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Speaker 1: Good afternoon. Well, Luxan warned us about retiring cabinet members

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Speaker 1: and we have our first. Judith Collins has announced that

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Speaker 1: she's quitting politics and heading off to become the Boss

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Speaker 1: of the Law Commission. She's been in Parliament since two

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Speaker 1: thousand and two. She served in multiple portfolios and even

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Speaker 1: briefly led to the National Party. So let's talk to her.

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Speaker 1: High Judith, Hello, Heather, Why now?

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Speaker 2: Well, I've done twenty four years, twelve years in opposition,

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Speaker 2: twelve in government. We're in a really good position. I

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Speaker 2: love the portfolios. I feel like I'm really on a

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Speaker 2: high and it's a great position I'm moving to as

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Speaker 2: President of the Law Commission, something I've long looked at

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Speaker 2: and thought, oh, I'd be great in that role. So

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Speaker 2: it's a good opportunity, good timing.

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Speaker 1: Is this something that you had thought about last year

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Speaker 1: and then mulled over summer and decided on this year.

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Speaker 1: Does it work like that?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I've been thinking about it for quite some time,

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Speaker 2: and Prime Minister and I had been discussing it for

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Speaker 2: a while. Because I discussed it with him. I brought

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Speaker 2: it up and said, I think this would be a

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Speaker 2: great role, and actually I can't stay forever. It's twenty

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Speaker 2: four years, as I have of a long time in politics.

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Speaker 1: Did he try to talk you out of him?

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Speaker 2: Oh, he certainly didn't want me to go, which I

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Speaker 2: think is really nice. But he is very understanding of

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Speaker 2: the fact that, as you know, politics is really hard

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Speaker 2: on people's families and also the lack of a personal

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Speaker 2: life or any time. So I think he is very

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Speaker 2: aware of that. So I think he you know, he's

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Speaker 2: been great.

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Speaker 1: What did your husband say when you told him that

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Speaker 1: this was happening.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think my husband was very much behind me

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Speaker 2: doing something else. And look, I think that it'll be

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Speaker 2: a good opportunity for me just to refresh because I'm

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Speaker 2: pretty much over politics now. I really enjoy the tone

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Speaker 2: general side, defense or that I've tried and security agencies.

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Speaker 2: I've pretty much tried to be politicians a whole lot,

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Speaker 2: which probably explains where I think I've had about one

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Speaker 2: or two parliamentary questions in US two in a years.

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Speaker 2: So I'm I'm just getting the job done as best

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Speaker 2: I can, not making too much of fuss.

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Speaker 1: Is that a maturity thing? Do you think you're at

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Speaker 1: the start? I'd imagine that it's kind of you know,

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Speaker 1: the cut and thrust in the game of politics is

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Speaker 1: quite intoxicating. But as you get along and try to

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Speaker 1: get stuff done and get older, it just gets annoying.

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Speaker 2: I'd imagine, Well, I find that it gets in the

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Speaker 2: way of getting the job done. And when I think

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Speaker 2: about the portfolios I have at the moment, which are

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Speaker 2: all so much, so interesting and very the best way

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Speaker 2: for me to help bring about positive change is to

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Speaker 2: get as much cross party support as possible, and that

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Speaker 2: sort of the gates going after people. In terms of

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Speaker 2: the politics of it, it's actually about trying to say,

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Speaker 2: can we get a general agreement. I think if I

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Speaker 2: look at the Defense Capability Plan that we got through

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Speaker 2: last year, that was an enormous increase for defense and

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Speaker 2: our understanding of our place of the world and security needed.

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Speaker 2: But we aw briefly opposition. We got a pretty good

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Speaker 2: response from them. I've done that in other things on

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Speaker 2: space and in security agencies. I found that I've been

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Speaker 2: getting a good response because I'm not politicizing it, and

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Speaker 2: I just maybe is maturity, but I think it's also

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Speaker 2: the seriousness of these portfolios.

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Speaker 1: If you could have done anything differently in the last

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Speaker 1: twenty four years, what would it have been.

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Speaker 2: Well, there have been times when I've thought, gosh, why

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Speaker 2: did I put myself into this situation? That was a

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Speaker 2: bit stupid, But I would say it's incredibly interesting and

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Speaker 2: fun and also meet so many people, go so many places,

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Speaker 2: get to see stuff we never see otherwise. But the

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Speaker 2: one thing I would do would be not to take

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Speaker 2: on the leadership of the National Party. In twenty twenty,

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Speaker 2: women in a COVID pandemic and anything I said saying

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Speaker 2: that the government hadn't done something like was then picked

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Speaker 2: up and I was accused of essentially all over the

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Speaker 2: country of trying to kill people. I thought that was

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Speaker 2: the hospital pass from hell, and I knew it was

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Speaker 2: a hospital pass now, and I still did it, even

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Speaker 2: though my husband was saying, don't do that, and I thought, well,

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Speaker 2: who's going to do it if I don't, So here

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Speaker 2: we go. I did it, but you know it was

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Speaker 2: probably not helpful. But look, there's no point having regret

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Speaker 2: to just get on, don't you.

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Speaker 1: What's done is done now. I spoke to you one time.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember when it was. It was a summer,

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Speaker 1: maybe it was the summer after the leadership. Actually, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty and you said you were going to write a

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Speaker 1: like a murder mystery or something, a thriller.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we have to do that. But I haven't

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Speaker 2: actually done anything on it. And it's primarily because I've

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Speaker 2: had seven portfolios running plus being the MP for Pepacora.

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Speaker 2: I mean, what time do I head? That's my weekend? Well,

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Speaker 2: now you've got time papers, well or not yet. I'm

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Speaker 2: still the minister. I'm still getting the job done. I've

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Speaker 2: still got seven portfolios. And the other thing is like

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Speaker 2: I'll have plenty of other things to write at the

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Speaker 2: Law Commission, So we'll see. But I think for my

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Speaker 2: for my summer holiday, maybe next year I could start

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Speaker 2: on it. That would be quite cool, a move in mystery,

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Speaker 2: and I think would be fun. And I really like

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Speaker 2: the rook that Rachel Paris has done. The there is

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Speaker 2: a that's a good job, written a great book. She's

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Speaker 2: writing a great book and I've and I thought, oh gosh,

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Speaker 2: I wonder if I could write something like that. So

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Speaker 2: I must talk to her about it.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Jude, thank you very much for your time,

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Speaker 1: and go well Judith Collins. And by the way, the

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Speaker 1: book that Judith was just talking about is Rachel Paris's

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Speaker 1: murder mystery, See how they fall. For more from Heather

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Speaker 1: Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to news talks it'd be

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Speaker 1: from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio