don't forget it was twenty one working days working days.
Of course she had to remind us that three times,
didn't you. You had an interesting story this morning about
the Defense Force plane. I thought it was chump change, you.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Know, Yeah, yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't a whole lot
of money. In fact, I was talking with my colleague
Sophie Trigger, and the numbers came in and we thought
it would be quite a lot more so. The numbers
were basically from You'll remember a couple about a month
or so ago when the Prime Minister was going to
Japan and then they had a pit stop in Papua
New Guinea that turned into a breakdown, and so the
Prime Minister sweet got out of there to get on
(06:50):
a plane to go to Japan, and the rest of
us had to fly back to Brisbane and then onto Japan.
So I o ate how much it costs, And it
turns out for Lux and his wife and four of
the staff members, it costs thirty thousand dollars for them
to get from Papa New Guinea to Japan, including flights
and accommodation and all that and the rest of us.
It was thirty six thousand dollars. It was a little
(07:10):
bit more for I think it was caused it as sixty,
but the Business Delegation paid their own way in terms
of the invoicing and the rest of us. Obviously we
just left it up to the government. So we hopped
on a plane and got to Japan. But the whole thing,
you know, it was expensive. I think it'll be enough
to put a little bit more pressure on the government,
on the Prime Minister to get a new plane. But
it's not the end of the world in terms of
(07:31):
it costing an arm and a leg for taxpayers. But
still interesting enough.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So you're telling me that the poor old Business delegation
had to front up for their own bedfoot because the
plane broke down. They had to buy their own tickets. God,
what sort of cheek country are we?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, I think the Business Delegation would have leaned pretty
heavily on their insurance providers to cover the costs as
my expectation for that one. So I think at the
end of the day, everybody listens out here apart from
the insurance companies.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Are they still talking about new planes and what's going
on or is that just gone by the buy like
it does every couple of years.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Oh, listen, it's still the same line that we're getting
from the Prime Minister's office, which is this new defense
leadership and they're working through a plan, and on that
plan is what to do with the plane. So hold
fast on that one. We might get some information sooner
rather than later, or we might get it later rather
than sooner.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
What have we got coming up this week in the Beehive?
What's happening?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Oh, we've got lots and lots of course. The big
thing this week is Wednesday is the tax cut Day.
That's when the tax cuts kick in, so the National
Party and the government parties will be doing all they
can to drum up support on that one. And there's
a few other bits and pieces this week before the
National Party conference this weekend happening in Auckland, so we'll
have all the news from that as it breaks and
(08:41):
before it happens. So keep an ear out.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Always a pleasure, Thank you very much. Jason Wall, who's
news talks here be political editor at the Beehive doing
the Beehive buzz. Thanks Buddy, Appreciate you as always.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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