บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Full Show Podcast: 09 November 2026

another little bit of bright news for you that I wanted to share. It came out on Friday, but everybody missed it because of what was going on with the election, but also all the sport we were watching over the weekend, remember that? So a sign of things picking up for the consumer, which is what we've always needed to see, is consumers having confidence getting their mojo back. ANZ's tracking of what's been spent by their clients using electronic cards. This is for October. Spending was up 0.7% month to month, up 5.9% from a year ago, and the spending much higher than the rate of inflation. So that tells you that people are spending more, which is good. Some of it was for fuel, sure, up 25% from a year ago, but most durables categories were higher, including stuff that is pretty much loosely related to housing. Hardware, pools, spas, PCs, appliances. 00:04:04 Speaker 8: Up, up, up, up, up. 00:04:07 Speaker 3: And that's great. If you're a business that's selling stuff like that, you need people through the doors. I went to a place the other day in, gosh, where was it? Pakaranga? I think that's where it was. And you go in there. I went in there to buy a piece of art because I'd seen it online. The guy said, we've actually been really busy. I've had people coming in here for one thing that might spend $ 2, 000 and have left spending $ 10, 000 because they keep adding to their cart. So those are all good signs. These are all good things. This is a great place to live. It's 10 after 5. You're on Newstalk ZB. Coming up next, Ryan Hamilton is, well, I think David Farrar on our Herald's election night special on Saturday night, I think David Farrar described him as potentially the saviour of the centre-right because he is ahead in this Hamilton East seat. We'll speak to him next. 00:05:04 Speaker 1: Before the news breaks, hear it first. Ryan Bridge on early edition with Spark, award-winning mobile coverage as tested by OpenSignal. 00:05:13 Speaker 3: Newstalk ZB. Newstalk ZB, it is 5.13. We'll get to your text in just a second. This person asks, this is from John, does the stalled result mean that Nicola Willis is now finished and doesn't get paid anymore? No, she's still getting paid right now. I hope that David Seymour becomes Finance Minister, says John. John, I think there's probably a few people listening right now that would agree with that sentiment. Right, let's go to Hamilton East. So we've got a couple of races which are now crucial, given the point where we are. Vote County is going to take another three weeks to get your specials through. So, as we know, National struggled to retain some blue seats on Saturday night, losing some experienced politicians. But one of the flip-flopping seats is Hamilton East. Ryan Hamilton... Hamilton East MP with us. Hi, Ryan. 00:06:00 Speaker 8: Good morning, Ryan. How are you? 00:06:01 Speaker 3: Very well, thank you. How slim is that majority at the moment? 00:06:06 Speaker 8: We're sitting on 456 with obviously the specials now to come in. 00:06:11 Speaker 3: Looking at the specials I did this morning, in 2023, the specials in crucial seats like yours, like Mount Roskill, and like Wairarapa, actually showed slight majorities on the specials for national in 2023 so you'd be hoping that trend continues. 00:06:30 Speaker 8: Yeah definitely i mean obviously we'll start to look back and become statisticians and uh and theoretical experts and uh but yeah i mean look just have to take nothing for granted um hope those numbers come through strong obviously for me it's a little bit of a buffer but um Certainly not counting my chickens just yet. 00:06:49 Speaker 3: What have you been doing? Like, just walking around, sort of twiddling your thumbs, freaking out? 00:06:55 Speaker 8: Oh, look, the actual election night was really tough. We always knew it was going to be a tough seat, tough election, and I was quite a strong candidate from Labour, and it was a real left-right doozy because... I didn't have a green candidate, obviously, to sort of offset her margin. And likewise, I guess there was no active candidate on this side either. So, yeah, apparently the tally flipped 12 times during the evening. So it was a lot of pacing during the evening and a lot of leaning on each other's faith to stir us on. 00:07:32 Speaker 3: And tell us about yourself. Tell us about your family. I don't know much about you. Were they there with you supporting you on Saturday? 