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The Muster- Jamie Mackay: Welcome Back J Mac! · The Muster on Hokonui

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  Speaker 1: The Country Crossover, brought to you by Bioactive Soils. Growing
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: together with healthy soils. Become a proactive farmer with Bioactive
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Ag Fertiliser. Jamie Mackay joins us for The Country Crossover,
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  Speaker 1: thanks to Bioactive Soils. He's been absent for a while,
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  Speaker 1: but he's back in the hot seat. Welcome back, Jamie.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you. What do I call you? I am.
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  Speaker 1: I am in the PM on the FM.
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  Speaker 3: It's good to be back. Three weeks of influenza A
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  Speaker 3: for a man who famously never gets sick. It just
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  Speaker 3: about bowled me over, Andy. I woke up in the
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  Speaker 3: middle of the night one night and I was gasping
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  Speaker 3: for air and I.
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  Speaker 2: Had this horrible thought, is this how it ends? Surely not.
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  Speaker 3: But it's really knocked me and I'm not 100% yet,
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  Speaker 3: but I'm getting there. And I have to keep reminding
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  Speaker 3: myself it's not cancer, so you just battle on. And
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  Speaker 3: I'm just thankful, to be perfectly honest, Andy, that I
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  Speaker 3: wasn't or I'm not a farmer because I remember being
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  Speaker 3: a young farmer, you might have a flu or be
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  Speaker 3: a bit crook. But if it's lambing time, you just
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  Speaker 3: get out there and do it and battle your way
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  Speaker 3: through it. I physically couldn't have done that. And I
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  Speaker 3: feel very, very sorry for any farmer or business person
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  Speaker 3: or anyone for that matter who suffered through influenza A.
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  Speaker 2: It's quite brutal.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, good to have you back on deck, mate. Look,
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  Speaker 1: the weather has been interesting. Well, not interesting, it's been concerning.
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  Speaker 1: This El Nino flow that we're seeing is certainly kicking
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  Speaker 1: into gear.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it is, and this is playing exactly to script.
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  Speaker 3: This is going to be the third, I think, terrible.
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  Speaker 3: I hope I'm wrong here, Andy, but what are we now?
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  Speaker 3: We're almost halfway through September, September the 11th, 9-11. We
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  Speaker 3: might come back to that one. So this is playing
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  Speaker 3: to script, isn't it? it's getting drier, although Canterbury got
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  Speaker 3: a good rain and Marlborough got a good rain. They
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  Speaker 3: were getting very dry recently. But for Southland, this is
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  Speaker 3: just a shit of a spring. And I don't know,
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  Speaker 3: my worry is that we're wet, wet, wet, wet, and
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  Speaker 3: then we get to Labour weekend and it dries up,
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  Speaker 3: especially in the drier parts of Southland, if you want,
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  Speaker 3: northern Southland, and then we go dry. But September's obviously
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  Speaker 3: an incredibly busy, important month. The dairy farmers are getting
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  Speaker 3: into their second round. Sheep farmers are obviously lambing. If
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  Speaker 3: you're not growing grass, some of that production you never
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  Speaker 3: catch up on.
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  Speaker 1: On your show on Wednesday, Mark Delatour, boss of Open Country,
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  Speaker 1: gave one of the more defining interviews that we're going
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  Speaker 1: to hear on radio from a rural lens for a while.
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  Speaker 3: It was really interesting. He was saving this one up.
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  Speaker 3: He was meant to do it a couple of weeks ago,
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  Speaker 3: but I was off crook. He said, I'll wait till
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  Speaker 3: you get back. So he was all fired up and
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  Speaker 3: he's really created quite a stir. And for those who
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  Speaker 3: didn't hear it, I mean, the basic synopsis of it, Andy,
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  Speaker 3: for you blokes from Belfort, that means summary.
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  Speaker 2: I shouldn't say that, should I? You just did.
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  Speaker 1: You always do.
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  Speaker 2: I just did. I always do.
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  Speaker 3: So it's friendly rivalry. But I mean, the guts of
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  Speaker 3: it was he's saying, forget about Paris. forget about us
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  Speaker 3: being blacklisted, if you want, by some of these markets.
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  Speaker 3: He said there's plenty of demand. And he's talking, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: wearing his dairy hat. I'm not sure the argument's quite
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  Speaker 3: the same with the meat, but wearing his dairy hat,
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  Speaker 3: he said there's plenty of markets that will take us
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  Speaker 3: and we need to be out of Paris. And the
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  Speaker 3: interesting thing about Paris, and I heard Bryce McKenzie talking
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  Speaker 3: about this as well, it kind of, the rural communities
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  Speaker 3: split on this is my take on it anyhow, Andy,
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  Speaker 3: is split on Paris. Some people want us in, some
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  Speaker 3: people want us out. And the other one, obviously, Labour
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  Speaker 3: came out at the beginning of the week with their
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  Speaker 3: ag emissions policy. They're not going to price ag emissions.
