(INDISTINCT CHATTER) Kia ora, and welcome to a very merry Newshub Nation show. Want to know who's been nice and who's been naughty this political year? They're all inside, so let's go and find out. (CHEERY CHRISTMAS MUSIC) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) (JOSE FELICIANO'S 'FELIZ NAVIDAD' PLAYS) Ladies and gentlemen, Paul 'Goldie' Goldsmith on the keys. Right, he thinks that he can tune up the economy, apparently. We'll be talking more to him later. We've also got Chloe Swarbrick on drugs, Tamati Coffey with his baby boy, and the country's youngest political pretender with his mum. With his mum, indeed. But first, it's gonna be the man who likes to take off bush to hide from politics, but he can run, but he can't hide. It is Deputy Labour Leader and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis. Welcome to the programme this morning. Morning. How are you? I'm very well, thank you. I just wanna get the hard questions out of the way first, OK? So, Kris Faafoi has apologised for getting involved in his mate's Immigrations matter. Should he resign? No, not at all. I mean, he has apologised to the Prime Minister. He's done nothing wrong, and, you know, we just have to move on. Don't you think the public perception is that he has been meddling, though, and it's a conflict of interest? No, not at all. I mean, like he said, he should've just been more upfront with his mate that there's a limit to what he could do. But, like I said, we just have to move on from that. OK, well, let's move on to something else. You're the most senior politician here. How did that happen? Well, good looks and charm, you know. Us Ngapuhi, we sort of, you know` It's a natural thing. All right, so, did Jacinda say, 'Nah, you can handle this, Kelvin'? Yeah, indeed. OK. There's been a lot of insults in the House this week. There's been things like dysfunctional geriatric, rat, plonker. What's the worst thing that you've ever been called? I tell you what I really hate being called is Kevin Davies. (LAUGHS) And, in fact, Corrections are making a joke of it. They're thinking of naming one of their drug detector dogs Kevin Davies after me. Right, OK. That would be an honour, indeed, would it not? Probably not for the dog. (CHUCKLES) We've been watching you this year and watching you present, like, the post-Cabinet press conference when the prime minister is busy and Winston Peters is busy, either in court or somewhere else. On a scale of one to 10, how much do you enjoy hosting those post-Cabinet press conferences? Well, to be perfectly honest, I haven't yet hosted a post-Cabinet press conference. You know, when the Prime Minister's not there Winston takes over. Basically, it's up to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to run those shows. You don't enjoy them much, do you? No, not really. Well, I mean, I haven't done them, so, you know. Would you like a Toastmasters voucher for Christmas? CHUCKLES: A Toastmasters voucher, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. OK, we'll see if we can get one in the mail. Kelvin Davis, thank you very much for your time. OK, thanks. It's a tough job trying to save the planet and someone's got to do it. Here's James Shaw, the Climate Change Minister. Minister, Christmas ` high emissions, lots of plastics out there. Is it time to ban Christmas? Absolutely not. We just need to work from a white Christmas to a green Christmas. So, I'm giving away a lump of coal to all the naughty people this year. Who's top on your list? Mostly the coal companies. OK, you've been getting advice on millennial slang from Chloe Swarbrick. Can you help me out with a few terms? What does salty mean? Salted is sort of unhappy, envious, you know, a bit annoyed, yeah. I think it's salty, but, you know, that's close. What did you say? Salty. Yeah. Salted is close. What about 'spills the tea'? Spills the tea is make an announcement, spill the beans, yeah. Woke? Woke is aware, you know, self-conscious` sorry, self-aware, politically correct. And slaps? That's a new one on me. But I can tell you that the Zero Carbon Act is GOAT. What does GOAT mean? Greatest Of All Time. OK, good. I had to get the definitions from Simon Shepherd ` most of those, anyway ` and I'm actually a millennial. You got the Zero Carbon Act ` speaking of ` for Christmas this year. What's your biggest wish for 2020? Sorry, I'm struggling to hear you. What's`? What's your biggest wish for 2020? Well, to be able to form the most progressive government after the election. All right, thank you very much for your time. Thanks for having me on the show. One of the features of our programme is the expert opinion provided by our panellists, so we've got a few of them here together. We've got Mihingarangi Forbes, Neil Jones and Trish Sherson. Welcome to the programme, guys. Thanks very much. Your question this morning ` how would you rate the coalition government's year of delivery? Neil Jones. I'd give it probably a seven out of 10, I think. There have been some pretty obvious failures around KiwiBuild and the delay on the light rail, which I think dented credibility. But when you look at it, they actually have done quite a lot. So, you know, look at mental health, for example ` first time we've seen action on that in many years. Zero Carbon Act's passed. You've had big investments in school property, school donations, minimum wage up. I'm not doing the PM's video here; she can do it herself. (CHUCKLES) You're doing a good job of it. (CHUCKLES) I haven't got two minutes. But I guess my thing is they need to do a better job of telling that story, 'cause I think they're often so busy doing things; they don't tell people about it. I mean, last week, it was one day ` they made three announcements in one day. Compare that to the previous government ` when John Key actually ever did anything, he'd talk about it for months on end, you know. Remember the benefit increase? He wouldn't stop talking about it, and that's good politics. Next year, I think they've gotta get a really clear story about what they've delivered. They might've been announcing all those policies, Trish, just to cover up some stuff. Well, if it was a school report card, I'd do a 'must try harder' and 'easily distracted'. I think their big problem was actually announcing the year of delivery when they had no idea how they were gonna give birth to most of the things. And I think their other problem is they have been, politically, very disorganised in terms of their management, and that's why you have announcements, like, three in a day to try and clear out a bad poll result. So, next year, I think they've got a lot of work ahead of them. Do you think that really was intentional ` to clear out a bad poll result and whack out some policy? I absolutely do. It does take longer than two days to put a policy out in government, I would say. Mihi, you've had both sides of the argument there. What do you think? I'm not giving them a rating yet, because I wanna see budget next year, 2020, because Maori` you know, there are seven seats that form this coalition, and those voters are gonna want more for their buck. And so far, you know, we haven't seen