00:07:40 Speaker 9: Yeah, my two daughters. 00:07:41 Speaker 8: Were and my son-in-law and my wife were there and obviously a lot of friends and supporters and that sort of thing. But yeah, it's actually, it's a funny thing because obviously being a candidate is a very public thing. And then when you're having a sort of a party event on the night, it's very public, very transparent. And, you know, if the night's not turning up for you, there's sort of nowhere to hide, really. So, you know, sometimes it was quite emotional, actually. But you've just got to front up and own it and know that you put the work in. And at that point, it's sort of all beyond your control, really. So you've just got. 00:08:20 Speaker 3: To ride with it. That's public life. Did you have a wee cry, did you? 00:08:23 Speaker 10: Yeah. 00:08:25 Speaker 8: Oh, my eyes may have leaked for a moment or two. Yeah, I mean, you're sort of throwing everything into it for, I mean, not just three months of the campaign. I mean, for me as a new candidate in 23, it's honestly like it feels like I've been campaigning for three years. You know, you just put everything into it. And yeah, it's just such an intense, intense role. And it all comes down to, you know, sometimes So, yeah, hopefully over the next three weeks we'll yield some good results. 00:08:54 Speaker 3: Tears are for men with cares. If you care about what you're doing, then it will show on your face. So that's a good sign. Take it as a good thing. 00:09:03 Speaker 8: All right.

00:09:03 Speaker 3: So, Ryan, we'll talk to you in three weeks, I guess. 00:09:07 Speaker 7: All right. 00:09:07 Speaker 4: Thanks, Ryan. 00:09:08 Speaker 2: I look forward to it. 00:09:09 Speaker 3: All right. 00:09:09 Speaker 8: Cheers. 00:09:09 Speaker 3: That's Ryan Hamilton, Hamilton East MP for now. As I said, so Richard Harmon has actually gone back and had a look at this. And although usually you get when you get your specials counted, they tend to veer left. Those three crucial seats, Mount Roskill, Wairarapa, Hamilton East, actually at the last election, they all increased the majorities on the specials for national. There was, of course, a bit of a move towards the blue wave, whatever you want to call it, the blue wall. at the last election. So that may have had a factor in it, but some interesting numbers all the same. 17 after five. Vicky Business next. 00:09:50 Speaker 1: On iHeartRadio, powered by Newstalk ZB. News and views you trust to start your day. It's early edition with Ryan Bridge and Spark. Award-winning mobile coverage as tested by OpenSignal. 00:10:04 Speaker 3: Newstalk ZB. Good morning, 9292, the number to text. Hi, Ryan. I always wonder why does it take so damn long to count the special votes, says Jake. Jake, it's a very good question. I will ask. I've got the Electoral Commissioner on my TV3 breakfast show this morning. I will ask them then. Plus, you've got a whole bunch of other questions for me. By the way, if you are Nicola Willis and you are getting the boot from Parliament because you haven't made it in on the list, then you will be paid for three months the salary of an MP. She'll still get for three months. And I'm pretty sure she gets her ministerial salary, because remember, it's about $ 180, $ 190 for a backbencher, which is your standard MP. And then you get about $ 300, $ 330 to be a minister. She will lose that ministerial chunk after about 28 days. And then for the other two months, she'll go back to just an MP salary, is my understanding. Vicky Price, our business correspondent. Vicky, lovely to have you on the show. You had the Bank of England increasing last week, raising rates and questions over just what's going to happen next. 00:11:09 Speaker 9: Absolutely. 00:11:09 Speaker 11: I mean, the question, of course, that everyone is asking is what exactly are those higher interest rates going to achieve? Because, of course, a lot of the inflation that we're seeing in the UK, which is rising here, as it is also, of course, rising in Europe, is due to geopolitical factors and what's going on with the war in Iran. And the interesting thing is that they've decided to increase interest rates by a quarter of a percent just when, interestingly enough, oil prices were beginning to come down a bit. They've been a little bit volatile, but overall there was, since the midterm elections, some sort of change of mood. People started to think that perhaps We were going to get into some resolution of it all because

