00:00:07
Speaker 1: To the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald from Newstalk ZB.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: As you are probably aware, Labour's Chris Hipkins has been with Mike Hosking for the past two hours for the pre-election leader's breakfast. And it comes after he's had, well, how would you describe it? A political week from hell. You know, just when he probably thought Labour's gang connections were so, so 2023, so old hat. MPs and candidates from his party, the Greens, and Te Paute Māori were called out, hanging out with gang members during the current campaign. And Mike asked him if his candidate specifically, this is Kieran Leone, had lied about her dealings with the mongrel mob.
00:00:55
Speaker 1: She didn't tell us the full extent of her engagement. There was a particular event, she said it was a family event, Photos then emerged suggesting it was, while it was a family event, it clearly went further than what she had told us.
00:01:07
Speaker 3: Did you know of her gang connections? Is that when she says this is widely known, is it?
00:01:13
Speaker 1: I was aware that she had extended family who are members of gangs. And one of the reasons I'm really disappointed that this whole thing has got to this point is I do think we have to be able to say to people, look, if you're born into a family of gang members, there is a way out. There is a pathway forward. And I thought, you know, Kieran Leone, had she handled this a bit differently, could have been that role model, could have been that person that said, look, I've shown you how to do it.
00:01:37
Speaker 3: And that's the sadness of the story. At that debate, that fatal moment, she lied, didn't she?
00:01:45
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it was probably, you could argue a technical defence, but it wasn't a full disclosure of the extent of her engagement with the gangs.
00:01:52
Speaker 2: Dancing on the head of a pin. Mike also asked him if this gang stuff has blown his campaign.
00:01:58
Speaker 1: No, absolutely not. I think New Zealanders can see that there were some mistakes here, but I hope that they can also see that I handled it decisively.
00:02:04
Speaker 2: Now, he would say that, of course, wouldn't he? And I actually agree with him, but sort of or kind of. I mean, I don't think the gang stuff's going to be enough to put people off voting Labour, especially those who have already been thinking of voting for Labour or those who have already decided that they're going to vote for Labour. But here's the but bit. This is why I sort of agree with him. Anyone who is undecided may be thinking twice, especially given the defiant way the Greens and Te Paute Māori have dealt with this, and given the reputation Labour had last time it was in government. I mean, rightly or wrongly, but the reputation was that it was sympathetic to gangs, wasn't it? Which is why the biggest job for Labour this time around is to convince voters that it's a party worth giving another shot. That's why Mike asked Chris Hipkins, How Labour is different in 2026 compared to three years ago?
00:02:58
Speaker 1: The most important for me is that we've been much more focused on what we're promising in this election. One of the biggest criticisms of our past government was we were trying to do too many things. We were sort of overloading the system. People couldn't keep up with the changes that we were trying to do, and we weren't executing them well. We weren't delivering them well.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: That's true.
00:03:18
Speaker 1: And I believe that some of that criticism was fair. So this election, the biggest single change, the biggest single difference is that we've been much more focused on what we're promising. I'm only promising things that I know I can deliver on and that I know the system will be able to deliver on.
00:03:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and good on him for admitting that. I also think it's something every government can be accused of, you know, biting off more than they can chew. But that right there, from the whole two hours, that right there, what he was saying is the problem with Chris Hipkins and Labour this election because Labour, this is the term they like to use, Labour is not selling the sizzle. I mean, none of the parties are really, to be fair, but this was Chris Hipkins' chance to do it, to sell the sizzle. But all he told us was that his top priority, if he forms the next government, is to stay on top of the workload. You know, be organised, have the rosters done. Do you think you would ever hear that kind of talk from Barack Obama? What are you promising America? Oh, well, we won't bite off more than we can chew and we'll just make sure that we've got enough people to do it. Would you have heard that from Kennedy? Would you have heard that from even David Lange? Answer, no, you wouldn't. So he didn't do much of a job telling us how there would be better days under a Labour-led government. Mike did give him a chance, though, asking him how life would be better under Labour.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: If you take schools, for example, we're going to give every school in the country a capital grant of up to $ 400, 000, depending on the size of the school. on the basis that they need to spend that within about 18 months. That's going to be every tradie in the country can benefit from that work. That's new carpets, it's new roofs, it's new spouting. It's all the stuff we have to do anyway.
00:05:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, see what I mean? Not much sizzle. He was never going to get away with COVID not coming up for discussion, of course. He said he had fully cooperated with the inquiry into the COVID response, saying several times that he did actually turn up to the inquiry, just that the cameras weren't there. And he said he didn't think he could have done any more. Yes, he did. He said that.
