Latest / Best of Business / Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Prime Minister Chris Luxon justifying the 'C-list' comments about past business delegations

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Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Prime Minister Chris Luxon justifying the 'C-list' comments about past business delegations · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news talkst be follow
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  Speaker 2: Ary seen your political correspondence with us. Now, Hey Barry,
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  Speaker 2: good afternoon, Heather.
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  Speaker 1: What do you make of Chris Luxe? And see list
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  Speaker 1: of comments.
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what now he'll be wishing he never
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  Speaker 2: made them, because look, this is to me an example
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  Speaker 2: of an apprentice prime minister. You don't look at former
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  Speaker 2: trade missions and say that you know they are c
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  Speaker 2: list because you're insulting the people went on them, and
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  Speaker 2: you may be praising the one he's got with them
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  Speaker 2: at the.
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  Speaker 3: Moment, you're insulting your own voters are.
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  Speaker 2: Well indeed you are. And look I've got to say
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  Speaker 2: that he was in a tight spot and he had
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  Speaker 2: to justify what he thinks are good trades people. But look,
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  Speaker 2: I went on many trade missions over the years that
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  Speaker 2: I was working out of Parliament, went on all of
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  Speaker 2: Jacinda Durn's trade missions, and I used to sit in
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  Speaker 2: the seat look as scarce at the people that were
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  Speaker 2: on them, thinking what are you doing here? What they
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  Speaker 2: were doing there and what some on his trip will
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  Speaker 2: be no doubt doing there as well. Is that they
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  Speaker 2: get on a plane with the Prime Minister and are
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  Speaker 2: able to get his ear and socialize with him. And
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  Speaker 2: I've got to say, looking at Jasin Durn's trade missions,
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  Speaker 2: there were many in that category signing very little business.
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  Speaker 2: This one, you've got to say to Japan has signed
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  Speaker 2: significant business, but it's been overshadowed by a broken down
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  Speaker 2: plane and his se list of comments. So he'll be
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  Speaker 2: reflecting on that now as they board the plane to
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  Speaker 2: come home tonight. Before he left, though, he's meeting with
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  Speaker 2: the Japanese Prime minister, I think as we speak, but
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  Speaker 2: Luxon now concedes he could have expressed himself in a
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  Speaker 2: better way.
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  Speaker 3: I could maybe could have expressed it in a different,
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  Speaker 3: little better way. But what I'm saying to you very
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  Speaker 3: clearly is that when we can come to these delegations,
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  Speaker 3: I am putting huge effort into it to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that I've got the business delegation right, We've got the
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  Speaker 3: media delegation right, and we've actually got the political delegation
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  Speaker 3: and the political engagement right. I'm really proud of actually
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  Speaker 3: what we delivered in Southeast Asia on that trip. I'm
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  Speaker 3: very proud of what we've delivered in this engagement with Japan,
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  Speaker 3: which is an important relationship. And so when I look
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  Speaker 3: at this delegation that we have been able to form,
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  Speaker 3: we have New Zealand's leading cheers and CEOs here. We
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  Speaker 3: have a huge number of them, the biggest number that
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  Speaker 3: we've ever brought to Japan before. And we actually are
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  Speaker 3: getting the business done exactly as I wanted us to
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  Speaker 3: be able to do.
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  Speaker 2: There was no questions, please. That was from a former
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  Speaker 2: press secretary of John Keyes. No more questions. But look,
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  Speaker 2: you know he was in the tight spot. And I've
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  Speaker 2: got to say much of that stand up from journalists.
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  Speaker 2: We're more worried about one in particular about not being
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  Speaker 2: able to ask questions of the Chinese premiere when he
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  Speaker 2: was here last week. Now, this was put to Laxon
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  Speaker 2: in Japan. For goodness, say they come up now, well,
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  Speaker 2: because apparently she was pushed to one side by officials.
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  Speaker 3: Well the one in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, this is traveling with John Key on
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  Speaker 2: this particular trade mission. Sorry John Key, Chris Laxon, because
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  Speaker 2: she had been pushed around. He said, Laya can play it.
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  Speaker 2: I'm totally unaware of that. Of course he would be
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  Speaker 2: as well. But the media rather than worrying about themselves.
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  Speaker 2: And he said he's got the right mix of the media. Well,
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  Speaker 2: in the end, it's the media that want to go
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  Speaker 2: on them, and he accepts whoever comes up, but for
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  Speaker 2: them to complain about it. Every time I was told
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  Speaker 2: we weren't allowed to ask a question of a visiting dignitary,
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  Speaker 2: of course you'd hear the raspy voice from behind yelling
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  Speaker 2: out a question.
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  Speaker 1: You just disobey the rules.
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  Speaker 2: Well, of course you disobey the rules. It's a press conference.
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  Speaker 2: And I remember one asking him, this is why he's
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  Speaker 2: no doubt called sleepy Joe. When Joe Biden was here
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  Speaker 2: the final final question of the press conference and we
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  Speaker 2: were told we were allowed to ask questions of the
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  Speaker 2: the Vice President of the United States, I yelled out
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  Speaker 2: a question and Joe Biden walked down from the podium,
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  Speaker 2: came up and said, I can't hear what did you
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  Speaker 2: say the microphone? I was back up on the podium.
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  Speaker 1: That breaking the rules.
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  Speaker 3: That's why just Sinda famously talks about how much she
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  Speaker 3: loved you when when she was the prime minister.
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  Speaker 1: What do we do about the MPs? Right, because there
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  Speaker 1: is this call to allow the security guards at Parliament,
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  Speaker 1: arrest and so on.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's not a great problem at Parliament. Let's face it.
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  Speaker 2: You know there's been the odd breach of security there,
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  Speaker 2: but not a lot. I mean it used to be
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  Speaker 2: we used to call them Dad's Army, the security at Parliament.
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  Speaker 2: Now they're much younger and they're probably much fitter. But
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  Speaker 2: it's not over to the Speaker to say you can
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  Speaker 2: now have the ability to arrest and detain people. That's
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  Speaker 2: got to be through an Act of Parliament and the
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  Speaker 2: police are the only people. Or I guess you can
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  Speaker 2: do a citizen's arrest. Give it a go, see how
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  Speaker 2: you get on. But no, I don't think that'll happen.
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  Speaker 2: But I think you know, the biggest risk we saw
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  Speaker 2: at Parliament. You may remember it in twenty and seventeen
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  Speaker 2: mid twenty and seventeen a cop left a loaded gun
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  Speaker 2: on a bathroom at Parliament. He kept his job and
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  Speaker 2: no charges were late following an investigation. So that would
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  Speaker 2: have been a danger. But that is the police. So
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  Speaker 2: Jerry wants the DPS, which is there to look after
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  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister and ministers that feel they need it.
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  Speaker 2: The biggest problem, I guess is out in the electorates.
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  Speaker 2: But I heard Jenny Anderson on Mike Hoskins this morning
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  Speaker 2: saying that, look, they have these little buttons they can
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  Speaker 2: carry around. One press of the button and the cops
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  Speaker 2: are alerted. Well it seems.
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  Speaker 1: Pretty good to me, but Barry, to be fair, somebody
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  Speaker 1: comes in with a weapon, you have to press the
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  Speaker 1: button and wait for the cops.
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  Speaker 2: That's a while. Well, yeah, I guess it is. But
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  Speaker 2: I suppose you know, you go, well, it hasn't happened,
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  Speaker 2: and I guess they're vulnerable, But then aren't we all
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  Speaker 2: vulnerable and all classic key we attitude right there.
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  Speaker 3: I appreciate it very so for senior political correspondence.
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