maybe President Trump was going to be pushing things so hard as he has done before. So there was a bit of easing, and yet we did put interest rates up. So the question then is what is going to happen next? And the markets seem to think there's going to be another whole one percentage point increase. In other words, at least four quarter of a point increases over the next year. If that were to happen... then that will certainly affect the economy quite negatively. And because the forecasts for the economy at present are slightly more optimistic than they were a little while ago, I think the Bank of England, in fact, the governor has already made it clear, they think that they can afford to slow the economy down a bit by raising those rates and then slow inflation down without necessarily endangering the whole progress of of what the UK may be doing over the next year or so. But it's touch and go, really. And nobody really knows what's going to happen next with oil prices in particular. 00:12:46 Speaker 3: Where are we at with the UK and the EU doing their little reset? It's all meant to be signed at a summit next week, no? 00:12:53 Speaker 11: Yes, there's a meeting on the 20th. And the word on the street is that there will indeed be some agreements in the areas of particularly energy so that we can, in the UK, become part of the emissions trading scheme. That would be really good because it means there aren't going to be Any extra constraints in terms of exporting to and lots of sort of checks of exporting to the EU because we'll all be on the same platform, if you like, and also carbon prices will be the same. So it's going to be easier than there are agreements as well, which had already more or less been signed already. on how to allow exports of agriculture and other related products without regulations. Something about movement of young people moving around Europe and the UK more easily, but also joining into programs that have to do with education. So there's a little bit more freedom to do all this. Now, of course, the debate is beginning to re-emerge here in the UK. Should we be rethinking Brexit overall? Should there be a referendum? But actually, it goes back to what we were just discussing before on interest rates. The government here wants growth And being closer to Europe should help. It's not necessarily going to help in terms of inflation, but at least even if interest rates go up, if you can get something better with Europe, we may not see the economy suffer so much from those higher interest rates. 00:14:22 Speaker 3: Interesting stuff. Very quickly from you, Vicky, because we've been following these stories about the bomb hoax threats to airliners in Europe. Do we know what that cost has been? Because they keep putting them on the ground and everyone disembarking. 00:14:37 Speaker 11: A lot depends on how long that lasts, whether they're able to find the source of all this. But of course, if it means that there is a lot more security, that is an extra cost for airlines. If people are finding that they can't get through so easily or go anywhere, they might cut back on traveling. That affects airlines, which already have this extra cost of fuel being so high. And of course, people may decide not to travel. It affects tourism, which employs loads of people across the world. And I think that is a worry. 00:15:05 Speaker 3: Vicki Price, our business correspondent. Good to have you on the show as always on a Monday morning. It is 5.25. By the way, the reason that the specials take so long to count is because, well, it's a big job. Some of them have come in from overseas and they all need to be checked against because they are people voting outside of their electorate as another one of these. So mainly it needs to be verified that the person who was actually enrolled and eligible to vote is the one who was actually the one that voted. Newstalk ZB. Newstalk ZB 527. As predicted last week, the overhang that Luxon loathed so much is what got him back to power. Thank you, overhang. His strategy of