Latest / The SME Stream / The Country 15/12/25: David Seymour talks to Jamie Mackay

Transcript

The Country 15/12/25: David Seymour talks to Jamie Mackay · The SME Stream

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: For the final time and twenty twenty five and kicking
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: off the country today Deputy Prime Minister Act Party leader
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: David Seymour a good defender of farmers, that would be
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: fair to say. And I'm very keen David to hear
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: your agg Person of the Year, but I want you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to keep your powder dry just for a moment, HIFU
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the half year Economic and Fiscal Update one pm tomorrow.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: What's going to be in it?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Well, if I tell you that, I'll probably listen. My
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: job is one of the things I've ever been minister,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: is that you're supposed to be able to keep secrets.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: And I'm just sim to Damie McKay. So there's some
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: supports us here in Wellington, Davy. And if I tell
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: you what was in the HAU now very bad. You
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: have to wait until it some amounts tomorrow.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, we'll throw me a bit of a bone here.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Am I going to feel more inspired about the future
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of our economy after one pm tomorrow?
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Yes? Or no? I think you're going to be glad
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: that we've got a government but is actually holding the
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: line on fiscal discipline, because if we don't hold the line,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: go loose again. Like the days of Robbo. Then you
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: won't feel better, You'll feel a lot worse.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: We are supposedly going to get back to surplus by
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  Speaker 1: what twenty seven to twenty eight financial year or is
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  Speaker 1: that now a pipe dream?
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Well again, it could be the same, it could be different.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Every higafu can change that, and I can't say what's
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: in it, but I know that the ACT Party has
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: done an honorable job of saving taxpayers money around fourteen
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: billion directly attributable to ACT policies and ministers in this government.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: In fact, if you're one of the people who gave
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  Speaker 2: your party vote to ACT, on average, you've saved fifty
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: seven thousand dollars for the taxpayer. So maybe we need
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: a few more of those next time to get back
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  Speaker 2: in Oh well.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, vote ACT and save fifty seven thousand dollars. Hey,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I was mistakenly calling it hifu. Is it hi efu?
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: It's the half year Economic and Fiscal Update, So hi yifu. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: you were quoted this.
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  Speaker 1: Week is saying or over the weekend, I think is
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  Speaker 1: saying this debate and this is going to be reached
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: for the popcorn grab a makays as sit back and
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  Speaker 1: enjoy This one is Ruth Richardson versus Nikola Willis. You
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: said it's like an early Christmas dinner. It's your aunt
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: arguing with your sister.
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  Speaker 2: Well it feels that way, doesn't it. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 2: probably not really helping make the bunt go faster, if
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  Speaker 2: I'm honest. Nicolas, our finance minister, has I think, done
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  Speaker 2: a pretty good job of battling down the hatches. The Party,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: of course, always argues that we should be saving more
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  Speaker 2: despite what we've already done, and Ruth is advancing that view.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I believe it's more important to be in the government
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  Speaker 2: making the change you can than outside the government wishing
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: that we could make even bigger changes that aren't real.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: See I guess and principle, you'd be backing Ruth more
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  Speaker 1: than Nicola, even though Nichola is your finance minister, because
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  Speaker 1: ACT sort of believes in Ruth and Asia.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, before we went into this government, we
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  Speaker 2: left a message in a bottle and that was our
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: alternative budget. And yes, our alternative budget said that we
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: should be saving more. When the government spends less, the
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: people eat more. And the ACT Party is so the
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: right of this government there's no doubt about that. On
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the other hand, we have formed a government precisely to
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: keep the other guys out, and our commitment is to
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: be collegial and keep keeping them out while also you know,
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  Speaker 2: driving the savings and driving the change, which I think
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: we could say.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: But surely David seem more extreme. Austerity isn't the answer.
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  Speaker 1: We saw that in Ruth Richardson's days.
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  Speaker 2: And saw what two point four percent productivity growth year
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  Speaker 2: on year through the nineties after her corrections. Now we
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  Speaker 2: couldn't dream of that today. We couldn't dream of it.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: David seymore depthy Prime Minister, who is your agg person
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of the Year for twenty twenty five And you're not
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: allowed to say Andrew Hoggard or Mark Cameron?
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to say Mark Cameron because he has
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: led the charge for the last five years on methane
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: and it's come true. I mean, the guy's been in
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: his sick bed in isolation, waiting for his kidney to
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: be transplanted so that he can get off dialysis for
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  Speaker 2: most of this year and he's still managed to keep
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  Speaker 2: a presence. He has held the line on methane and
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: the methane numbers have been halved. That's pretty good for
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  Speaker 2: a backbench MP, the chair of a select committee. He's
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  Speaker 2: put a stake in the ground. He's been fearless and
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  Speaker 2: the change has happened. And the net result is the
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  Speaker 2: New Zealand farmers can keep on farming without the kind
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: of disruptions that the Zero CARBONAC would have had. And
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  Speaker 2: again it's something you know. ACT was the only party
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  Speaker 2: to vote against the Zero CARBONAC. Now it's been significantly
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  Speaker 2: downgraded and that I think reflects the influence that we've had.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: And I know you didn't want me to puck Mark Cameron,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: but I think this year he absolutely deserves it.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I might let you off because I'll tell you
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  Speaker 1: what about Mark Cameron, from what I know of him
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  Speaker 1: anyhow and my dealings with him, he's just a bloody
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  Speaker 1: good bloke, a humble Northland cowcocky who went down to Wellington,
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  Speaker 1: took his gun boots off, put a suit on and
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  Speaker 1: actually made a bit of a difference. Has made a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a difference.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you very much. I couldn't agree, So well,
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  Speaker 2: there you go.
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  Speaker 1: You're agreeing with me. You and enjoy and Mackay's over
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  Speaker 1: Christmas on me and feel free to give it some
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: shameless plugs on your social media channels.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: I will be sure to thank you for all the chats, Jamie,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: and thanks to everyone who's put up with and listened
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  Speaker 2: to us for the year.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, Chris, good on you remember Vote Act and save
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  Speaker 1: fifty seven thousand dollars.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Merry Christmas, both for them