October 24, 2024 • 21 mins
It seems that when one political scandal ends, another one rises to take its place.
This week, the Green Party ended the saga that has dominated 2024 for them, with MP Darleen Tana formally removed as an MP in the first usage of the Waka Jumping Bill.
As Chloe Swarbrick and her party look to the future, it’s now National’s turn to deal with an unneeded diversion, after Minister Andrew Bayly was accused of abusing a member of the public at a business event.
And at the same, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has engaged in a war of words with Te Pati Māori and the Labour Party.
So, to make sense of the latest political ups and downs, today on The Front Page, we’re joined by Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent, Barry Soper.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Dan Goodwin
Producer: Ethan Sills
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Kielda.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and This is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. It seems
that when one political scandal ends, another one arises to
take its place. This week, the Green Party ended the
saga that has dominated twenty twenty four for them, with
(00:29):
MP Darling Tana formally removed as an MP in the
first usage of the walker jumping bill. As Chloe Swarbrick
and her party look to the future, it's now National's
turn to deal with an unneeded diversion after Minister Andrew
Bailey was accused of abusing a member of the public
at a business event. But at the same time Deputy
(00:49):
Prime Minister Winston Peters has engaged in a war of
words with Debutty Moldy and the Labor Party. So to
make sense of all the latest political ups and today
on the Front Page, we're joined by news Talk zby
senior political correspondent Barry Soaper. Let's start with the one
(01:12):
scandal that is at least wrapped up. The month's long
debacle between the Green Party and their former MP Darlene
Taner has ended with the party implementing the Walker jumping
bill to kick Taner out of Parliament? Do you think
the Green Party will finally be able to move on
from a pretty rough year for them?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Indeed, and in fact, the Greens haven't handled this very
well at all. They should have bitten the bullet right
at the beginning and invoked the Walker jumping legislation, even
though they were vehemently opposed to it. They ended up
using it. So really they had to eat a lot
of humble pie in this. And it looked for a
(01:52):
while that Darling Tana was in fact controlling the narrative. Indeed,
she was going to the courts and using the court
system to delay her sacking from Parliament. And there was
only one outcome that this could have resulted, and that
was her to go. But they mucked around for so
(02:13):
long that the Greens looked at one stage quite impotent,
whereas Darlei Tana looked as though she had the upper hand.
But the thing that I found interesting in this is
a couple of points. One is the public has not
seen the full report into Darleana and exactly how she
(02:34):
exploited Or's party. Two, the exploitation of a migrant, an immigrant,
I should say to this country, and so that's one
classic point there that they should have basically cleared up
from the start, but they didn't, so they've left a
big question mark over it. And the second thing is, look,
(02:58):
this party, like you said at the beginning, has had
a dreadful year. You've got Goldy's Gurriman. She went for
a review even though she had pleaded guilty to a
shoplifting and the judge at the time said that it
was quite deliberative and indeed she went from shop to
(03:19):
shop and if you only had to look at the
video material to see that it was quite deliberate. And
then she pleaded guilty but then wanted her conviction not
recorded as one. Well, i'm sorry. You know, she can't
be treated any differently from anyone else, and if that
impinges on a future legal career, then maybe she should
(03:40):
have thought about that before she did the actions that
she did. So Yeah, the Greens I think, have come
through this quite sullied, but they'll be able to rebuild
and they don't seem to have suffered ironically in the
opinion polls, which is quite extraordinary.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Speaking to One News exclusively today, Darling Tanner reflected on
her short and sharp political career. Darling Tanna, as of today,
you are no longer a member of Parliament.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
So yes, I discovered this morning that I am officially
a former MP of the fifty fourth Parliament of New
Zealand my reaction to that in one part relieved, but
mostly just thankful. Had I resigned, that would have been,
in one way, in an admission of guilt, and that's
not I wasn't guilty.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I think it's incredible as well.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Throughout all of this Darling Tana news and you know,
the whole saga, we've kind of forgotten as a society
why it happened in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And that's her husband's bike shop exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And yeah, and like I said, we don't know. They
haven't term for the public at least across the t's
and dotted the eyes because when I'm more aware of
exactly what happened than what the executive's summary of the
report told us. And don't forget they had a lawyer
in for several weeks looking into this, costing not just
(05:12):
the taxpayer but the Green Party itself. And of course
this has been a very expensive exercise for Darlene Tana
as well. Although she's had some good backing from people
that claim to be part of the Green Party, so
you know, certainly she's got some backing, or she would
have to have, because you wouldn't have the money to
pay the legal bills that she's embarked on. The second thing, though,
(05:36):
to me, is really interesting that you know the case
is now before the Court of Appeal. She's appealing the
fact that the Greens sacked her in the first place. Well,
I was certainly told that the Speaker wouldn't invoke the
Wacker jumping legislation until that Court of Appeal case was heard,
(05:58):
because you imagine now if the Court of Appeal comes
down and says, look, the Greens should not have removed
Darlinge Tana from offers, where does that leave the Walker jumping,
her dismissal from Parliament and the new person has taken
her place. It's a mess.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Well, that's a wrap for what the Greens are up to.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
But thankfully for the press Gallery Barry Nationals Andrew Bailey
came in late last week with a new scandal. Can
you give us the brief summary of what he is
alleged to have done at a recent ministerial visit.
Speaker 6 (06:33):
Is he saying that he did not tell the worker
to f off.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I do not believe I said that.
Speaker 6 (06:41):
Did he call the worker a loser?
Speaker 7 (06:45):
Yes, I was wrong, but I intended the comments in
a lighthearted manner. Unfortunately it has caused hurt an offense,
and for that reason I've apologize unreservedly to the individual.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Did he hold up the shape of an L on
his forehead?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Again? Yes? I did.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Will the minister be clear with the House what part
of the complaint he disputes.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
I mentioned before that that I did not believe that
I swore at the individual, and also that I was
not drunk.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
So had he had any alcohol at the beer garden
or the winery he visited that day?
Speaker 5 (07:30):
No?
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Is he saying that he visited a beer garden and
a winery. But the person fudging the truth about his
drinking is the worker.
Speaker 7 (07:37):
That unrelated You asked me whether I had alcohol, and
I said no.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well yes. It was extraordinary really that to think that
a cabinet minister would go up to a worker on
the shop floor, tell him to take a bottle of
wine and f off, and then to the sign of
loser on his own forehead.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
What a high school Bullie.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Look, I know Andrew Bailey, and I know I'm relatively well.
He's got an extraordinary cv for Parliament. I mean, he's
an adventurer, he's an explorer. He's towed sleds to both
the North Pole and the South Pole.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Is he a good time to enjoy a whiskey with?
Speaker 3 (08:25):
No, he's never been. I've been in bars with him,
but he's never been a man that would overindulge when
it comes to liquor. So I think he was naive
in that he thought he was cracking a joke, clearly,
or he wouldn't have done it. He thought he was
cracking a joke, he thought it would be taken on
(08:45):
the spirit that he intended it. But look for anyone
to be called a loser and being told to if
off from his workplaces, probably stretching what humor should be
all about. So it's there's nothing humorous in poor old
Andrew Bailey at the moment. I've spoken to him a
couple of times this week. In fact, the first the
(09:07):
first call I made to him, when he answered, I
said loser, and I don't think he was terribly amused.
But we got over that, and he look, he says
that it's the worst period of his political life, and
it's not been a terribly long political life. I think
(09:27):
he's probably done. His chances for reappointment to cabinet if
National wins the next election are not very good at all.