anything substantial. We've had lots of reviews, and it's good that we're talking about mental health. It's great we're talking about Oranga Tamariki and all those kinds of things, but we need to see some outcome for Maori, you know, where we're reducing the number of tamariki in Oranga Tamariki, when we're reducing poverty in some of our poorer areas. We haven't seen that yet, but there are some really great things, like, for example, the history in schools. I mean, I think that people don't know how substantial that policy is. We're gonna see our kids in the future will not be as kuware or` What's the English version of kuware? They need to educate us. Yeah, they're gonna know more. We're gonna have much more tolerance for each other and things like that. And the injection into schools is a fantastic one too. I guess, in terms of political management, labelling the year the year of delivery was a risk. Well, yeah, because we haven't seen anything. I mean, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait's behind us there, and she's from Whanau Ora, and she's been battling with the government. And she's one of the` She's the Chair of the Whanau Ora organisation, and, you know, they're launching an inquiry into the minister` you know, the ministry of children and the way that they're dealing with our kids and a whole lot of other things, so it's, yeah. We won't see a year of delivery next year, will we? It's election year, so it's the year of winning. Year of winning. Who knows what they're gonna come up with? But it needs to be better than that. OK. Thank you very much to the panellists this morning. OK, well, still to come ` she's responsible for the whole of the nation's children. That's Children's Minister Tracey Martin. She's coming up. But first, he couldn't be here in person. It's opposition leader Simon Bridges, but he very generously sent us this message. Kia ora. My name is Simon Bridges, and I'm the leader of the New Zealand National Party of New Zealand. 2019 has been a huge year for both me and for the National Party. And to celebrate, I've done an acrostic poem. 200 scandals dodged. So we've been dodging scandals left, right and centre ` Jo Hayes and her tweets just recently and the Jami-Lee Ross scandal. Again, I've very just successfully just done everything right in that case. So big ups to us and me. Zero ` zero successful coups. I'm looking at you, Judie Collins. God, everyone's been baying for my blood, but I'm still standing. One teenage wannabe MP, in William Woods but, you know, he has been in a photo with some white supremacists, so we'll see how that plays out, but good on you, William. And nine ` nine incidents of workplace bullying. I'm looking at you, old crocodile, Winston Peters. He's always just chipping away at my confidence. Anyway, that was 2019. Now bring on 2020. I've got some perfect vision of us winning the election. OK, bye. (CHEERY CHRISTMAS MUSIC) Welcome back. Emotions have run high this year over child welfare, especially Oranga Tamariki, and in the thick of all of that has been Children's Minister, Tracey Martin, who joins me now. Kia ora, Minister, thank you for joining me. Morning. Your husband runs a vineyard, right? Does that help you deal with your portfolios, and perhaps even your party? Well, to be frank, Ben's pinot noir has always helped me get through difficult weeks. So we've just built on that over the last couple of years. And do New Zealand First MPs have to` Do you give gifts to each other? Or do party donation rules mean that you don't have to declare those? I don't tend to give gifts to my colleagues, no. I do give gifts to my staff. But not to my colleagues. I think my presence in their caucus is a gift to them enough, probably. Right. Right. Rightly said. Well said. What about Winston Peters, do you give him a wee present? I do, actually. But that's` And Winston hates that. He's a really shy man. I've got something really special that I planned for him this year. But I'm going to keep that a secret. What was last year's then? Last year I gave him a mug with all of his caucus on it. So it wasn't that outstanding. This year I think I've bettered myself. I would quite like to give him a massive chill pill, if I had a chance. (CHUCKLES) But Minister, it's been a challenging year for Oranga Tamariki. What is the plan for next year? So, we need to keep building on our transitional work for children coming out of care. We need to keep building the community remand homes, to try and keep more young people outside of prison-like environment. We need to keep changing the culture of Oranga Tamariki. And we need to keep working with Iwi and hapu and devolving care and protection but mostly prevention down into that space. OK, great, Minister. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you for joining us today. Kia ora, see you. Kia ora. We're going to go and try and find Chloe Swarbrick now ` somewhere in the crowd. There she is. Sorry, Minister. Can we` I want to take Chloe off your hands, please. Thank you, very much. So, Chloe, she's been championing drug reform but next year is even bigger ` the referendum. Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick joins me now. Chloe, 14g of cannabis, is that going to be enough to help you get through your average day in parliament? Oh, deary me. 14g is half of what you are able to get in Canada and in other US jurisdictions. And I think it's really important that people know that there is a difference between a purchase limit and a usage limit. Somebody actually made the point to me the other day that if we actually hadn't put a purchase limit in there nobody would be talking about this. The reason we did is that it's important for harm reduction purposes that there is a limit somewhere. And that's where we drew the line. People could still use that 14g in one day, though, couldn't they? Then pop along` Well, I mean, in the same way that certain people could, for example, go out and buy unlimited bottles of vodka and scull them all when they get home. People say that you're mature for your age. (LAUGHS) Who do you think in the parliament is the least mature for their age? Oh, deary me! I don't know. Mature for my age is funny one. I think, in terms of politicians and those who are seeking to go out there and talk about evidence-based policy, hopefully I rank among them. In terms of those who are least mature, I dunno. You're probably the better judge of that than I, Tova. Oh, I could give you a few names. (LAUGHS) Go on, you pick one. You pick one. You're an independent woman. In terms of` Off the top of my head, there's genuinely no names. We'd probably have to go for those that Trevor has decided to boot out the most. And there's` I mean` Maturity` Maybe Winston Peters? Well, yeah. I mean, among my colleagues there are some fine exemplars. And just finally, will your political career end up being defined by your 'OK Boomer' moment? I hope not. I hope that I've got a lot more to offer than that. Although it was the first time that I ever made Fox News. For apparently generated an intergenerational warfare, which is absolutely not the intention there. (CHUCKLES) The