ruling out opportunity didn't keep them out, but none of that really matters now, does it? The ends always justify the means, and here we are. At worst, Labour's path to power is like a winter trek up Mount Everest. National's more like a walk in the park. For the left... the special at best force opportunity into play, but most likely to a hung parliament. So the most likely outcome here is that either the right governs alone or the right governs with opportunity. And listen to how Erica Stanford, speaking to me on our Herald special show on Saturday night, have a listen to how Erica Stanford weighed this up. We're at the point now, people have voted, it's close. Even if it's a conversation about working with them in confidence and supply or something like that as a backup option, there needs to be some kind of phone call. Like, let's be real about it, you know? 00:16:49 Speaker 12: Well, look, we don't want to go into opposition. And, you know, we've all worked too hard. I've worked extraordinarily hard in education over the last three years. And I know what's at stake. All of these things will be undone. So, of course, you know, we want to remain in government. We want to be a reforming government. We want to be around the Cabinet table and we'll do what we need to. 00:17:07 Speaker 11: Do to make that happen. 00:17:08 Speaker 12: I'm sure of it. 00:17:08 Speaker 3: We will do what we need to do to ensure that that happens. And I'm sure of it. That is a message to Christopher Luxon. You either pick up that phone, my friend, or you will get shanked in caucus. You'll get the shiv and somebody else will do it for you. We're not even at that point yet, though. They're not even at the point where they need to make that call. She's just saying, hey, listen here, boyo. Either you make the call. If we need to make the call, either you make the call or we'll make it for you. 00:17:40

Speaker 2: Ryan Bridge. 00:17:41 Speaker 3: 29 after five. Newstalk ZB, great to have your company this morning. We're going to talk to Simon Bridges. He had a bit to say about John Key at the weekend. He's coming up before six o'clock. Also, Gavin is live for us on your Monday morning out of the UK. All ahead. 00:17:57 Speaker 1: The early edition full show podcast on iHeartRadio. Powered by Newstalk ZB. Ryan Bridge on Early Edition with Spark, award-winning mobile coverage as tested by OpenSignal. 00:18:11 Speaker 3: Newstalk ZB. 24 away from 6, you're on Newstalk ZB. Great to have your company this Monday morning. 9292 is the number to text. Simon Bridges on John Key. Bit of a spat emerging between some former leaders there after the weekend's election. Also, Gavin is in the UK for us on this Polish, what could be a terror attack in Poland. Certainly a government's opened fire, six dead. Cops there talking about a right-wing sort of theory or manifesto. We'll get you across those details. Interesting that we're in somewhat of a limbo situation here. And Israel, the president there, has just given the nod to Eisencott. He's your more moderate, more centrist candidate, the guy running against Netanyahu. He's tapped him on the shoulder to say, you get the first opportunity, you get the first chance to form a government. And so he needs to run around, try and find some friends and gather them together enough to get a majority. If you can't do that within six weeks... Then, the President taps Netanyahu on the shoulder, and he has six weeks to run around, and that's how they do it there. It's 23 away from six. Now, reporters, Callum Dunedin, good morning. 00:19:28 Speaker 9: Good morning, Ryan. 00:19:30 Speaker 3: Largely the status quo in the South. 00:19:33 Speaker 13: Yeah, look, Labour's continued its stronghold here in Dunedin this election with incumbent Rachel Brooking winning the city seat by almost 9,000 votes, while Tairi has stayed with Ingrid Leary. Leary says she's thrilled that the people of Tairi have placed their trust in her once again. after she says she ran a huge campaign. Meanwhile in battle Dunedin City Councillor Benedict Ong who ran as an independent he managed just 265 votes. He's promised to stand down as a city councillor if he failed but now appears to have delayed that plan. Further South National had little competition in regaining seats. Ryan Joseph Mooney holding Southland. Penny Simmons once again winning in for Cargill. And in Waitaki Nationals, Miles Anderson is 8,000 votes ahead of Damien O'Connor. 