So look, there will be consequences in the end. But
once Luxon went down the road of supporting him, he
was left with nowhere else to go. So Bailey is there,
(09:48):
but he'll be there certainly until the next election. And
it's tragic in a way because the man does have
a lot of promise. He's the Commerce Minister. It's a
pretty important and roll. He's very low, low on the
rung in cabinet. He was once number three in the
lineup for the National Party, but now I was right
(10:11):
down at the lowest rung, and he'll be considering himself
at the moment. I think quite lucky to be even there.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, Prime Minister Christopher Lackson has accepted Bailey's apology but
hasn't fired him or stripped him of his portfolios.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Do you reckon that's the right move for the Prime minister?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (10:30):
I do.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Look, I think genuinely, if you knew Andrew Bailey I mean,
it was a goofy thing to do. I don't think
he meant any malice by what he did. Nevertheless, you know,
you've got to be aware, and the point was made
by the Speaker Jerry Brownley this week that you are
a cabinet minister twenty four to seven and you cannot
(10:53):
indulge in this sort of behavior when you're out at
the workplace. I think if he hadn't have been so
indistinct with what happened from the beginning, it may not
have dragged on as long as it did. I mean
the fact that he went back to the person who
he offended and invited him for a drink. He was
probably being friendly, probably realizing that he had overstepped the
(11:17):
mark and wanted to make things good. But look, this
person that wrote to all the political parties with his
complaint about Andrew Bailey clearly also had something of a
political motive as well. He wanted to see Andrew Bailey
being dealt to. But I think the Prime Minister made
(11:39):
the right decision in not doing so.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You know what I would have done if I was
that worker, I would have taken that cask of wine
and left off.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It depends on good the bottle.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I'd make sure it's vintage, yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And sticking with the government and opposition of course, Deputy
PM Winston Peters is perhaps unsurprisingly in a war of
words with Departy Maldi. What's the latest back and forth
between these two sides of it?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Often the Maori Party this week has been outrageous when
you look at the comments by Rawui Way to Tea
on the raid the police raid on Mongrel moral associates
in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in a Polticky in
particular as somehow being racist and suggesting that Maldi should
(12:45):
have been given a heads up before the raids were
made is patently absurd. And what is white to Tea
telling us that the Maldi Party support the gangs in
this country? Well, you know you'd be perfectly entitled to
draw that conclusion from what he's saying.
Speaker 9 (13:08):
Would the students at the or Marii lessons learn more
if they kept their mouths shutt while the teacher was talking?
Speaker 10 (13:14):
And it's that comment Ti Parti Marti are calling a calculated,
blatant racial assault. But Winston Peters argues it was referring
to Opposition members interrupting the Education Minister mid question. In
response to the comment, Peters said, Tiparty Mary have been
so seduced by their own unrightful acquisition of power they
cannot tolerate anyone challenging of their unrifled use of it.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
When it goes to the House. The war of words
between Winston Peters and the Maori Party that've been going
on since time memorial, since the Maori Party have claimed
the number of seats that it has at the moment,
so they're more powerful than they have been for a
long while, and they make some of the most outrageous statements.
(14:01):
Winston stands up to challenge them, and being a moldy
he has had an advantage because he can take them
on their own game. But of course it's water off
a duck's back to this moldy party that makes some
of the most inflammatory statements that I've seen in my
time around the place.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, who do you reckon? If they did go outside Barry,
who do you reckon?
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Would have won? Winston Peters or BYTC?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't back. Winston Peters is seventy
eight years old and when he gets annoyed with people,
he's got that favorite saying listen here, sunshine. And I've
heard him say that to a number of people. But
as Winston himself says, fortunately, he's not an aggressive person.
That's physically, maybe not verbally, but or certainly verbally, I
(14:52):
should say, but yes, he said he's not an aggressive person.
It was bentter And even though Winston Peters said that
if they did go outside, y T T would be
limping back into the debating chamber, I think probably the
reverse would be true.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I reckon he was being cheeky. Of course he was,
Winston last a bit of cheeky.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, And just when he thought it had settled down,
Peter's back in the House on Wednesday made allegations about
Labour's aischeverro in the House.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
What did he allege this well, relatives being involved with
policy making when she was the Minister of Health.