intention was, I guess, just in a minor bout of frustration, responding to heckling as we do on a daily basis. I just responded in turn, the same way that I do to all others. All right, great. Thank you so much for your time, Chloe. I appreciate it. All right, well, we may seem like a really slick operation, but, you know, sometimes things don't go to plan here at Newshub Nation. While I may be perfect, others aren't. So let's have a look back at some of the year's lighter moments. All right. (QUIRKY ELECTRONIC MUSIC) Make sure you tell me my hair's OK. I need my hair validation, otherwise I can't interview. Three? Three claps. That's jazzy. Prime Minister, thank you very much for` (AWKWARD CLAPS) (GUFFAWS) That's a good start. (LAUGHS) All right, let's do that again. And Newshub political reporter, Jenna Link` Lynch. (LAUGHS) Thanks for being here, guys. See, Nick, that's why I love you. Because you tell me the important things. Like about my hair. (SIGHS DEEPLY) We've now been approached by a see` ugh. But he says` (GRUMBLES) I'm just` ugh. Um. A tanker. Before we start seeing macrons on our road signs. (GRUNTS) (SNICKERS) You managed to make it gay within like 10 minutes. (LAUGHS) There we go. Here we go. All right. Wonderful. Oh. Oh. It is abs-o- (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) Oh, funny. (GIGGLES) Watch that cord. Watch that cord there. This hair was brought to you by New Zealand On Air. (LAUGHS) Well, I have tracked down our next panel. Joining me this morning is Marg Joiner, David Slack and Laura Walters. Thank you so much for your time this morning, guys. The topic of conversation for this panel is, 'How would you rate the opposition's performance out of 10 this year?' Laura Walters? I am going to give them a 7.5 overall. Wow. I think 8 just felt wrong to give 8 to any politician or political party or higher. It just doesn't quite seem right. But 7.5 based on` they've just been so relevant, this year. They've gotten so much cut-through. They can put a media release or a policy document in opposition and dominate the news cycle for a couple of days, you know? Their social media game is on point. And all of those issues around Judith coming in and taking the leadership or all of those wobbles, have kind of gone away. Gone away, yes. It seems like it's kind of firmed up there and people kind of united behind` So, 7.5 overall. David Slack, how would you rate them? Pi. Pi? Now, how do you like that? 3.14535, whatever it goes. And why Pi? I've kept it because actually it's a weighted average. On the one hand, I agree with Laura. They've got the cut-through. So I'm giving them, oh, I don't know, 8 out of 10 for that. But I'm giving them 2 out of 10 for the way they've achieved it, which is essentially anti-democratic. These 20 or 30 people who are doing just social media all day long are` Well, that many is it? Well, according to Richard Harman's site, it's 20 or 30. And for the life of me, I've asked enough on social media and nobody has given an accurate reply to that. So I'm going with 20 or 30. Anyway` Right. They're using these people to all day long apply this new political knowledge, which is you can put any old stuff that has a nodding acquaintance with the truth on to social media and watch it roar around the world and it will go gangbusters for you. And, so they've been doing that and this is good for them, but it's bad for democracy. So, Pi from you. OK, Marg Joiner, what do you think? And I think, picking up on what David said, what we've seen as a result of that is a bit more dog whistle politics and the depth of discussion of ideas and debate perhaps hasn't been as good as when John Key and Bill English were there. But opposition needs to do a few things, and holding the government to account is just one of them. The other being perhaps presenting a viable alternative. But the other thing I want to focus on is assisting the passage of legislation. And this is perhaps not as visible to the public, but it's a huge amount of work. So for that I'd give them an 8. Opposition MPs have worked tirelessly on things like the Zero Carbon Bill to make sure they come through with a really good bipartisan approach. So for that I give them an 8. The other two aspects? Perhaps a little lower. OK. So, the issue of` you're saying that they're being constructive behind the scenes. But have they been constructive up front... from the public's point of view? Well, I think this is perhaps the social media domination part of it, where you're not seeing all of that work behind the scenes. Instead you're seeing some more of the social side of things and perhaps they need to put a bit more into the thinking and discussion. Focus on that constructive point. That getting there on Zero Carbon Bill ` I would give them points for that. Even though they have got all these qualifiers about what they're going to rip out if they come back in. At least we got there. And this, more than anything else, matters to us. You look in the sky each night here in Auckland and you see the haze from the bush fires in Australia. And that is as clear an indication you can want of a changing planet that is a really, really` All right, so I guess there's a consensus on that. But we have to look at next year, right? Don't we, Laura? So, do you think the opposition's bettered itself and Simon Bridges has bettered himself in for next year to set him up? I ` Yeah, I think so. I think so. I mean, that was their whole thing as well ` shoring up, getting a solid base ` everyone united behind that leader and all of this talk about doing the work in opposition ` what they always criticised Labour for doing, I completely agree with you, Marg, on the depth of discussion and policy maybe isn't there. But they are doing some of that work; they're putting out those documents. And it'll just be really interesting to see whether that more kind of conservative, that tough on law and order type message plays through next year. Actually comes through next year. OK. Thank you very much to our panel this morning. Excellent. Hello. Here I am, just casually loitering with intent. This year, Jacinda Ardern declared 2019 her 'Year of Delivery.' A big call. Yeah. Do you think she's regretting it? Oh, it's possible. Here's a look back at the year it was. (KARANGA IN TE REO) ARDERN: It's been one year since I asked all of you to hold all of us and myself to account. We are breaking into normal programming right now for some disturbing news from Christchurch. We are one. They are us. I can tell you one thing right now. Our gun laws will change. So, last May we joined the Christchurch call to action. I'm here today with 51 lives lost in New Zealand very, very heavy on my mind. The coalition government has ruled out implementing a capital gains tax. What do we want? More teachers! When do we want them? Now! What's in it? (CHUCKLES) Lots of stuff. Lots of top secret government stuff that somehow found its way to National. Did you guys find this information or were you leaked it? I'm not going to say. But this is the largest investment in mental health that has ever been seen from a government. Rail is back on track. Newsroom