Speaker 1: To the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald from Newstalk ZB.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: As you are probably aware, Labour's Chris Hipkins has been with Mike Hosking for the past two hours for the pre-election leader's breakfast. And it comes after he's had, well, how would you describe it? A political week from hell. You know, just when he probably thought Labour's gang connections were so, so 2023, so old hat. MPs and candidates from his party, the Greens, and Te Paute Māori were called out, hanging out with gang members during the current campaign. And Mike asked him if his candidate specifically, this is Kieran Leone, had lied about her dealings with the mongrel mob.
00:00:55
Speaker 1: She didn't tell us the full extent of her engagement. There was a particular event, she said it was a family event, Photos then emerged suggesting it was, while it was a family event, it clearly went further than what she had told us.
00:01:07
Speaker 3: Did you know of her gang connections? Is that when she says this is widely known, is it?
00:01:13
Speaker 1: I was aware that she had extended family who are members of gangs. And one of the reasons I'm really disappointed that this whole thing has got to this point is I do think we have to be able to say to people, look, if you're born into a family of gang members, there is a way out. There is a pathway forward. And I thought, you know, Kieran Leone, had she handled this a bit differently, could have been that role model, could have been that person that said, look, I've shown you how to do it.
00:01:37
Speaker 3: And that's the sadness of the story. At that debate, that fatal moment, she lied, didn't she?
00:01:45
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it was probably, you could argue a technical defence, but it wasn't a full disclosure of the extent of her engagement with the gangs.
00:01:52
Speaker 2: Dancing on the head of a pin. Mike also asked him if this gang stuff has blown his campaign.
00:01:58
Speaker 1: No, absolutely not. I think New Zealanders can see that there were some mistakes here, but I hope that they can also see that I handled it decisively.
00:02:04
Speaker 2: Now, he would say that, of course, wouldn't he? And I actually agree with him, but sort of or kind of. I mean, I don't think the gang stuff's going to be enough to put people off voting Labour, especially those who have already been thinking of voting for Labour or those who have already decided that they're going to vote for Labour. But here's the but bit. This is why I sort of agree with him. Anyone who is undecided may be thinking twice, especially given the defiant way the Greens and Te Paute Māori have dealt with this, and given the reputation Labour had last time it was in government. I mean, rightly or wrongly, but the reputation was that it was sympathetic to gangs, wasn't it? Which is why the biggest job for Labour this time around is to convince voters that it's a party worth giving another shot. That's why Mike asked Chris Hipkins, How Labour is different in 2026 compared to three years ago?
00:02:58
Speaker 1: The most important for me is that we've been much more focused on what we're promising in this election. One of the biggest criticisms of our past government was we were trying to do too many things. We were sort of overloading the system. People couldn't keep up with the changes that we were trying to do, and we weren't executing them well. We weren't delivering them well.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: That's true.
00:03:18
Speaker 1: And I believe that some of that criticism was fair. So this election, the biggest single change, the biggest single difference is that we've been much more focused on what we're promising. I'm only promising things that I know I can deliver on and that I know the system will be able to deliver on.
00:03:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and good on him for admitting that. I also think it's something every government can be accused of, you know, biting off more than they can chew. But that right there, from the whole two hours, that right there, what he was saying is the problem with Chris Hipkins and Labour this election because Labour, this is the term they like to use, Labour is not selling the sizzle. I mean, none of the parties are really, to be fair, but this was Chris Hipkins' chance to do it, to sell the sizzle. But all he told us was that his top priority, if he forms the next government, is to stay on top of the workload. You know, be organised, have the rosters done. Do you think you would ever hear that kind of talk from Barack Obama? What are you promising America? Oh, well, we won't bite off more than we can chew and we'll just make sure that we've got enough people to do it. Would you have heard that from Kennedy? Would you have heard that from even David Lange? Answer, no, you wouldn't. So he didn't do much of a job telling us how there would be better days under a Labour-led government. Mike did give him a chance, though, asking him how life would be better under Labour.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: If you take schools, for example, we're going to give every school in the country a capital grant of up to $ 400, 000, depending on the size of the school. on the basis that they need to spend that within about 18 months. That's going to be every tradie in the country can benefit from that work. That's new carpets, it's new roofs, it's new spouting. It's all the stuff we have to do anyway.
00:05:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, see what I mean? Not much sizzle. He was never going to get away with COVID not coming up for discussion, of course. He said he had fully cooperated with the inquiry into the COVID response, saying several times that he did actually turn up to the inquiry, just that the cameras weren't there. And he said he didn't think he could have done any more. Yes, he did. He said that.