Speaker 9 (15:29):
In the last few days, it's come to my attention
that a close filter barbe Zebel had been involved with
attending meetings, had access to papers, had been advised the
Minister on this very topic of the past year without
declaring an the contraven of interest that as much Moroderlin.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
As Vara, the Health Ministry has apologized to Minister Casey
Costello for failing to alert her to the fact that
one of their team was related to Labour's health spokesperson
A Cheverel. Acting Prime Minister Winston Peter's criticized the public
servant who works on tobacco control in the House today,
accusing her of concealing her conflict of an interest from
the minister. But the Ministry says the individual had disclosed
(16:04):
the matter and it was the ministry's job to alert
the minister. It's apologized for the oversight.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
The point that Dashaverell made was that you know, we
live in a small country and there are times that
there are crossovers, maybe with family, and that is true.
I mean I can name many cases where families close
associates and some people would say, well, maybe there's a
bit of a conflict of interest there, but you know,
(16:34):
that's the sort of thing that happens in a country
this size. Don't forget, we've got the population about the
same size as Sydney, so really the Prime Minister is
a little more than the Lord Mayor of New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Do either of these cases feel like something Peters is
focusing his attention on getting the boot into the opposite opposition.
Is he already in election mode or do you reckon
he's just Winston being Winston.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Now it's Winston being Winston.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Political scandal aren't rare, Barry, obviously, you've been around in
the trenches for a while now. It does feel like
in the last week most parties have been engaged in
scandals that perhaps aren't the best use of their time.
Should they be getting their collective acts together and getting
on with actually governing.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Well, you know, if you look at this particular government legislatively,
it's probably been the most active government I think in
the first year that I've seen in many a long year,
and so a lot of legislation has been passed. It's
been controversial. The gloves are off when it comes to
(17:42):
the debating chamber, but there's nothing unusual in that. A
lot of trivia is being thrown around. But then that's
the nature. When you've got a parliament full of people
that are adversaries, and they most certainly are ideologically opposed
to each other, then you've got to expect a lot
of to and fro, and that's what we're seeing at
the moment.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
What's the most outrageous thing you've seen in the debating chamber.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Oh goodness, gracious me. Well, you know, being invited outside
is not an unusual thing to happen. I mean Trevor
Mallard and to Henare who used to be with the
New Zealand First Party, they went out into the lobby
and had a bit of a slugging match at one stage.
(18:28):
So you know, look, Parliament, that should never happen, of course,
because Parliament should be above that. But when you look
at the way Parliament has developed over the years, it's
a very different parliament to the one that I started
reporting on back in nineteen eighty. There were many fewer
(18:48):
women in the place, and I think the advent that
women are now probably on a fifty to fifty basis
is a great thing. But the standards have been relaxed
like they've never been before. That you know, when you
see people, some of them wearing T shirts and sneakers
(19:09):
into the debating chamber and dress doesn't always make for
good behavior, but there are certain standards that we're imposed
on Parliament over many years, and I think those standards
have dropped significantly. Although having said that, Jerry brownly runs
a quite different parliament to what former speakers have presided over.
(19:33):
He's much more casual in his approach, allows much more
toing and throwing, and I think given the makeup of
this Parliament and given the fractious nature of it, that
he's probably the ideal speaker for what we see in
the debating chamber.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And we've been speaking about all these scandals, Barry and
for the sake of fairness, has act done anything scandalous
in the past week, because we haven't heard anything about that.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
While we did we heard about food.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Oh the food?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Is that the scandal?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
And whether you can eatail on three dollars?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Would you you had a peek at those meals? Would
you eat them?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
They look pretty good? Actually, look when you consider they've
I think they've cut and I could be wrong here
about one hundred and thirty million dollars off the food bill.
I think, you know, they should be applauded for that
because Labor when they introduced the food in schools, they
were paying what eight to nine dollars a meal? Terribly nutritious.
(20:33):
But then should the taxpayer be funding feeding kids at school?
And now everyone is fed? Because it seems that those
who in fact didn't need to be fed. They were
embarrassing those that have to be fed, and I just
think the whole thing is absurd. I think what David
(20:53):
Seymour has done in that case is very good and
he should be applauded for it cutting what would have
been wides spread wastage that we saw with these food
and schools, but not only that, cutting the costs significantly,
and I think the textpayer should be applauding that.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Thanks for joining us, Barry.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
My absolute rear and ut of privilege and pleasure. Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at Enst Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page
is produced by Ethan Seals. Dan Goodwin is the sound engineer.