aired this video showing a newborn baby being taken from its mother at a Hawke's Bay hospital. We need a system that prevents the state becoming the parent. We are trying to turn that ship around. The biggest Maori movement of this time. People have been describing this as a revolution. And, so it's really disappointing that she's not here. We, as a government, are building more houses. Phil Twyford losing his job as Housing Minister. It's an admission that we know we have got things wrong with KiwiBuild. Let's do this! Let's do this! It was Jacinda Ardern's first election promise. The Auckland light rail project is fast becoming KiwiBuild 2.0. Today we are releasing the draft legislation on legalisation and regulation of cannabis. The public will now vote on whether to legalise assisted dying. Is New Zealand First calling for a binding referendum on abortion? I'm not aware that they are. But New Zealand First did just that. A referendum's what New Zealand First has stood for a long time. Immigration's made it near impossible for some migrants in arranged marriages to get visas for their spouses. If you don't like it and you're threatening to go home, catch the next flight home. I definitely think it's racist. I just think that's a Bollywood overreaction. # Tutira mai nga iwi. Au e! Tatou tatou e # I wasn't deliberately moving on from having annoyed the immigrants to antagonising the rednecks. It just came out. I'm a Maori. And Winston Peters is under pressure to answer questions about links between his party and the New Zealand First Foundation. We're not going to have you running off in a psycho case. Farmers won't have to pay for greenhouse gas emissions until 2025. What do we want?! Climate action! When do we want it?! Now! Parliament has just passed landmark climate change legislation. We did our best for you. I hope the next generation will see that we in New Zealand were on the right side of history. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Up next it's Paul Goldsmith and David Seymour here. Could be friends, it could be awkward. We'll see you soon. (PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE) All right. That's Paul Goldsmith serenading us there. Thank you very much, Paul. Keep going for a moment. But are National and ACT singing from the same songbook? Well, that's a question to ask. Joining me here is David Seymour. David. Gidday. On the most recent polling, you are probably going to get a mate into parliament. Are you going to be able to share the spotlight? (CHUCKLES) Of course. Well, look, it's very encouraging, and it just means we're going to campaign even harder because I actually think we can have a different government next year, right some of the wrongs, and get New Zealand back on track. So does that mean there's going to be two names in the Secret Santa hat? (CHUCKLES) You never know. We'll try and include you if we can. (CHUCKLES) I'd be so honoured. Paul Goldsmith, thanks for your time. Steven Joyce couldn't find $11b last election. How's your counting this election? (CHUCKLES) My counting is good. But, of course, it's what you do with the money that counts. We've had two years, and not much has been delivered so far. Right. You don't think it's been a year of delivery, do you? No. No. Apart from a slower economy. So we're looking forward to next year. It's going to be great. OK. Well, next year is an interesting one. You're both vying in Epsom. I want to ask ` where is the best fish and chip shop? David? It's definitely Epsom Fresh Fish & Chips, on Manukau Rd. They have won awards year after year. They're outstanding. (CHUCKLES) And what about you, Paul? Are you a fish and chip man? Burger Burger, down in Newmarket. Very good. Oh, OK. Very good. Would either of you know what the average median household income is in Epsom? It's about a hundr` Well, actually, I don't. I know how many there are in each bracket. Paul might be able to tell you. I think it would be about 150 or something. For a household income. It's $118k. Oh. So you were being generous. What do you think it is going to be like next year when you're both in that seat? What do you think, Paul? Well, we'll be fighting hard. We, obviously, want to win the election, and the party vote is the one that counts, so that's what I'll be focused on. Mm. And what about you, David? As you say, you've got a strategy, and you always argue that it's not a deal ` it's more like you're out there campaigning as a person in the electorate. Is that your focus this next time? Yeah, look, I mean, the message that I always give Epsom voters is, first of all, I'm a good local MP. Second of all, if you vote for me, then you get more bang for your bucks, strategically. And, you know, the goal is that this time next year I'm the MP for Epsom, and Paul's going to be the Minister of Finance, and we're going to have someone that I find a lot more agreeable as Minister of Finance than we have right now. Oh, stop it! Stop it. What about this year, David? I would say that you've actually had a big year, quite a high-profile year. How would you rate it? I've been really proud of what we've done this year. We've given New Zealanders choice through End of Life Choice. I think that will make a huge difference for a lot of people. But also just standing up on principles. Some of these things the government has done, whether it's free speech or the gun buy-back, some of the stuff around business regulation and so on, I think has really hurt New Zealand. We need to show leadership and show a better way forward. OK. And, Paul Goldsmith, you've had, I would say, quite a massive promotion this year. Would you agree with that? Yeah, well, I've always wanted to have the finance role, so it's very exciting. Yeah. So how are you going to turn the economy around, then? I mean, you say they haven't delivered on the economy. Give us your three quick fixes. Well, we've got to restore confidence and revive the economy by letting business get on with it and also investing in good-quality infrastructures so we can get moving faster. OK. Paul Goldsmith, David Seymour, thank you very much for your time, gents. Cheers. All right. To a man who has had a very productive year with tangible results to the party ` Tamati Coffey, Labour MP, and his baby boy Tutanekai. Hello, bubba. Welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. You have finally been able to legally adopt Tutanekai. How did that feel when you were finally able to get there? It feels amazing. It feels amazing. But we have opposed the process every step of the way. In no normal situation would a biological parent have to adopt their own child, and unfortunately, we've got very old adoption act rules from 1955, and they need updating. We need modern laws to reflect modern families so that biological parents don't have to adopt their own kids, which is what happened to us this week in the Rotorua Family Court. And you're putting forward a private members' bill as well to try and improve surrogacy. What are you hoping to achieve there? I just want to be able to streamline the process. I want biological parents to be recognised as the parents. I want it so that