1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: Let's look at well, it looks like the doors open 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: to some sort of part privatization of the new ferries 3 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: across the Strait. Cabinet has had a word apparently after 4 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Winston Peter seems to have changed his mind around the matter, 5 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: and the Deputy Prime Minister to David Seymore he likes 6 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: it and he's all for it, and he's with us. 7 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: A very good morning to you, Good morning. May you'd 8 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: know about submissions, wouldn't you? With your regulation and your 9 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: regulatory standards bill. I've never seen this is immediately off topic, 10 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: very poorly conducted an interview. I've never seen a subject 11 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: that's so dry been having so many people exercised about it. 12 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 2: Well, I heard someone say, never have so many been 13 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: exercised by so few on so little substance. But if 14 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 2: I could just get one thing across about these so 15 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 2: called submissions. I think the public submitting on legislation to 16 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: Parliament as a critical part of the democratic process. But 17 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 2: it's supposed to be by people that have read the legislation, 18 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 2: understood it and has something constructive to add. What's actually 19 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 2: happened this hundred one thousand or so. Greenpeace set up 20 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 2: a website they give you a place to put your name, 21 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 2: and then they give you four statements about the Regulatory 22 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 2: Standards Bill which are false, invite you to click one 23 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 2: of those, and then you agree, and then you have 24 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 2: a preformed submission without ever having touched the bill or 25 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 2: understood it. And of course that's somehow called democracy. It's 26 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 2: actually a perversion of democracy, and it's mainly designed so 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 2: Greenpeace can get your email address. 28 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: Okay, fairies, how far has this got? 29 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 2: Well, Winston Peters has got the baton on this. It's 30 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 2: his job to go out and find the boats, make 31 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 2: sure that they're going to line up with the terminals, 32 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 2: which is the problem that the previous government got itself into. 33 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 2: And once he's done that, Cabinet I'll sign it off 34 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 2: and we should have by the end of the decade 35 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 2: some shiny new fairies, just in time for the current 36 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 2: ones to become obsolete. 37 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: Do we care who owns them? 38 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 2: Well, we do, because this government is facing pretty tough 39 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 2: times with debt. Frankly, it's not our fault, it's not 40 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 2: the previous government's fault. It's everyone's fault. But for too 41 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 2: long we've been far too lax about government capital as 42 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 2: a result, You know, we have the choice. We can 43 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 2: own a two billion dollar fairry business and if the 44 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 2: government's paying five percent interest, that's one hundred million every year. 45 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 2: Now it'd better be making at least one hundred million 46 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 2: to pay that back. But sadly, most government businesses are 47 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 2: making a loss on average, they're making a huge loss 48 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 2: across the board. And if people are worried about the 49 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 2: cost of living, which I certainly am, well, the biggest 50 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 2: cost that people have a third of the economy as government. 51 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 2: If you add on councils, it's two fifths of the economy. 52 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 2: And I think it's time for some honest conversations. Given 53 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 2: government's track record of being hopeless at maintaining hospitals, hopeless 54 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,079 Speaker 2: with the state housing portfolio, owning a whole lot of 55 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 2: businesses that lose money every year, do we want to 56 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 2: keep spending nine billion in total on interest payments on 57 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: debt for assets that aren't performing. Because if people want 58 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 2: to do that, they can, but it's not going to 59 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 2: make the boat go faster. 60 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: No, it is not. Is that view held across government 61 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: or would somebody like you have a battle on that. 62 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 2: Let's say that I think there's ideology and there's reality. 63 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 2: I have long had the philosophical view that government is 64 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 2: not a good operator of commercial enterprises, and there's no 65 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 2: shortage of evidence for that. But the reality will be 66 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 2: much more persuasive to whoever's in government. You've got to 67 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 2: balance the books, and at the moment we own too 68 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 2: many underperforming assets. We are really struggling as a result. 69 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 2: The New Zealand people who fund the government as taxpayers 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 2: are struggling and it's going to have to be a reckoning. 71 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 2: The alternative is people young and talented keep looking further 72 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 2: afield for opportunity, and I don't want that. 73 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: No, that is quite right. I read out a thing 74 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: from principal on this is yet another subject on school holidays. 75 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: No one turning up because it was rainy and and 76 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: we're all et cetera, cea, Are you losing that battle 77 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: of getting kids to school? 78 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 2: No, every term that I've been in charge of attendance, 79 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 2: we've had better stats than before. We're up almost ten 80 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 2: points on where we were in twenty twenty three, so 81 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 2: we are actually winning. However, I mentioned I actually tweeted 82 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 2: that it was sent to my electorate office by a youth. 83 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 2: A police officer who really cares about this topic. And 84 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 2: his text message back to the person was a face palm, 85 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 2: because when you've got presumably a principle, we haven't identified 86 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 2: them telling people, you know what, it's a bit rainy, 87 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 2: school's not a priority. That message goes out through the 88 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 2: community and it lets down all the good principles and 89 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 2: educators who are sending the right message. But unfortunately education 90 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 2: has gone down the totem polem. And you look at 91 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 2: the floods here at all two years ago there was 92 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 2: no reason for ninety five percent of students not to 93 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 2: physically go to school. In the aftermath of that, however, 94 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 2: only Auckland Grammar and Stanley Bay Primary actually stayed open. 95 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 2: They surveyed their people and it was fascinating. The teachers 96 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 2: or said it was far too dangerous to open. The 97 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 2: parents said that they had to. So there's got to 98 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 2: be a transformation and attitude, because if we don't pass 99 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 2: knowledge on from one generation to the next, doesn't matter 100 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 2: how many fairies we own were cooked. 101 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: Couldn't agree more. I was reading business desk this morning. 102 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, once again out of left field. 103 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: Is there a merger between Ministry of Transport Ministry of 104 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: Housing and Urban Development, in the Ministry of Environment, as 105 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: driven by Brian Roche, in other words, squeezing some people together. 106 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 2: Well, I don't know the answer to that. You'd have 107 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 2: to ask Chris Bishop, who's the Minister of most of 108 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 2: those things. However, I do know that Brian Roche is 109 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 2: pretty hot to trup. He's recognizing that there are too 110 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 2: many department, too many ministers, and too many lines of accountability. 111 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 2: I happen to happen to have given a speech saying 112 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 2: exactly that myself about two months ago, so I'm hardly 113 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 2: going to protest. If that is happening, then there won't 114 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 2: be much resistance from me. 115 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: Good stuff. Nice to talk to you, David Seymour, the 116 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: Deputy Prime Minister, act Leader and Assistant Minister Associate Minister 117 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: of Education. 118 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 2: For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to 119 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,559 Speaker 2: news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow 120 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio.