00:00:00
Speaker 1: It is time for our People's Panel.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: Alf Filippaina, Auckland City Councillor and Maria Slade, Business Desk Reporter.
00:00:06
Speaker 1: Good morning to you both.
00:00:08
Speaker 2: I don't know if you were just listening to that previous interview that talks about a spike in cocaine use, particularly in Auckland's North Shore. Not sure what's happening over there. But also a spike in meth use. Alf, what do you make of those results?
00:00:24
Speaker 3: I'm really not surprised. I mean, even.
00:00:28
Speaker 4: I retired from the police after 38 and a half years in 2016. In 2000, myself and my coordinator, Willie Meyer, we ended up going out to churches. We ended up going out to schools around meth, the effects on family, on the individual.
00:00:51
Speaker 3: I'm not surprised.
00:00:52
Speaker 4: I just wish the gentleman and his staff all the best around getting things worked out. But look, I'm not surprised. It's a shame it's still happening. Got family members as well on it. But what do you do? You leave it for the family to sort of help.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:01:11
Speaker 2: I mean, we acknowledge that meth is a scourge on society. Do you think for some reason we put cocaine in a different category?
00:01:19
Speaker 5: I think people put all drugs in a different category.
00:01:21
Speaker 6: A lot of people believe marijuana's not a problem and so it should be legalised.
00:01:25
Speaker 5: But there was actually a really interesting issue.
00:01:26
Speaker 6: That got raised around the time of the legalised cannabis referendum, which was a lot of the workplace testing and health and safety people were saying, well, that's fine, but if you legalise that drug, where does that leave the employer? We can't stand someone down because they have been smoking marijuana. We can if they come to work visibly drunk. But marijuana can stay in the system for a month or so.
00:01:47
Speaker 5: So where does that leave you?
00:01:49
Speaker 6: So you sort of can't change one law without another. So when it comes to workplace safety, it's a pretty tricky issue, you know, which drugs should and shouldn't be allowed.
00:01:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did you watch the debate last night? Appointment viewing for you, no?
00:02:05
Speaker 5: No, I.
00:02:07
Speaker 4: I had a life and I watched TV because I knew we would get something in the newspaper after all the debates.
00:02:19
Speaker 3: So I'll wait to read.
00:02:21
Speaker 1: Fair enough.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: What do you make though of the state of play? Because the polls are quite consistent now. They're showing the major parties polling fairly low, the minor parties not so minor anymore and opportunity right there in the middle. holding the balance of power, except one side says they won't.
00:02:37
Speaker 1: Work with them.
00:02:38
Speaker 5: You can't really call them the minority parties.
00:02:39
Speaker 1: You can't.
00:02:40
Speaker 5: They're holding about 40% of the vote at the moment.
00:02:43
Speaker 6: It's hard to know what to make of opportunity. They say they haven't got a bottom line on the tax thing now, so what are their policies? So from a voter's point of view, what do you decide to do? Do you decide to vote strategically and go, I want these fellas in just to give them a go and see what that does to the mix.
00:03:01
Speaker 5: Maybe tone down the New Zealand First effect? No. It's just anyone's game at the moment.
00:03:06
Speaker 2: I just think it would be so interesting if you did end up with Winston and Kewle Wong in the same coalition, given the dynamic between them last night. He was saying, you've been here for five minutes. She said, you're a racist. You can't be a foreign minister.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: I mean, it would be quite... an explosive coalition, wouldn't it?
00:03:25
Speaker 3: It would be awesome to watch.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Would it be good for the country, though?
00:03:30
Speaker 6: Especially if you heard Winston Peters on another platform this morning. He was a quintessential Winston.
00:03:38
Speaker 5: Anyway, carry on.
00:03:39
Speaker 4: I was just going to say that with Chloe, it was good where she made her point clear.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: No, I just want them out. Oh, no, we can work.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Just know exactly where they stand.
00:03:52
Speaker 3: Exactly. You have no doubt at all.
00:03:54
Speaker 6: It's true, but then you could argue you've got to be in the tent to be able to change things, which is what Kilo's trying to say, I suppose.
00:04:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, but, I mean, if the tent is closed, I mean, how are you going to get into the tent when National's already said, oh, no, the zipper's down?
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Do you believe them?
00:04:13
Speaker 2: Do you believe them that the zip is down or will they be back up again after the election?
00:04:18
Speaker 3: It is an election, so I'm just going to leave it there.
00:04:23
Speaker 2: Hey, speaking of different political ideologies, there's been a report out saying that 92% of people would reconsider a date depending on.
00:04:31
Speaker 5: Who their date voted for.