00:20:17 Speaker 3: All right, and how's the weather? A bit dreary here today. 00:20:20 Speaker 13: Mostly cloudy, drizzly, south easterlies. 00:20:22 Speaker 3: The high just 12. Claire in Christchurch. Morning, Claire. 00:20:25 Speaker 14: Good morning. 00:20:26 Speaker 3: Some tight seats in 23. Not so tight this time. 00:20:29 Speaker 15: Yeah, Banks Peninsula was one of our closest electorates last time. That's swung decisively back to Labour now. Tracey McClellan reclaiming that Christchurch seat from Nationals Vanessa Wienink by more than 2,000 votes. That's five times the margin that was between them in 2023. Wienink, though, has largely avoided questions about the loss, instead saying the uncertainty around the next government is unsettling. Her social media pages, though, all deleted. Christchurch Central and East, they stay Labour-based. Ilim, Selwyn and Waimakariri are still very strong for blue. Further north in Nelson, there's a bit of deja vu for Nationals' Blair Cameron. He was ahead of Labour's Rachel Boyack on the night in 2023, only to end up losing by 26 votes in a final recount. This time, though, he's got a 1,200-vote lead on Boyack, which Cameron says is partly due to the right-wing vote-split strategy. In some sweeter news, though, we checked in with Rollick and Gelato's scoop poll, and that's the ice cream poll, to see who ended up winning that. The ACT Party-inspired David Smore Gelato took the crown just ahead of Luxon's Blueberry Lux. 00:21:33 Speaker 3: Ah, there you go. Says a lot about the South, potentially. How's your weather? 00:21:37 Speaker 15: Cloudy with drizzle this morning. Southerly's turning easterly. The high will be 15. 00:21:40 Speaker 3: Nice one, Claire. Thank you. Jacob Jones, Wellington. Good morning, Jacob. 00:21:43 Speaker 6: Morning. 00:21:44 Speaker 3: You've got a couple of races there, including Wellington Bays. Very, very, very close. Maybe too close to calls. 00:21:49 Speaker 7: Yeah, National will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of special votes in the Wairarapa. Incumbent MP Mike Butterick holds a 139 vote lead over Labour's Karen McAnulty in a race that remains on a knife's edge. Labour's Craig Rennie currently holds a lead of just over 140 votes over incumbent Green MP Julianne Genter. The newly drawn electorate is considered one of the most left-leaning in the country and includes our most isolated community in the Chatham Islands. National MP Chris Bishop has conceded he's unlikely to retain the Hutt South seat and is likely to be out of Parliament. Labour's Ginny Anderson, who's leading that race, says Parliament will be a very different place without Bishop and he's made her a better politician, being up against someone constantly so strong on their game. 00:22:36 Speaker 3: Tell me about the weather. 00:22:37 Speaker 7: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Some afternoon fine spells. Southerlies developing in the morning. 00:22:42 Speaker 3: Nice one. Thank you very much, Jacob. Neva is here for Auckland. Good morning, Neva. Good morning. And can I say... Good morning. Happy birthday to you. 00:22:51 Speaker 2: Oh. 00:22:51 Speaker 3: Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Neva. Happy birthday to you. 00:22:56 Speaker 8: Oh, see. 00:22:57 Speaker 12: Oh, look. 00:22:57 Speaker 14: I was just. 00:22:58 Speaker 16: You know how I'm usually quite loud and I throw it around? It's my

birthday today. 00:23:01 Speaker 8: I thought. 00:23:02 Speaker 16: No, you know, the election, my birthday's been overshadowed by the election. 00:23:06 Speaker 3: I feel like I do it quite quietly. I had it in my calendar. 00:23:10 Speaker 14: Well, thank you, because you're my scorpion brother. 00:23:12 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:23:12 Speaker 14: Yours must be coming up next week. 00:23:15 Speaker 3: Oh, no. It's 16 Sunday, is it? 00:23:19 Speaker 8: Yes. 00:23:20 Speaker 3: Anyway, I mean, who cares? You get to a certain age, don't you? 00:23:22 Speaker 14: Oh, that's right. It's all downhill. Who wants to know about birthdays? But you're a lot younger than me, so. 00:23:27 Speaker 3: Certainly am. Now, let's talk about weather. Actually, we'll do a quick run through the seats and then weather. 