there is a register of these people as well, because currently, to find a surrogate you have to go cap in hand around to Facebook pages, asking if people will help you out. But we can definitely do better in that respect. And another thing that happens as well is that, at the moment, you can't` over and above legal costs and the costs of the actual operation itself, you can't actually give your surrogate any kind of payment. And we did little things for her, like paid for the lawnmower man, you know, because when she was seven months pregnant, she didn't look good pushing the lawnmower around the back lawn, which is something that she had to do, so we said, 'Let's take care of that.' A chiropractor because she was getting a bit out of shape, and she's had three kids already, so we said, 'We'll take care of that too.' So we want to liberalise the rules to make sure that, actually, surrogacy and people that choose to take part in it get a fair deal. And I've got to ask, because I want to know, how is Trevor Mallard as a babysitter? Because he's clearly very keen. How is he as a babysitter, and what is his side hustle rate? About 30 bucks an hour or...? He is a great babysitter, and he's made world headlines on that front, feeding this one in the chair. But actually, I'll tell you this, and I don't think he'll mind saying, his nickname in parliament is Dingo because he takes babies. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Do you tautoko that, Tutanekai? Yeah. It's the first grumble we've heard out of him. I'm not sure if he shares all of your views. I actually think he's filling his pants right now. Sorry to share that live on air, but I think it's` it's real. A live television first, ladies and gentlemen. Never been done before. Thank you very much, Tamati Coffey. Kia ora. Thank you. No problems. Hey, guys. Kia ora. How are you? Kia ora. It's time now for our next panel. Very good thank you. Very good. Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, thank you for joining us. Bernard Hickey and Brigitte Morten. Thank you all very much for joining us. What was the most important issue for 2019? I think the most important issue for us` well, there were two, but I'll just quickly say, it was the whanau` During the budget, we knew that there was $80m` the minister said $80m coming to Whanau Ora. It didn't eventuate. It went back into government organisations who wouldn't have an idea of Whanau Ora. So that was a significant issue. But the other one, I have to say this too, was the disruption to our work programme when we had to look at the uplifting of children, Maori children, from their families, taken from their families, and then we had to initiate an inquiry. That was a big one for us as well, and we're continuing with that. We're nearly completed our review. It's worse than we thought, and it's had a significant impact on Maori whanau throughout the country. Very` Yes. And just on that, Merepeka, do you think that there will be resolution on those issues that you've raised? Well, there must be resolution. The uplifting of Maori children must stop. The support must go into the families so that you can strengthen the families so there is no need to uplift children, and it must be done by the people who can reach the families. It's not much good putting into a Whanau Ora organisation that the minister wants to have, which is basically government organisations trying to do a Clayton job. Not good enough. Thank you very much. Thank you. And, Bernard, what would you say is the most important`? You don't need to hunch. You can stand up straight. Yeah. There you go. (CHUCKLES) The full-height Bernard Hickey. What would you say is the most important issue of 2019? Well, I should tell you about infrastructure and monetary policy and fiscal policy, but actually, I'm going to talk about the child uplift story, which as a director of Newsroom, I'm incredibly proud that we were able to bring that to light, and there's now several inquiries being run into it, including one that's been run here, and we have managed to report on an issue which is so crucial to the future of New Zealand, and I hope that the various inquiries and responses make sure that a new generation of young Maori men and women, particularly men, do not end up in state care and then in prison, because` I've just heard a stat right now which blew my mind ` 80% of Maori men in prison grew up in state care. And we need to stop those babies being lifted from their mums on the day they are born. And I'm really proud that we did that work to bring that to light, and I hope there's some change that comes because of that. Agreed. Phenomenal work from your team at Newsroom, and to Mel Reid as well. Brigitte Morten, what was the most important issue for you this year? I think in terms of importance it's what is going to impact us for many years to come, and I think the two issues raised by these guys here are one of them, but I think the one that is going to have the most impact for next year is Ihumatao, because if the government doesn't get this right, it could completely and utterly destroy New Zealanders' confidence in the Treaty of Waitangi process, and that's across all spectrums and all people. So I think in terms of what the government needs to do and focus on, that's something they need to really make sure they get right. Should the Prime Minister have visited? I think she probably should have. And I think that's probably a mistake on her part. Bernard, do you think the Prime Minister should have visited Ihumatao? Yeah. She lost contact with many of her supporters this year on a couple of issues ` Ihumatao, but also capital gains tax. And I think there's a risk going into next year, if she doesn't do a lot more delivery ` and we've only got, what, 20 days left in the year of delivery. We'll obviously hear more next week with the infrastructure package ` that she'll go into election without the energy in her base that helped get her elected, and she has an opportunity and a threat there. We'll see whether she manages to flip it one way or the other. And final thoughts from you, Merepeka. Do you think the Prime Minister should have visited Ihumatao? Absolutely. Absolutely. We always say, 'It's the face that is seen.' Whether you have anything to offer, but if you just go and show some empathy for the situation, for the cause, and she didn't go. And I think it could well be` if she's not very careful, it could well be her Achilles heel. People respect you for turning up. In fact, it doesn't matter whether they agree with your views, but they have an upmost respect if you actually would just come along and listen. She missed an opportunity. Thank you very much for your thoughts, panel. That was brilliant. Thank you so much. All right, back in March 2010, The Nation first went to air. Some of the faces may have changed, but the mission remains the same ` bringing politics to the people. So here's Finn Hogan with a look back to remind us of last year and the previous decade. Good morning. I'm Stephen Parker, and this is The Nation. Good morning. I'm Duncan Garner, and this is The Nation. Good morning. I'm Sean Plunket. This