00:04:33
Speaker 1: So, Alf, could you be in a relationship with someone.
00:04:35
Speaker 2: who had diametrically opposed political views to you?
00:04:39
Speaker 3: Yes, because love is blind.
00:04:42
Speaker 4: But the other thing is that, I mean, when I read it, I thought, I wonder, the individual who was saying that I won't, and I mean, shallow is not the right word, but you know, I mean, no, I'm not going to go with anybody, have a date with anybody that has politically opposing views, and I think.
00:05:02
Speaker 5: That's I am married to someone who votes differently from me. Well, there you go.
00:05:06
Speaker 6: We have some pretty interesting discussions. We call it harrumphing. So I have to go, right, that's enough harrumphing now.
00:05:12
Speaker 5: But I think we don't want to go down the.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: Do things get spicy?
00:05:15
Speaker 5: From time to time. We learn to avoid the arguments. But I think we don't want.
00:05:18
Speaker 6: To go down the track of America, for example, where it's very much your identity. You're sort of dyed-in-the-wool Democrat or dyed-in-the-wool Republican. I'd like to think that New Zealander is a little bit more enlightened than that.
00:05:29
Speaker 2: Does it... Does it not come down to values, though, that if someone is at this end of the spectrum and you're at the other, that you just stand for completely different things?
00:05:38
Speaker 6: Possibly it does in some instances, but, you know, for myself, I vote all over the place. I've voted with the issues I like to think over the years, so, you know, I'm always up for a good argument. But hopefully, you know, other people think that way too, and it's not just a matter of which way you cast your vote at the last election.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you know, again, for me, I mean, if you're looking for somebody that just votes your way, well then I wouldn't like to be in that relationship solely based on political, and I agree around the states. We are far better from a political perspective around who we vote for than the states.
00:06:15
Speaker 1: And hey, opposites attract, right?
00:06:17
Speaker 2: So potentially, if you disagree, that might be the beginning of something beautiful.
00:06:23
Speaker 3: Well, at least we've got opposites attract and love is blind.
00:06:27
Speaker 6: Well, you know, it's like in the UK, I think The Guardian at one point had a dating website.
00:06:32
Speaker 5: I don't know if they still do, but I remember I had a friend.
00:06:35
Speaker 6: Who was a dedicated Guardian reader and she said she couldn't imagine dating anyone who didn't.
00:06:40
Speaker 5: Read The Guardian.
00:06:42
Speaker 2: Which is a proxy for saying you can't imagine being in a relationship with someone who thinks differently to you.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: We risk getting in an echo chamber, don't we?
00:06:49
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: There was another report out about, not a report, this is someone who's shared a video of people in front of them at a concert standing up through the whole thing. So they didn't see any of Olivia Deen. I believe that this woman actually had a health issue, so she can't stand up. She couldn't just, you know, peek.
00:07:12
Speaker 1: Over the top.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: But the same would go if you were in a wheelchair. The same would go if you happened to only be five foot tall instead of, you know, six foot five. Do you think it's OK in the seated area to stand up through a whole concert?
00:07:25
Speaker 5: Oh, I think that's fairly bad form.
00:07:27
Speaker 6: I mean, OK, if there's a real banger kind of thing, you know, get up and have a bit of a jig, but.
00:07:31
Speaker 5: Not for the whole concert. That doesn't seem fair on your neighbours.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: What do you think, Alf?
00:07:34
Speaker 3: Oh, I agree.
00:07:35
Speaker 6: Just.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: Either tell him to go into the aisle and, no, that's wrong. No, no, don't.
00:07:43
Speaker 1: What about singing very loudly out of tune? Because I've definitely had some complaints.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: I think when we went to Selendi on, the people behind us did not appreciate our contribution.
00:07:52
Speaker 3: I went to the.
00:07:53
Speaker 6: Rocky Horror Picture Show when it was at the Civic, you know, a few months back, and there was one very dedicated patron who sang every single word of every single song.
00:08:03
Speaker 5: But I think that's what you expect when you go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
00:08:05
Speaker 4: Well, Ingerberg Company just came here a few weeks ago and I was singing out of tune and it wasn't really appreciated.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: I imagine you have a really good singing voice.
00:08:17
Speaker 4: No, I ended up, especially with my partner, going, no, I don't want these videos because you're singing in it.
00:08:24
Speaker 5: Great songs though, hard to keep quiet.
00:08:28
Speaker 3: But no, I don't want the videos now. That's mementos, oh well.
00:08:32
Speaker 2: I don't know whoever does anything with the videos they take at a concert, but that's just my opinion. Hey, lovely to see you both this morning, Alf Filipaina and Maria Slade.