I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio
(21:40):
or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on
Monday for another look behind the headlines.
Kielda.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and This is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. It seems
that when one political scandal ends, another one arises to
take its place. This week, the Green Party ended the
saga that has dominated twenty twenty four for them, with
(00:29):
MP Darling Tana formally removed as an MP in the
first usage of the walker jumping bill. As Chloe Swarbrick
and her party look to the future, it's now National's
turn to deal with an unneeded diversion after Minister Andrew
Bailey was accused of abusing a member of the public
at a business event. But at the same time Deputy
(00:49):
Prime Minister Winston Peters has engaged in a war of
words with Debutty Moldy and the Labor Party. So to
make sense of all the latest political ups and today
on the Front Page, we're joined by news Talk zby
senior political correspondent Barry Soaper. Let's start with the one
(01:12):
scandal that is at least wrapped up. The month's long
debacle between the Green Party and their former MP Darlene
Taner has ended with the party implementing the Walker jumping
bill to kick Taner out of Parliament? Do you think
the Green Party will finally be able to move on
from a pretty rough year for them?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Indeed, and in fact, the Greens haven't handled this very
well at all. They should have bitten the bullet right
at the beginning and invoked the Walker jumping legislation, even
though they were vehemently opposed to it. They ended up
using it. So really they had to eat a lot
of humble pie in this. And it looked for a
(01:52):
while that Darling Tana was in fact controlling the narrative. Indeed,
she was going to the courts and using the court
system to delay her sacking from Parliament. And there was
only one outcome that this could have resulted, and that
was her to go. But they mucked around for so
(02:13):
long that the Greens looked at one stage quite impotent,
whereas Darlei Tana looked as though she had the upper hand.
But the thing that I found interesting in this is
a couple of points. One is the public has not
seen the full report into Darleana and exactly how she
(02:34):
exploited Or's party. Two, the exploitation of a migrant, an immigrant,
I should say to this country, and so that's one
classic point there that they should have basically cleared up
from the start, but they didn't, so they've left a
big question mark over it. And the second thing is, look,
(02:58):
this party, like you said at the beginning, has had
a dreadful year. You've got Goldy's Gurriman. She went for
a review even though she had pleaded guilty to a
shoplifting and the judge at the time said that it
was quite deliberative and indeed she went from shop to
(03:19):
shop and if you only had to look at the
video material to see that it was quite deliberate. And
then she pleaded guilty but then wanted her conviction not
recorded as one. Well, i'm sorry. You know, she can't
be treated any differently from anyone else, and if that
impinges on a future legal career, then maybe she should
(03:40):
have thought about that before she did the actions that
she did. So Yeah, the Greens I think, have come
through this quite sullied, but they'll be able to rebuild
and they don't seem to have suffered ironically in the
opinion polls, which is quite extraordinary.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Speaking to One News exclusively today, Darling Tanner reflected on
her short and sharp political career. Darling Tanna, as of today,
you are no longer a member of Parliament.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
So yes, I discovered this morning that I am officially
a former MP of the fifty fourth Parliament of New
Zealand my reaction to that in one part relieved, but
mostly just thankful. Had I resigned, that would have been,
in one way, in an admission of guilt, and that's
not I wasn't guilty.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I think it's incredible as well.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Throughout all of this Darling Tana news and you know,
the whole saga, we've kind of forgotten as a society
why it happened in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And that's her husband's bike shop exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And yeah, and like I said, we don't know. They
haven't term for the public at least across the t's
and dotted the eyes because when I'm more aware of
exactly what happened than what the executive's summary of the
report told us. And don't forget they had a lawyer
in for several weeks looking into this, costing not just
(05:12):
the taxpayer but the Green Party itself. And of course
this has been a very expensive exercise for Darlene Tana
as well. Although she's had some good backing from people
that claim to be part of the Green Party, so
you know, certainly she's got some backing, or she would
have to have, because you wouldn't have the money to
pay the legal bills that she's embarked on. The second thing, though,
(05:36):
to me, is really interesting that you know the case
is now before the Court of Appeal. She's appealing the
fact that the Greens sacked her in the first place. Well,
I was certainly told that the Speaker wouldn't invoke the
Wacker jumping legislation until that Court of Appeal case was heard,
(05:58):
because you imagine now if the Court of Appeal comes
down and says, look, the Greens should not have removed
Darlinge Tana from offers, where does that leave the Walker jumping,
her dismissal from Parliament and the new person has taken
her place. It's a mess.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Well, that's a wrap for what the Greens are up to.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
But thankfully for the press Gallery Barry Nationals Andrew Bailey
came in late last week with a new scandal. Can
you give us the brief summary of what he is
alleged to have done at a recent ministerial visit.
Speaker 6 (06:33):
Is he saying that he did not tell the worker
to f off.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I do not believe I said that.
Speaker 6 (06:41):
Did he call the worker a loser?
Speaker 7 (06:45):
Yes, I was wrong, but I intended the comments in
a lighthearted manner. Unfortunately it has caused hurt an offense,
and for that reason I've apologize unreservedly to the individual.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Did he hold up the shape of an L on
his forehead?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Again? Yes? I did.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Will the minister be clear with the House what part
of the complaint he disputes.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
I mentioned before that that I did not believe that
I swore at the individual, and also that I was
not drunk.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
So had he had any alcohol at the beer garden
or the winery he visited that day?
Speaker 5 (07:30):
No?
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Is he saying that he visited a beer garden and
a winery. But the person fudging the truth about his
drinking is the worker.
Speaker 7 (07:37):
That unrelated You asked me whether I had alcohol, and
I said no.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well yes. It was extraordinary really that to think that
a cabinet minister would go up to a worker on
the shop floor, tell him to take a bottle of
wine and f off, and then to the sign of
loser on his own forehead.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
What a high school Bullie.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Look, I know Andrew Bailey, and I know I'm relatively well.
He's got an extraordinary cv for Parliament. I mean, he's
an adventurer, he's an explorer. He's towed sleds to both
the North Pole and the South Pole.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Is he a good time to enjoy a whiskey with?
Speaker 3 (08:25):
No, he's never been. I've been in bars with him,
but he's never been a man that would overindulge when
it comes to liquor. So I think he was naive
in that he thought he was cracking a joke, clearly,
or he wouldn't have done it. He thought he was
cracking a joke, he thought it would be taken on
(08:45):
the spirit that he intended it. But look for anyone
to be called a loser and being told to if
off from his workplaces, probably stretching what humor should be
all about. So it's there's nothing humorous in poor old
Andrew Bailey at the moment. I've spoken to him a
couple of times this week. In fact, the first the
(09:07):
first call I made to him, when he answered, I
said loser, and I don't think he was terribly amused.
But we got over that, and he look, he says
that it's the worst period of his political life, and
it's not been a terribly long political life. I think
(09:27):
he's probably done. His chances for reappointment to cabinet if
National wins the next election are not very good at all.