00:23:33 Speaker 14: Okay, I'll be real quick. So, yes, the highlights. Peppering the highlights here in Auckland. 00:23:37 Speaker 16: At Sete de Luz, Auckland's Tamaki seat. Candidate James Christmas, though, he's in third place, but he'll still get in anyway on the party list. 00:23:46 Speaker 14: But Nationals, Mahesh Mariladia is there. 00:23:49 Speaker 16: He's won that. And also Christmas comes behind Max Harris from Labour. We've got Chloe Swarbrick, obviously. She keeps Auckland Central active. David Seymour keeps Epsom again. Labour's Helen White clears the field for another three years for Mount Albert. 00:24:03 Speaker 14: There, there you have it. 00:24:04 Speaker 2: There you go. 00:24:05 Speaker 10: Yeah. 00:24:05 Speaker 3: The only really interesting one, the only one I didn't see coming was I thought James Christmas would take out Mahesh in Tamaki. 00:24:12 Speaker 14: Oh, yes, yes. 00:24:14 Speaker 3: Because he's ran, Mahesh has ran in Auckland Central before and lost in Auckland Central. 00:24:19 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:24:19 Speaker 14: And he got third. Yeah, I was quite surprised about that too. But at least he gets in there. 00:24:23 Speaker 3: That's the thing, they're both going anyway, so maybe there was some strategy there too. 00:24:27 Speaker 14: Well, yeah, it's all about the strategy, isn't it? 00:24:29 Speaker 3: Strategy, strategy, strategy. 00:24:30 Speaker 2: Yep, yep. 00:24:30 Speaker 3: How's our weather? 00:24:31 Speaker 14: Rain, that's about it. 22 is the high. 00:24:33 Speaker 3: Thanks, Neva. 00:24:34 Speaker 14: Did you think I made that up? 00:24:36 Speaker 3: No, because I checked it earlier. But you have a beautiful day. 00:24:40 Speaker 14: Oh, thank you, my friend. 00:24:41 Speaker 3: What are you going to do? Work, go home, sleep? 00:24:45 Speaker 16: Well, I was actually going to go home and have a wee nap because, you know, we're all here on Saturday. I'm so exhausted, tired. But then someone said, oh, for goodness sake, so I'm going to have breakfast. 00:24:54 Speaker 8: Oh, lovely. 00:24:54 Speaker 3: At 10 a.m. Oh, good. 00:24:56 Speaker 14: Pretty boring, really. 00:24:57 Speaker 3: Good. Now you've got to

do something. You've got to do something. 00:24:59 Speaker 14: Thank you, my friend. 00:25:00 Speaker 3: Especially at your age. 17 away from. 00:25:09 Speaker 4: Six. 00:25:13 Speaker 3: Time is quarter to six. You're on Newstalk ZB. Let's go to Gavin Gray, our UK-Europe correspondent. Gavin, tell us about this gunman, believed to be inspired by the far right. How do we know all this? 00:25:24 Speaker 10: Yeah, that's not yet been ultra sort of confirmed, but that's what it's thought. Somebody described by a minister as being an ultra nationalist, a 25-year-old Polish man. He's in hospital having undergone surgery. Police are waiting to question him. They shot him and arrested him. But it's alleged that he went to Krakow, that's the second largest city in Poland, and began shooting at a very popular tourist spot at the main market square. There were 16 injured, five foreign nationals, Austrian, German, Portuguese, Russian and British. But he did also manage to kill six people. And those six are believed to include three Polish, one British and two who have not yet been identified before men and two women in that group. It's sort of basically just drove onto the main streets, main market square in Krakow began. shooting randomly. And then when police went to what they believe is his home, roughly 200 kilometers away, they found three more bodies, all thought to be, but not confirmed to be, close family members. So, as I said, thought to be an ultranationalist. Investigations ongoing. High security in Poland, Krakow and other cities in Poland. And some awful CCTV and phone footage showing the shooting, completely indiscriminate run across this square. 