Speaker 1: It is time for our People's Panel.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: Alf Filippaina, Auckland City Councillor and Maria Slade, Business Desk Reporter.
00:00:06
Speaker 1: Good morning to you both.
00:00:08
Speaker 2: I don't know if you were just listening to that previous interview that talks about a spike in cocaine use, particularly in Auckland's North Shore. Not sure what's happening over there. But also a spike in meth use. Alf, what do you make of those results?
00:00:24
Speaker 3: I'm really not surprised. I mean, even.
00:00:28
Speaker 4: I retired from the police after 38 and a half years in 2016. In 2000, myself and my coordinator, Willie Meyer, we ended up going out to churches. We ended up going out to schools around meth, the effects on family, on the individual.
00:00:51
Speaker 3: I'm not surprised.
00:00:52
Speaker 4: I just wish the gentleman and his staff all the best around getting things worked out. But look, I'm not surprised. It's a shame it's still happening. Got family members as well on it. But what do you do? You leave it for the family to sort of help.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:01:11
Speaker 2: I mean, we acknowledge that meth is a scourge on society. Do you think for some reason we put cocaine in a different category?
00:01:19
Speaker 5: I think people put all drugs in a different category.
00:01:21
Speaker 6: A lot of people believe marijuana's not a problem and so it should be legalised.
00:01:25
Speaker 5: But there was actually a really interesting issue.
00:01:26
Speaker 6: That got raised around the time of the legalised cannabis referendum, which was a lot of the workplace testing and health and safety people were saying, well, that's fine, but if you legalise that drug, where does that leave the employer? We can't stand someone down because they have been smoking marijuana. We can if they come to work visibly drunk. But marijuana can stay in the system for a month or so.
00:01:47
Speaker 5: So where does that leave you?
00:01:49
Speaker 6: So you sort of can't change one law without another. So when it comes to workplace safety, it's a pretty tricky issue, you know, which drugs should and shouldn't be allowed.
00:01:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did you watch the debate last night? Appointment viewing for you, no?
00:02:05
Speaker 5: No, I.
00:02:07
Speaker 4: I had a life and I watched TV because I knew we would get something in the newspaper after all the debates.
00:02:19
Speaker 3: So I'll wait to read.
00:02:21
Speaker 1: Fair enough.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: What do you make though of the state of play? Because the polls are quite consistent now. They're showing the major parties polling fairly low, the minor parties not so minor anymore and opportunity right there in the middle. holding the balance of power, except one side says they won't.
00:02:37
Speaker 1: Work with them.
00:02:38
Speaker 5: You can't really call them the minority parties.
00:02:39
Speaker 1: You can't.
00:02:40
Speaker 5: They're holding about 40% of the vote at the moment.
00:02:43
Speaker 6: It's hard to know what to make of opportunity. They say they haven't got a bottom line on the tax thing now, so what are their policies? So from a voter's point of view, what do you decide to do? Do you decide to vote strategically and go, I want these fellas in just to give them a go and see what that does to the mix.
00:03:01
Speaker 5: Maybe tone down the New Zealand First effect? No. It's just anyone's game at the moment.
00:03:06
Speaker 2: I just think it would be so interesting if you did end up with Winston and Kewle Wong in the same coalition, given the dynamic between them last night. He was saying, you've been here for five minutes. She said, you're a racist. You can't be a foreign minister.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: I mean, it would be quite... an explosive coalition, wouldn't it?
00:03:25
Speaker 3: It would be awesome to watch.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Would it be good for the country, though?
00:03:30
Speaker 6: Especially if you heard Winston Peters on another platform this morning. He was a quintessential Winston.
00:03:38
Speaker 5: Anyway, carry on.
00:03:39
Speaker 4: I was just going to say that with Chloe, it was good where she made her point clear.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: No, I just want them out. Oh, no, we can work.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Just know exactly where they stand.
00:03:52
Speaker 3: Exactly. You have no doubt at all.
00:03:54
Speaker 6: It's true, but then you could argue you've got to be in the tent to be able to change things, which is what Kilo's trying to say, I suppose.
00:04:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, but, I mean, if the tent is closed, I mean, how are you going to get into the tent when National's already said, oh, no, the zipper's down?
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Do you believe them?
00:04:13
Speaker 2: Do you believe them that the zip is down or will they be back up again after the election?
00:04:18
Speaker 3: It is an election, so I'm just going to leave it there.
00:04:23
Speaker 2: Hey, speaking of different political ideologies, there's been a report out saying that 92% of people would reconsider a date depending on.
00:04:31
Speaker 5: Who their date voted for.