is The Nation. Welcome to The Nation. I'm Rachel Smalley. Good morning and welcome to The Nation. I'm Lisa Owen. And I'm Patrick Gower. Good morning and welcome to The Nation. I'm Lisa Owen. And I'm Phil Vine. Kia ora. Good morning. I'm Simon Shepherd. And I'm Emma Joliff. And I'm Tova O'Brien. Welcome to Newshub Nation. Well, across almost 10 years, 10 hosts and three prime ministers, one thing hasn't changed at Newshub Nation ` asking difficult questions of our most powerful politicians. But you are disappointed in the pace of Kiwibuild, otherwise you wouldn't have fired Phil Twyford from being Housing Minister. Well, first, (CHUCKLES) that's obviously not quite how I would frame it. That is 44 years from now. Yeah, but someone's got to take responsibility for it, don't they? Absolutely. Todd Barclay had a recording of her. That's correct, isn't it? I'm not` Look, I can't comment on that in detail. You've been quite defensive. Why has that rattled you so much? I would not characterise it in that way. In all that time, we have only had one guest walk out on us. I think that you should crawl back into the hole that is reserved for corporate executioners like yourself. OK. Mrs` Mrs Fox. He's an invited guest. Thank you both for` Look, no. I'm sorry. I've had enough. ...for joining me this morning. All right. Thank you very much for... Thank you for having me. Thank you for travelling to New Zealand, and to Mrs Fox for joining us for at least the lion's share of that conversation. In 2016, Mike Wesley-Smith shone a light on the true human cost of the housing crisis with his expose on families living in their cars. This is, like, our wardrobe, washing, food, kitchen, everything in here. We live on canned food, really. This year, another of Mike's stories about a young mother forced to pay child support for a baby conceived by rape resulted in a law change. It is worth writing to ministers with these sorts of things because it does make a difference. In 2019, Newshub Nation also broke the story about a video game based on the Christchurch mosque attacks being freely available in New Zealand. It's exploitative. It's appalling, really. Days after we broke that story, the government announced a massive injection of funding to combat extremist content online. And in our new segment The Pitch, we gave MPs just five minutes to sell you on their ideas. But just to be clear,... For their children. ...there's no actual evidence that it works. There's no evidence it doesn't work. Is there institutional racism in the police? I think there have been issues in the police. When I say that lowering the prison numbers is not a focus for us, it's a huge focus for us. With an election on the horizon,... Election date ` September the 19th. Correct? (CHUCKLES) Wait. ...we'll be back next year to bring you more of the stories that matter. Thanks for watching. SIMON: Up next ` we're in the homes, the photo albums and the private lives of politicians. It's going to be the best of Backstory. TOVA: Plus ` the 17-year-old who wants to be prime minister. (FESTIVE MUSIC) And welcome back. He provided us with some of the best argy-bargy on the programme this year. (CHUCKLES) Successfully heading off his opponent, John Tamihere, and retaining the Auckland mayoralty. Phil Goff, welcome to the party. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. So, you're gonna give the port to Whangarei. What else are you planning on selling off? (CHUCKLES) (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Down in Wellington, by the way. We're not giving the port to anybody. If they want it, they'll be buying it. But they need to put a business and an environmental case up to do it. What else am I gonna give away? I'm not gonna give away much. I'm very tight with Auckland ratepayers' money. We look after it pretty carefully, so no free gifts, and sorry, Shane. You're not getting it for another year. What a grinchy attitude going into Christmas. Yeah, going into Christmas. You know, in the spirit of the season, I should say, 'Yeah, take the port. Is there anything else we can give you 'that our hardworking ratepayers and residents have paid for, Shane?' You heard it here first. What I wanna know is ` you got a lot of ups for your SkyCity Convention Centre live reporting. I was just wondering whether you wanted a job at MediaWorks. (LAUGHS) We pay really well, and it's a secure future as well. I was the person on the spot because my office overlooks the roof of the SkyCity. and we actually saw the fire start, and then suddenly this small fire extended over 100m, and we thought, 'We've got a problem here.' So the media came up and filmed it from my office, but they also talked to me, and I was kind of the roving reporter. I would prefer that it didn't happen and I didn't have that moment of fame, because it has set back our International Convention Centre by a couple of years. But, like the phoenix, it will arise from the ashes. All right, and you've got another job once maybe you give up your` Well, yeah, you know, maybe in 10 years' time when I'm ready to retire, I'll come and talk to MediaWorks. Yes, yes, mate, if we're around. I wasn't gonna say that. That would be unkind. Well, speaking of elections, Tova, you've got a last question for him. Just finally ` what are you gonna get John Tamihere for Christmas? Hmm... Maybe a Lego set. He could build an 18-lane Harbour Bridge without costing the ratepayer any money at all. Great. I mean, he's the guy that told me to once 'go jump in a lake, you stupid little girl,' so I second that, perhaps even just a lump of coal. (CHUCKLES) Thank you very much. Thank you. He had a few other fanciful policies, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, look. It's gonna be a huge year, 2021 ` almost next year ` when we've got everything from the Prada Cup and the America's Cup right through to APEC and the Ocean Race ` used to be the Volvo Race ` happening in Auckland. So Auckland is the place to be. A bit of advertising for the city. Thank you. I think it's time for the next panel, actually. That's enough of that. I'm just gonna bust on through here. Excuse me. Time for the panel. Hey, guys. How are you guys? Panel time. Yay! We've got Phil O'Reilly, Aliya Danzeisen and Jenna Lynch. Thank you very much for being our panel, and the topic is this ` 'Who were this year's star political performers?' Aliya. For me, it was actually Minister Salesa who actually, after the Christchurch attacks, started having difficult conversations with people and has actually got the under-represented voice at the table and being heard. And I think yesterday's announcement as well ` they're adding additional funding to OEC to be able to distribute to communities in a way that they can take control of the issues, and addressing themselves is probably the biggest thing. She's the unsung hero in the Cabinet, in my opinion. And she does keep a low profile, doesn't she? She does, but she's a hard worker, and she goes in and has conversations where they need to be had. And she's also probably the hardest-working if you look at the portfolios that she's behind as well, including construction. And