So look, there will be consequences in the end. But
once Luxon went down the road of supporting him, he
was left with nowhere else to go. So Bailey is there,
(09:48):
but he'll be there certainly until the next election. And
it's tragic in a way because the man does have
a lot of promise. He's the Commerce Minister. It's a
pretty important and roll. He's very low, low on the
rung in cabinet. He was once number three in the
lineup for the National Party, but now I was right
(10:11):
down at the lowest rung, and he'll be considering himself
at the moment. I think quite lucky to be even there.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, Prime Minister Christopher Lackson has accepted Bailey's apology but
hasn't fired him or stripped him of his portfolios.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Do you reckon that's the right move for the Prime minister?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (10:30):
I do.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Look, I think genuinely, if you knew Andrew Bailey I mean,
it was a goofy thing to do. I don't think
he meant any malice by what he did. Nevertheless, you know,
you've got to be aware, and the point was made
by the Speaker Jerry Brownley this week that you are
a cabinet minister twenty four to seven and you cannot
(10:53):
indulge in this sort of behavior when you're out at
the workplace. I think if he hadn't have been so
indistinct with what happened from the beginning, it may not
have dragged on as long as it did. I mean
the fact that he went back to the person who
he offended and invited him for a drink. He was
probably being friendly, probably realizing that he had overstepped the
(11:17):
mark and wanted to make things good. But look, this
person that wrote to all the political parties with his
complaint about Andrew Bailey clearly also had something of a
political motive as well. He wanted to see Andrew Bailey
being dealt to. But I think the Prime Minister made
(11:39):
the right decision in not doing so.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You know what I would have done if I was
that worker, I would have taken that cask of wine
and left off.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It depends on good the bottle.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I'd make sure it's vintage, yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And sticking with the government and opposition of course, Deputy
PM Winston Peters is perhaps unsurprisingly in a war of
words with Departy Maldi. What's the latest back and forth
between these two sides of it?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Often the Maori Party this week has been outrageous when
you look at the comments by Rawui Way to Tea
on the raid the police raid on Mongrel moral associates
in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in a Polticky in
particular as somehow being racist and suggesting that Maldi should
(12:45):
have been given a heads up before the raids were
made is patently absurd. And what is white to Tea
telling us that the Maldi Party support the gangs in
this country? Well, you know you'd be perfectly entitled to
draw that conclusion from what he's saying.
Speaker 9 (13:08):
Would the students at the or Marii lessons learn more
if they kept their mouths shutt while the teacher was talking?
Speaker 10 (13:14):
And it's that comment Ti Parti Marti are calling a calculated,
blatant racial assault. But Winston Peters argues it was referring
to Opposition members interrupting the Education Minister mid question. In
response to the comment, Peters said, Tiparty Mary have been
so seduced by their own unrightful acquisition of power they
cannot tolerate anyone challenging of their unrifled use of it.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
When it goes to the House. The war of words
between Winston Peters and the Maori Party that've been going
on since time memorial, since the Maori Party have claimed
the number of seats that it has at the moment,
so they're more powerful than they have been for a
long while, and they make some of the most outrageous statements.
(14:01):
Winston stands up to challenge them, and being a moldy
he has had an advantage because he can take them
on their own game. But of course it's water off
a duck's back to this moldy party that makes some
of the most inflammatory statements that I've seen in my
time around the place.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, who do you reckon? If they did go outside Barry,
who do you reckon?
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Would have won? Winston Peters or BYTC?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't back. Winston Peters is seventy
eight years old and when he gets annoyed with people,
he's got that favorite saying listen here, sunshine. And I've
heard him say that to a number of people. But
as Winston himself says, fortunately, he's not an aggressive person.
That's physically, maybe not verbally, but or certainly verbally, I
(14:52):
should say, but yes, he said he's not an aggressive person.
It was bentter And even though Winston Peters said that
if they did go outside, y T T would be
limping back into the debating chamber, I think probably the
reverse would be true.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I reckon he was being cheeky. Of course he was,
Winston last a bit of cheeky.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, And just when he thought it had settled down,
Peter's back in the House on Wednesday made allegations about
Labour's aischeverro in the House.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
What did he allege this well, relatives being involved with
policy making when she was the Minister of Health.
Speaker 9 (15:29):
In the last few days, it's come to my attention
that a close filter barbe Zebel had been involved with
attending meetings, had access to papers, had been advised the
Minister on this very topic of the past year without
declaring an the contraven of interest that as much Moroderlin.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
As Vara, the Health Ministry has apologized to Minister Casey
Costello for failing to alert her to the fact that
one of their team was related to Labour's health spokesperson
A Cheverel. Acting Prime Minister Winston Peter's criticized the public
servant who works on tobacco control in the House today,
accusing her of concealing her conflict of an interest from
the minister. But the Ministry says the individual had disclosed
(16:04):
the matter and it was the ministry's job to alert
the minister. It's apologized for the oversight.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
The point that Dashaverell made was that you know, we
live in a small country and there are times that
there are crossovers, maybe with family, and that is true.