00:26:47 Speaker 3: Absolutely. So tell us about the length of time we think that the former comedian and TV host Russell Brand will spend behind bars. 00:26:57 Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean, I've heard of different ranges of different opinions on this, but I think it will be a considerable sentence. I don't think we're going to see more than a decade, but it'll be several years. Of course, with good behavior, he could be out in less than half that time, but it is going to be. a considerable sentence, we believe, due to be heard by the court in roughly 18 hours' time. And the head of police, the most senior police officer in the UK, the head of police in London, is saying it wouldn't surprise him if more people don't come forward to say that they believe as well that they were raped or were sexually assaulted by Russell Brown, the actor, comedian, the 51-year-old from London. And he's saying, you know, we have already interviewed two other women who are alleging they were raped by him. We've questioned him about those. We may be prosecuting him for those as well. But they do believe many, many others could now start to come forward now that those brave women who gave evidence in court have seen him sentenced. And also on a slightly sort of tangential thing, the head of the culture department in the government, the media culture, is saying abuse in the media industry is still happening. And they're warning that not enough is being done to protect women. That the culture secretary warning this weekend. 00:28:14 Speaker 3: Gavin Gray, our UK Europe correspondent. It is 12 away from six. Right, it is close, yes. Luxon already extending a bit of an olive branch of sorts to Opportunity. 00:28:25 Speaker 16: I actually do want to build a relationship with her as the leader and also with her party and do try and find common ground. 00:28:31 Speaker 3: Softening it up, Simon Bridges, Auckland Business Chamber CEO, former national leader with us this morning. Simon, good morning. 00:28:37 Speaker 2: Hey, morning Ryan. 00:28:38 Speaker 3: So yeah, about 90% plus chance we'll get a coalition returned here, right? The question is, will or won't they need Opportunity? 00:28:47 Speaker 2: That's right. 00:28:48 Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, look, at the moment it looks like they don't, but of course on the specials, you know, if there was even sort of relatively small changes in favour of the parties in opposition or opportunities, that would change the equation. And as you say, I mean, that the current government and the National Party particularly might need the opportunities there in some way, shape or form. 00:29:13 Speaker 3: And Luxon will have to pick up the phone because otherwise, I mean, I spoke to Erica on Saturday night and the message through gritted teeth was, we will make this happen. 00:29:23 Speaker 2: You know what I mean? 00:29:25 Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, I think that's right. I think in the end, you know, if you're leader of a big party like that and you're in the box seat, regardless of all the other stuff and what you've said and. 00:29:36 Speaker 2: Done and this, that and the other thing. 00:29:38 Speaker 9: You've got some duties and one of them is to try and be in government, right? 00:29:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. 00:29:42 Speaker 9: And we know what that means. 00:29:44 Speaker 3: Yeah, totally. But the interesting thing actually was a podcast that John Key did last week. And John Key last week was asked, would you go back on your word or would you feel like you had to resign? And he'd say, do you know what? I feel like I would have to resign. Because you cannot lie to the public. The people would see it as really lying to them and misleading them. You can't do that for six weeks and then turn around and say, oh, no, no, I'll do another thing now. You just lost all your credibility. 00:30:13 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, these things are really difficult. 00:30:16 Speaker 9: And, you know, when you entrench your position strongly, and I can understand why you do that, right, it becomes difficult. I mean, what was the old saying, you know, electioneering and poetry and governing and prose. 00:30:29 Speaker 2: I mean, they're slightly different things. 00:30:31 Speaker 9: I think in the end, I come back to it, you know, in the end