00:04:33
Speaker 1: So, Alf, could you be in a relationship with someone.
00:04:35
Speaker 2: who had diametrically opposed political views to you?
00:04:39
Speaker 3: Yes, because love is blind.
00:04:42
Speaker 4: But the other thing is that, I mean, when I read it, I thought, I wonder, the individual who was saying that I won't, and I mean, shallow is not the right word, but you know, I mean, no, I'm not going to go with anybody, have a date with anybody that has politically opposing views, and I think.
00:05:02
Speaker 5: That's I am married to someone who votes differently from me. Well, there you go.
00:05:06
Speaker 6: We have some pretty interesting discussions. We call it harrumphing. So I have to go, right, that's enough harrumphing now.
00:05:12
Speaker 5: But I think we don't want to go down the.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: Do things get spicy?
00:05:15
Speaker 5: From time to time. We learn to avoid the arguments. But I think we don't want.
00:05:18
Speaker 6: To go down the track of America, for example, where it's very much your identity. You're sort of dyed-in-the-wool Democrat or dyed-in-the-wool Republican. I'd like to think that New Zealander is a little bit more enlightened than that.
00:05:29
Speaker 2: Does it... Does it not come down to values, though, that if someone is at this end of the spectrum and you're at the other, that you just stand for completely different things?
00:05:38
Speaker 6: Possibly it does in some instances, but, you know, for myself, I vote all over the place. I've voted with the issues I like to think over the years, so, you know, I'm always up for a good argument. But hopefully, you know, other people think that way too, and it's not just a matter of which way you cast your vote at the last election.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you know, again, for me, I mean, if you're looking for somebody that just votes your way, well then I wouldn't like to be in that relationship solely based on political, and I agree around the states. We are far better from a political perspective around who we vote for than the states.
00:06:15
Speaker 1: And hey, opposites attract, right?
00:06:17
Speaker 2: So potentially, if you disagree, that might be the beginning of something beautiful.
00:06:23
Speaker 3: Well, at least we've got opposites attract and love is blind.
00:06:27
Speaker 6: Well, you know, it's like in the UK, I think The Guardian at one point had a dating website.
00:06:32
Speaker 5: I don't know if they still do, but I remember I had a friend.
00:06:35
Speaker 6: Who was a dedicated Guardian reader and she said she couldn't imagine dating anyone who didn't.
00:06:40
Speaker 5: Read The Guardian.
00:06:42
Speaker 2: Which is a proxy for saying you can't imagine being in a relationship with someone who thinks differently to you.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: We risk getting in an echo chamber, don't we?
00:06:49
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: There was another report out about, not a report, this is someone who's shared a video of people in front of them at a concert standing up through the whole thing. So they didn't see any of Olivia Deen. I believe that this woman actually had a health issue, so she can't stand up. She couldn't just, you know, peek.
00:07:12
Speaker 1: Over the top.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: But the same would go if you were in a wheelchair. The same would go if you happened to only be five foot tall instead of, you know, six foot five. Do you think it's OK in the seated area to stand up through a whole concert?
00:07:25
Speaker 5: Oh, I think that's fairly bad form.
00:07:27
Speaker 6: I mean, OK, if there's a real banger kind of thing, you know, get up and have a bit of a jig, but.
00:07:31
Speaker 5: Not for the whole concert. That doesn't seem fair on your neighbours.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: What do you think, Alf?
00:07:34
Speaker 3: Oh, I agree.
00:07:35
Speaker 6: Just.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: Either tell him to go into the aisle and, no, that's wrong. No, no, don't.
00:07:43
Speaker 1: What about singing very loudly out of tune? Because I've definitely had some complaints.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: I think when we went to Selendi on, the people behind us did not appreciate our contribution.
00:07:52
Speaker 3: I went to the.
00:07:53
Speaker 6: Rocky Horror Picture Show when it was at the Civic, you know, a few months back, and there was one very dedicated patron who sang every single word of every single song.
00:08:03
Speaker 5: But I think that's what you expect when you go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
00:08:05
Speaker 4: Well, Ingerberg Company just came here a few weeks ago and I was singing out of tune and it wasn't really appreciated.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: I imagine you have a really good singing voice.
00:08:17
Speaker 4: No, I ended up, especially with my partner, going, no, I don't want these videos because you're singing in it.
00:08:24
Speaker 5: Great songs though, hard to keep quiet.
00:08:28
Speaker 3: But no, I don't want the videos now. That's mementos, oh well.
00:08:32
Speaker 2: I don't know whoever does anything with the videos they take at a concert, but that's just my opinion. Hey, lovely to see you both this morning, Alf Filipaina and Maria Slade.