she's making things happen, so, yeah. I would say she's the star performer for New Zealand. Phil O'Reilly, who would you nominate as a star performer? If I had to choose just one, I'd choose James Shaw, because he patiently put together that climate change legislation, and that matters a lot for business over the next 30 years. And so the fact that he was so patient, would've taken a lot of pressure from the left of his party on that, I'm sure. Was very patient, brought the Nats on board, more or less, brought Labour on board, and then now we have what I hope will be an enduring piece of climate change legislation. And that really matters, so the business community already rates that. So, for Green Party guy, good for him, and he's my star performer. Big ups to James Shaw. Jenna Lynch, keen political observer that you are, who rates well for you? If you had asked me 48 hours ago, I would've said Kris Faafoi, but dumb move, bro. So that seriously dims his shining star. For me, Stuart Nash was a standout this year. The Prime Minister got up after the March 15 attacks and said, 'I want these guns out of New Zealand.' Three weeks it took to turn around that legislation. People say it was too rushed. No, it wasn't smooth sailing, but they worked overtime, and effectively we've got tens of thousands semi-automatic weapons out of the community, which can only be a good thing. Second round next year ` huge test for him. But good work this year, Nashie. OK, so interesting. Everybody's choosing a minister who's getting things done. What about front-and-centre star performers? What about Jacinda Ardern? Well, she is an obvious one. She's brought the country together on so many issues, and she's inspired not just this nation, but she's inspiring the world to think differently about things, from well-being, to how it's addressing issues that are present. And she's leading. She is leading a government, and she's doing what she should. So she's a obvious star, but she's got a team around her, and they're making it happen right now. OK. Year of delivery, though, Phil ` I mean, should Jacinda Ardern get a rap for that or not? Well, no, clearly there's a whole bunch that hasn't been delivered, and hopefully they'll get a bit more done next year, but I agree that Jacinda is an amazing leader ` astonishing, really. And as I move around the world, people love her, and it's brilliant, that reflection on New Zealand. A bit more challenge about the politics of the coalition, of course, and it's always gonna be difficult to get things done with the particular make-up of this coalition that we see. But probably not much of a pass mark on a year of action, I must say. And not much` When you look into election, it gets even messier for them, so they've got a big task ahead of them. OK. To our panel, Phil, Aliya, Jenna, thank you very much. Cheers, very good. This year, we introduced a new segment, Backstory, to better understand the backgrounds and MPs` and values that MPs bring with them to Parliament. And the series actually ended up becoming one of our most popular features, with MPs really opening up about the big, personal moments that defined their lives. Here's John-Michael Swannix with a look back at the best bits. Marama Davidson kicks things off, introducing us to her newest grandchild. Yes, that's your baby. Yes. (COOS) I know. You love talking to Nana and having a smile. Should we get your bag, Glue-Glue? MPs and their families quickly became a regular feature. Hey, that's my side! Kiss goodbye. (CHUCKLES) So that's the madhouse. And, as often happens with kids, a little madness did ensue. That's my husband, Deon, who's an amazing, hands-on dad. ('BABY SHARK' PLAYS) From baby sharks to fur babies, you quickly found the family pets wanted to be the stars of the show. Come on, Arthur, come on. (CHUCKLES) He's got an unusual name. It's Langer, named after the Aussie cricketer Justin Langer. They actually lay eggs, but we have no idea what they are. (CHUCKLES) Isn't it great? They're very friendly. It was also a chance for MPs to show off their secret talents. I started when I was eight. Lessons with old Sharleen Pemmon, my teacher. I've done four demolition derbies. Next year, I'll definitely do my fifth, 'cause I love it every single time. There were a lot of laughs. (LAUGHS) I only had to teach maths, so I don't actually know how to do it, eh? (LAUGHS) See? Embarrassing. (LAUGHS) Gosh, I love drinking. Mm. (LAUGHS) I love that we got that on camera. (LAUGHS) But as well as the laughs, there were also moments where MPs opened up about their hardest times, or biggest regrets. I think when you get orphaned, that has one level of impact. When you are beaten, when you are the victim of violence ` that's a whole other realm. Then you add in a layer of sexual violence as well. You'd expect someone... to spend a lot of years healing. Which is what I've done. I wrote some grief notes. Trying to get out some of that ugliness and numbness and just complete despair. 'Cause we had no time to say goodbye. No time at all. He was a hard man. And I really didn't tell him how much I love him, so if I had this opportunity, I'd definitely do that. In the end, you came away with a greater appreciation of the diversity of backgrounds that our parliament represents. It showed us there's more to our MPs than the petty scraps and mudslinging we usually see. And sometimes their messages could be quite profound. For me, what I've been through in my life and the tragedy and the ups and downs, kind of doing stuff that has a little bit of adrenaline and adventure to it, it makes me feel like I'm living. You can make a positive change in your life by choosing not to be a victim. By choosing to actually say, 'No. That person tried to steal my power, 'my personal power. I will not let them take that from me and ruin my life.' Welcome back to Newshub Nation's first ever mother/son interview. William Wood is the 17-year-old National Party candidate and his mum is also here, Anna Blackwell. Thank you very much for your time this morning. William, 17 ` did you ever expect to be selected so young? Oh, well, look, I'm going to be honest with you. It was a crazy idea I had at Youth Parliament. I thought, you know what? Why can't a young person give it a go? So, did I expect it? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm very happy that I have been. Did you cause affront to a few older people? Oh, well, look, I was selected by a few older people. I think there's a great group of people in Palmerston North who are prepared to try something different. And I'm very thankful for it, no matter their age. Right, so Anna's here as well. Anna, what was your first inkling that he had this sort of political edge to him? Oh, probably our long drives backwards and forwards to my workplace talking about issues on the radio. And William has always had an interest in politics from as young as I can remember, really. At least 12. It wasn't football, it wasn't rugby. It was politics? It was politics. Any particular issues that came up again and again in the car? I'm in the health sector, so lots of stuff around mental health and the vulnerable and the health sector. So he's been a bit indoctrinated from the mother on` In a good way. on those values. So, William, if you do get elected, what is a key policy that you would fight for? So, the main policy I'm fighting for in Palmerston North is housing. It's that we've heard a government talk a lot about how they're going to fix the housing crisis, yet in Palmerston North, we've got 340-something people on the emergency housing waiting list, and not one KiwiBuild home getting built. So I think our city deserves representation on these issues that they're not being recognised on. Did you get a word in your ear from the National Party people when you told them that you were going to be coming here to say, 'These are the policies you should be espousing'? Or are you your own man? No, I wish I had, but no I had not. No. I've had some discussions with people in our community about what they see as the biggest issues to Palmerston North. And, yes, party politics is all well and good, but we've got to make sure that we're focusing on the people of our electorate when we're making these decisions. All right. Have you had a lesson in politics this week? Because you were forced, or you decided, to take a Facebook post down which had somebody doing an 'OK' symbol, which can be interpreted as white supremacist. What happened there? Oh, well, look, I just think it's a sad reflection on the state of some of our media at the moment. That people are prepared to slander a friend of mine ` it wasn't me doing it ` as some sort of racist as an attack on me. I took it down for the exact reason that you're asking me this question. I didn't want my friend's name being dragged through the mud and that sort of thing being misinterpreted. So I just think it's a shame that it's been taken out of context, but I don't feel too bad. Was that a political lesson for you? Well, one could call it a political lesson, yeah. It's certainly been a learning curve. But it is how it is. All right, and one final question. If William gets elected, Anna, will it change the dynamics around the dinner table? (LAUGHS) Not at all. Are you still the boss? I'm still the boss. Yeah. (LAUGHS) Anna Blackwell, thank you so much for your time. William Wood, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. We have time now for one last panel. This time, election predictions. Thank you very much for joining me, Indira Stewart, Tracy Watkins and Ben Thomas. So, Indira, what's it going to be? What's your prediction for Decision 2020? I'm expecting a big boost for the Greens next year. I think the local elections this year saw a huge flush of young councillors coming in` young Green councillors. And this is an impact that people like Chloe Swarbrick had, who won` who didn't win, sorry, ran in the last local elections. And we're looking at a climate revolution, so this year there've just been so many climate action strikes. The most recent one where there were tens of thousands of young students out in the streets. Unprecedented. Then we've got the local elections. We saw 18-year-old, 19-year-old councillors getting voted in. Young Green mayors getting voted in. I expect next year in the election that will give a real big push to the Greens. They're active; they're out there voting. And I hope to see a record vote turnout, Especially for younger people. I don't know how that will change the alliance between Labour. Maybe we may not` they may not need New Zealand First. Not 'we,' sorry. They may not need New Zealand First. Who knows? But I do not expect` I'd be more surprised if Labour got a boost than stayed the same or less, so we'll see how that coalition changes. But, yeah, I expect the Greens to get a big push. The referendum might help them, as well, Tracy, what are you predictions for Decision 2020? For the first time ever, I think I'm going to predict the end of New Zealand First. I think they've only got one card left to play now. That is, we will protect you from the Greens in government. It's not a strong card. There's a whole lot of other issues on immigration and various other things that they can't play so well next year. My other prediction, I think is going to be` I'm going to stick my neck out. I think they're going to go early for an election. I think one of the big problems is just going to be the US election. It's going to suck oxygen from our own. There's good reasons to go early, but also I think New Zealand First, that could be another factor in forcing Jacinda Ardern to go early. Absolutely. And history tells us after New Zealand First goes into government... Interesting. So maybe a July election like Helen Clark? Maybe. Ben, what do you reckon? Yeah, I agree that the election will probably be a bit earlier than we had traditionally seen, in the sense that I think major problem for the government or for the Labour party, will be holding the government together as New Zealand First looks to differentiate itself more and more. I also agree. I think New Zealand First will be gone. I think that what will distinguish this election from the last election we had, is the lack of surprises. I don't think we'll see party leaders dropping like flies. I don't think we'll see huge rollercoaster fluctuations in polling. I think we'll have a very similar picture to what we have now ` a really close head-to-head race between Labour and the Greens and the National Party. And I think New Zealand First will revert to type. There is no stronger institutional culture in New Zealand than the New Zealand First Party and it contains the seeds of their own destruction every time they're in government. All right, guys. Thank you so much for your time. Let's put some money on this and then regroup maybe some time around July. Thank you to our very last panel of the year. And that brings us to the close of the show and the end of this year. The good ` or the bad ` news, depending on your point of view, is that we're back for Election 2020. Yeah! But, to see out this year, a very, very special performance from the woman who makes our show look so good. Very dear friend of mine, our video editor Kellee Finau and her buddy, Labour MP, Kiritapu Allan. Let's get everybody over. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # And a happy New Year. # Good tidings we bring # to you and your kin. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # And a happy New Year. # Oh bring us some figgy pudding. # Oh bring us some figgy pudding. # Oh bring us some figgy pudding. # And bring it right here. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # And a happy New Year. # We won't go until we get some. # We won't go until we get some. # We won't go until we get some. # So bring it right here. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # And a happy New Year. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # We wish you a merry Christmas. # And a happy... # New... # Year. # (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Captions by Joshua Tait, Michaela Cornelius and Kate Parkinson. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019 This programme was made with the assistance of the New Zealand On Air Platinum Fund.