Q+A – March 25, 2012

Panel Discussion in response to
Political Moment of the Week

Hosted by PAUL HOLMES

PAUL So what do we make of the Nick Smith resignation? How could he have made such a damn silly mistake?

DR RAYMOND MILLER – Political Analyst
It is such a surprise in someone so experienced as Nick Smith. I mean, the cabinet manual is quite clear about conflict of interest.

PAUL You don’t even need the cabinet manual. You know you can’t... (laughs)

RAYMOND Exactly. Some of the others you mentioned – such as Phil Heatley, for instance – were relatively inexperienced ministers, and you could say they made mistakes that were understandable in a sense, but with Nick Smith, you can’t understand why he’d make a mistake like that. I believe he’s going to get rehabilitated – as long as he doesn’t talk to Investigate magazine or something like that – within the term of this government. But nevertheless, it’s a very sad thing for him to have to go through.

PAUL Well, as I said earlier in the programme, I don’t think anyone enjoyed seeing him in that state...

DEBORAH CODDINGTON – Former ACT Party MP
No.

PAUL ...outside parliament, because he’s been a damn good performer.

DEBORAH He has, and he’s a very passionate MP too. I mean, who wants these grey sort of people who don’t do anything wrong and don’t speak out? And he flies off the handle every now and then, but I’d rather that than someone without passion.

PAUL How big a loss is he to Key, in terms of the way he was managing a very complex portfolio?

JOHN TAMIHERE – Former Labour Minister
Listen, he was raising a very important debate over the performance of our local authorities and their fiscal competencies and all that, and I think that’s very important right now. And so he was leading that. He was over water. Water’s going to be a huge issue in our country shortly, so he’s a very capable, very competent man, and lead minister. He’s a big loss. He had to go, though, but he’s a big loss.

PAUL Key handled it alright, or too slow?

JOHN Oh, well, you know, you’ve got to try, and if you’ve got a mate like that who’s across three big chunks of work that you’re doing, you would like to keep them at all costs, wouldn’t you?

PAUL What is it like to fall like that? You had a mighty fall.

JOHN Oh, yeah, yeah, but I’m back on the horse now. But, look, the problem he had and like we all do is you’ve got family and you’ve got kids and you’ve got a wife back in Nelson. And so his emotion is... He can take it on the chin, can Nick, but it’s all the emotion and passion of your babies watching it and your partner and your wife, and so that’s the tough thing about politics – you know, it’s the family that takes the roasting.

DEBORAH I think also, aside from his portfolios, why it’s hard for National is Nick Smith – you know, he never liked the Ruth Richardson sort of reforms and that sort thing, so Nick Smith, he is blue-green, and as well as that, he and Bill English, they sort of soften those welfare reforms, that sort of thing. So Key will be trying to rehabilitate him as soon as possible.

PAUL I see his doctorate... I read the other day his doctorate is great slips as a result of engineering.

DEBORAH Yes.

(laughter)

RAYMOND The interesting thing about it is of course we’ve had something like 12 resignations and dismissals in the last decade, and it reflects either that people are misbehaving more than they should and more than they did previously, or else we’re much more concerned about issues around ministerial performance and so on. And I think it’s a bit of each, in a sense. But John Key, I think... He delayed for a day, and I think it’s because John Key – it’s the way he operates. He likes to see what the media opinion and public opinion, how it’s going before he makes a final response.

PAUL Now, the particular woman at the centre of this, of course, she had some serious complaints about ACC. And one is never short of ACC stories. Are there serious concerns about the way ACC...

JOHN Yeah, there are.

PAUL ...is being run?

JOHN No, no, look, when they’re under a fiscal... very strong leadership at the moment by commercial boys, they are mean-spirited, and they are looking at things and ruling that they are degenerative rather than the consequence of an accident. They’ve migrated people across from 80% income, which ACC underwrites, into sickness beneficiaries and a whole bunch of other things. And to defend against them as an individual against a monopoly corporate provider from out of the state is just tough. And so there are some very, very sad stories out there.