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  Speaker 3: And I think almost everyone in agriculture is in unison
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  Speaker 3: on that subject. So they are a couple of really
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  Speaker 3: hot topics heading into the election. We've already seen the
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  Speaker 3: likes of ACT and New Zealand First. Don't want a
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  Speaker 3: bar of Paris. National want to stay in, want us
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  Speaker 3: to stay in. Labour want us to stay in. God
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  Speaker 3: knows what to party. Oh, well, the Greens, I don't
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  Speaker 3: even know what they think about ag farming. I don't
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  Speaker 3: think they think much about it at all.
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  Speaker 1: OK, Luxembourg wants to stay in. Winnie and Seymour want
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  Speaker 1: to get out. How's that going to work out in
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  Speaker 1: the coalition agreement then? Because this has got... Would it
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  Speaker 1: become a bottom.
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  Speaker 2: Line, perhaps? I'd say no. No, well, I mean, that's
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  Speaker 2: just it.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think it's going to become a bottom line
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  Speaker 3: for either Seymour and... And Winston, you want to talk
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  Speaker 3: about bottom lines? Bottom lines are things like, for Winston,
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  Speaker 3: the age of eligibility for National Super. He will die
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  Speaker 3: in the ditch on that one. And that's a very
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  Speaker 3: important subject also for New Zealand. And it's an issue
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  Speaker 3: that we've got to face going forward. So those are
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  Speaker 3: bottom lines. Those are ones which would make Winston switch camps.
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  Speaker 2: Evan, help us.
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  Speaker 1: Well, based on that, these polls are all over the show,
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  Speaker 1: one coming out earlier in the week saying that Labour's
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  Speaker 1: well down, another one coming out a couple of days
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  Speaker 1: later saying they're a bit up on that poll that
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  Speaker 1: was released earlier in the week. But I think all
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  Speaker 1: these polls that are coming out, I mean, the one
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  Speaker 1: thing you're seeing is that the uncertainty about November is
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  Speaker 1: that votes are still up for grabs.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think what you're finding is because Labour's
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  Speaker 3: been so useless and listless when it comes to policy announcement.
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  Speaker 3: They've had their capital gains and that's about it. And
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  Speaker 3: I felt sorry for Jo Luxton in that Q &
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  Speaker 3: A rural leaders debate. They should have fed her their
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  Speaker 3: ag emissions pricing announcement because I think they released that
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  Speaker 3: on the Monday or the Tuesday following that show, which
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  Speaker 3: was broadcast on a Sunday. She was hung out to
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  Speaker 3: dry in that rural leaders debate.
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  Speaker 2: But look, I think Labour are paying the price.
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  Speaker 3: The Greens, whether you love them or loathe them, and
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  Speaker 3: I loathe them, at least they're coming out with policy,
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  Speaker 3: and they're picking up the slack, I'm sure, from the
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  Speaker 3: Labour voters. For me, and this is rather simplistic, I
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  Speaker 3: think that the Opportunity Party bubble has burst. People are
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  Speaker 3: really starting to do some homework on this lot, and
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  Speaker 3: they are flaky. But if they do manage, if they
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  Speaker 3: do manage to get past that 5% threshold, and I
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  Speaker 3: don't think they will, I hope they won't, a change
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  Speaker 3: of government is on. But If they don't get past 5%,
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  Speaker 3: I can't see a change of government happening.
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  Speaker 1: Right, you're coming down to Invercargill this weekend. Murray Heath
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  Speaker 1: on the show a couple of days ago. Great yarn
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  Speaker 1: as well regarding the 1970s Southland rugby team. Having a
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  Speaker 1: get-together this weekend, Dan. Southland be full-back from Riversdale's EMC.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, normally when it comes to EMCing, Andy....
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  Speaker 3: And I don't do that much these days, but I've
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  Speaker 3: done a lot over the years, people phone you up
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  Speaker 3: and say, would you like to emcee these awards or something?
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  Speaker 2: How much do you want?
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  Speaker 3: In my case, it all goes to the IHC Carfan
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  Speaker 3: Rural Scheme these days, so I always put my hand
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  Speaker 3: out quite a way, and no one's ever said no,
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  Speaker 3: which is wonderful. So normally, someone rings you up and says,
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  Speaker 3: would you like to emcee this event? You say yes,
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  Speaker 3: and you agree on an amount.
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  Speaker 2: This was different.
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  Speaker 3: I saw Murray Heath's Facebook post way back when he
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  Speaker 3: first started talking about this and I just rang him
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  Speaker 3: up and said, hey Murray, do you.
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  Speaker 2: Want an MC?