you've got to try and be the government and you've got to do what. 00:30:36 Speaker 2: You've got to do. 00:30:37 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:30:38 Speaker 3: And then what do you reckon? He taps out mid-term, does a change, gets out of politics? 00:30:43 Speaker 9: Oh, look, I don't have any sense of that. I mean, I think from a business perspective, what I say is, you know, there'll be a lot of people out there, oh, this is uncertain, we're not sure, we don't know what's going to happen. 00:30:52 Speaker 2: We just need to be adults in this period, right? 00:30:54 Speaker 9: There's no harm coming to us from what's got to be like a month, maybe two months, you know, possibly even longer. We may want some certainty in government, but nothing's going wrong. I've actually got a lot of reason for optimism when I think about it from a business perspective. The reality is, The current government was getting better over the term. 00:31:13 Speaker 2: I think it was improving. 00:31:14 Speaker 9: And as you get more experience, I think you get better at instinct. 00:31:17 Speaker 2: You get better decisiveness. 00:31:18 Speaker 9: The thing I'd like to see is more reform. I'd like to see a more reformist finance minister. I'd like to see ACT. 00:31:26 Speaker 2: New Zealand First and National really to. 00:31:28 Speaker 9: Come together on that, put aside a bit of politics and do what the country needs, which is some serious economic reform. 00:31:35 Speaker 3: Same will be good there. 00:31:38 Speaker 9: Well, yeah, I think he's saying he's interested. I think that's good, because as I say, whether he gets there or not, I think between him, I think, you know, in New Zealand first, look, it's probably likely Shane, Shane Jones. In the National Party, you'd have to say with Bishop and Nicola Willis, looking almost certainly not to be in Parliament, Simeon Brown. 00:32:00 Speaker 2: I mean, I think those three would make a very strong team, depending. 00:32:03 Speaker 9: On, you know, regardless in a sense of who's finance and who are the associates in that relationship. 00:32:08 Speaker 8: All right. 00:32:09 Speaker 3: Hey, good. So, by the way, John Key embarrassed. 00:32:12 Speaker 1: Why? 00:32:12 Speaker 3: Because he gave attention to the overhang strategic voting campaign? 00:32:17 Speaker 2: I think that's right. 00:32:19 Speaker 9: And I think, look, candidly, more fundamentally, I think when you've been a former very significant prime minister entering into daily politics all the time, here's its issues. 00:32:31 Speaker 2: The truth is, you. 00:32:32 Speaker 9: Can argue about how much strategic voting was or was not effective. But the precise opposite of what John Key said has turned out to be probably the thing, if it does, that has saved the National Party and this current government's bacon. 00:32:49 Speaker 3: Simon Bridges, former National Leader, Newstalk ZB. Hear it first. 00:32:54 Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge on early edition with Spark, award-winning mobile coverage as tested by Open Signal, Newstalk ZB. 00:33:03 Speaker 3: Newstalk ZB, it is five away from six. Monday morning and Mike's here. Good morning, Mike. 00:33:07 Speaker 17: Good to see you, Ryan. 00:33:08 Speaker 3: Great to see you too. We were both wrong about opportunity. 00:33:11 Speaker 2: Yep. 00:33:12 Speaker 3: So, you know, that needs to be addressed. What else were you wrong about? Well, I was wrong about the ACT New Zealand First situation. I said that New Zealand First would get more votes than the ACT Party and they did not. And also? That New Zealand First didn't get 13%. 00:33:32 Speaker 17: So two out of three. 00:33:33 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. So what do you owe me? 00:33:35 Speaker 17: It was $ 1, 000, wasn't it? 00:33:37 Speaker 3: There was no money involved. 00:33:39 Speaker 17: So $ 2, 000 in total. Do you know what I'm really– do you know what I'm sort of– I called it on Friday, and I'm glad I'm right, but depressingly so, turnout. So it was a boring campaign. It was dull, and the turnout is shocking. There's a million people– I saw that. Who enrolled and couldn't even be bothered participating. 00:34:03 Speaker 3: There was a bit of rain. 00:34:05 Speaker 17: Oh, I mean, you know, and everyone got excited about the early votes. You know, oh, what's that saying? It said nothing other than convenience. I mean, what does it take for us to be interested in boating? 00:34:17 Speaker 3: Well, you would make sport more like rugby because that's what people watched on the weekend. I guess so. And the F1. Anyway, Prime Minister in this morning. Good stuff. I've got Kule Wong over on TV3 from 7 o'clock. See you tomorrow, Newstalk ZB.