I mean I can name many cases where families close
associates and some people would say, well, maybe there's a
bit of a conflict of interest there, but you know,
(16:34):
that's the sort of thing that happens in a country
this size. Don't forget, we've got the population about the
same size as Sydney, so really the Prime Minister is
a little more than the Lord Mayor of New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Do either of these cases feel like something Peters is
focusing his attention on getting the boot into the opposite opposition.
Is he already in election mode or do you reckon
he's just Winston being Winston.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Now it's Winston being Winston.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Political scandal aren't rare, Barry, obviously, you've been around in
the trenches for a while now. It does feel like
in the last week most parties have been engaged in
scandals that perhaps aren't the best use of their time.
Should they be getting their collective acts together and getting
on with actually governing.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Well, you know, if you look at this particular government legislatively,
it's probably been the most active government I think in
the first year that I've seen in many a long year,
and so a lot of legislation has been passed. It's
been controversial. The gloves are off when it comes to
(17:42):
the debating chamber, but there's nothing unusual in that. A
lot of trivia is being thrown around. But then that's
the nature. When you've got a parliament full of people
that are adversaries, and they most certainly are ideologically opposed
to each other, then you've got to expect a lot
of to and fro, and that's what we're seeing at
the moment.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
What's the most outrageous thing you've seen in the debating chamber.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Oh goodness, gracious me. Well, you know, being invited outside
is not an unusual thing to happen. I mean Trevor
Mallard and to Henare who used to be with the
New Zealand First Party, they went out into the lobby
and had a bit of a slugging match at one stage.
(18:28):
So you know, look, Parliament, that should never happen, of course,
because Parliament should be above that. But when you look
at the way Parliament has developed over the years, it's
a very different parliament to the one that I started
reporting on back in nineteen eighty. There were many fewer
(18:48):
women in the place, and I think the advent that
women are now probably on a fifty to fifty basis
is a great thing. But the standards have been relaxed
like they've never been before. That you know, when you
see people, some of them wearing T shirts and sneakers
(19:09):
into the debating chamber and dress doesn't always make for
good behavior, but there are certain standards that we're imposed
on Parliament over many years, and I think those standards
have dropped significantly. Although having said that, Jerry brownly runs
a quite different parliament to what former speakers have presided over.
(19:33):
He's much more casual in his approach, allows much more
toing and throwing, and I think given the makeup of
this Parliament and given the fractious nature of it, that
he's probably the ideal speaker for what we see in
the debating chamber.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And we've been speaking about all these scandals, Barry and
for the sake of fairness, has act done anything scandalous
in the past week, because we haven't heard anything about that.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
While we did we heard about food.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Oh the food?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Is that the scandal?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
And whether you can eatail on three dollars?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Would you you had a peek at those meals? Would
you eat them?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
They look pretty good? Actually, look when you consider they've
I think they've cut and I could be wrong here
about one hundred and thirty million dollars off the food bill.
I think, you know, they should be applauded for that
because Labor when they introduced the food in schools, they
were paying what eight to nine dollars a meal? Terribly nutritious.
(20:33):
But then should the taxpayer be funding feeding kids at school?
And now everyone is fed? Because it seems that those
who in fact didn't need to be fed. They were
embarrassing those that have to be fed, and I just
think the whole thing is absurd. I think what David
(20:53):
Seymour has done in that case is very good and
he should be applauded for it cutting what would have
been wides spread wastage that we saw with these food
and schools, but not only that, cutting the costs significantly,
and I think the textpayer should be applauding that.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Thanks for joining us, Barry.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
My absolute rear and ut of privilege and pleasure. Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at Enst Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page
is produced by Ethan Seals. Dan Goodwin is the sound engineer.
I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio
(21:40):
or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on
Monday for another look behind the headlines.
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