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  Speaker 3: I'm very, very cheap. How much will it cost me
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  Speaker 3: to MC this event? Because look, Andy, a lot of
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  Speaker 3: these guys, and this is from 1970 to 1980, so
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  Speaker 3: it spans me being at primary school all through secondary
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  Speaker 3: school and then my final years in that decade at university. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, some of these guys were absolute heroes of mine.
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  Speaker 3: And I do give Balfour a bit of stick occasionally.
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  Speaker 2: I love Balfour.
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  Speaker 3: But, you know, the hero from Balfour was Kenny Stewart,
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  Speaker 3: who I was lucky enough to play against when he
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  Speaker 3: was near the end of his rugby career. And then
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  Speaker 3: he coached our northern senior sub-union rugby team for three
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  Speaker 3: or four seasons. So I got to know him really well. But, gee,
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  Speaker 3: he was a great player. And then you chuck in
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  Speaker 3: Lester Rutledge. Brian McKechnie's another hero of mine. Who else
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  Speaker 3: was an All Black in that lot? Bob Barber, Stephen Pokiri, and,
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  Speaker 3: of course, Ash McGregor, who coached us.
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  Speaker 2: I played against Ash, Andy.
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  Speaker 3: I had one game for the Riversdale Seniors when I
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  Speaker 3: was in the seventh form. Ash McGregor smashed me because
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  Speaker 3: I thought I was the bee's knees, but I wasn't really.
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  Speaker 3: And then I played a wee bit against him. and
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  Speaker 3: then he came back as the Riversdale coach. And when
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  Speaker 3: I moved to Gore, he was my next-door neighbour, and
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  Speaker 3: I used to use his woolshed to shear my sheep.
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  Speaker 2: Great bloke, Ash McGregor. Really unlucky.
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  Speaker 3: He went on that 78 tour to the UK, only
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  Speaker 3: got three games. May have been a wee bit small
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  Speaker 3: to be an All Black number eight, but my goodness,
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  Speaker 3: when it came to Southland, he was a beast. And
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  Speaker 3: when it came to club rugby, even though Ken Stewart
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  Speaker 3: was a great All Black, I know who was the
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  Speaker 3: better club rugby player, Ash McGregor, just dominated. And, of course,
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  Speaker 3: it would be remiss of me not to mention Lester
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  Speaker 3: Rutledge and, you know, what a great player he was
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  Speaker 3: for Southland and what a great servant he was.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Stacks could do with a bit of that
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  Speaker 1: calibre on Sunday, logic suggests. Hey, 9-11 as well, what
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  Speaker 1: are your memories?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I remember 9-11 quite well. Obviously, 2001, I was
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  Speaker 2: down at Hokanui.
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  Speaker 3: For some reason, I'd scheduled to have that day off.
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  Speaker 3: I was going to do, I think I was going
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  Speaker 3: to get my sheep from the duck pond up in Riversdale,
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  Speaker 3: bring them down and share them. I was giving myself
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  Speaker 3: a day off. And then at about one in the morning,
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  Speaker 3: one or two in the morning, I got a phone
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  Speaker 3: call from Nick Jeffrey, who was working with us at
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  Speaker 3: Hokanui at the time. And he said, hey, mate, you
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  Speaker 3: better get up and turn your telly on because his
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  Speaker 3: grandmother had just phoned him up and said, something's happening.
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  Speaker 3: And I turned on the television at about 1 or
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  Speaker 3: 2 in the morning, whatever time it was, New Zealand time,
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  Speaker 3: and was just transfixed. Obviously, the day off didn't happen.
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  Speaker 3: It was surreal. And I was talking to Winston Peters
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  Speaker 3: about this on yesterday's show, Andy. It's the biggest event
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  Speaker 3: in world history, in my mind, since the Second World
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  Speaker 3: War happened. It surpasses Bay of Pigs and the Cuban
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  Speaker 3: Missile Crisis and all the crap that we've had between
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  Speaker 3: 1945 and now. I think it was a moment or
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  Speaker 3: two moments or three moments if you catch the plane
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  Speaker 3: that went into the Pentagon that absolutely changed the world.
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  Speaker 3: It changed the way we live. It changed the way
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  Speaker 3: we travel. It just changed the world full stop. You
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  Speaker 3: could not write a script like that.
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  Speaker 1: Good on you, Jamie.
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  Speaker 2: We'll leave it there.
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  Speaker 1: All the best down at the The big gig for
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  Speaker 1: the weekend and up the stags.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, go the stags.
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  Speaker 3: And I know that they're going to be inspired by
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  Speaker 3: some of those guys, some of those old Southland players
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  Speaker 3: from the 70s are going to go in and give
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  Speaker 3: them a bit of pep talk. And I think Southland
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  Speaker 3: could get their season or reboot their season with a
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  Speaker 3: good win over Bay of Plenty.
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  Speaker 1: Jamie Mackay in the country crossover cheers to bioactive soils.
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  Speaker 1: Phil Duncan's up next to give us a rundown on
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  Speaker 1: the weather.