 m avait koходu tawar welcoming ni faintenia new leader o tawar files mū introduction wana i grawbrim i nis mabagi kawledd Disarray? Is this a poison chalice? Well the party is very united, we want to win, we want to take the issues to the government and as we know the New Zealanders are facing absolutely unprecedented in our lifetimes anyway economic times. Sure and I will get to the economic discussion but is that credible to suggest that the party is united? We know that there was obviously huge division with Todd Muller taking over the leadership from Simon Bridges Mark Mitchell standing against you that doesn't suggest a party that is united? Well I think that the party is very much united and if we ask the volunteers, we ask the members and we look at that caucus all standing with Gerry and me and the team last night that looked like a pretty united caucus to me and it looked like a very good team. Will there be a reshuffle? There will be a minor reshuffle and that's just because Gerry and I are obviously shifting positions and we just need to make sure that we do some accommodation around that. I think I'm going to be pretty busy and Gerry up and down the country and I think it's really important that the big portfolios that we have and particularly what I've got get someone else to look at. Can Michael Woodhouse stay in his position as the health spokesperson given he criticised the government over its handling of COVID-19 privacy and knowing that Michelle Bogue had been providing COVID-19 patient details to him and Hamish Walker? That is a very good question and one which I'll be answering pretty soon once I've had a look at the facts. So I have no oversight of that and I have none of the facts on that other than what I read in the media. So I'll be talking to Michael today, we'll be getting some information on that and then I'll make a call on that. Aftaball, with what you have seen from Michelle Bogue, Hamish Walker, Michael Woodhouse in relation to the release of COVID-19 patient details. Absolutely not at all comfortable with it and when we had 18 people private information released in that way I thought that was extraordinary and I've never seen anything quite like that and I'm taking this very seriously. So is it tenable for Michael Woodhouse to stay as your health spokesperson? Let me have a look at the facts first and I'll discuss that but I think we'll see what happens today. Do you have any concerns about diversity on your front bench? Well, I'm not particularly worried about that. My concern is that we represent New Zealanders and not only diversity is not just in race and it's not just in age or in gender. Diversity is also diversity of thought and I think it's really important that when we're looking at this that we actually have the team that's going to best represent New Zealanders. OK, because you said at the time of the debate around the front bench with Todd Muller, you questioned whether there was something wrong with you being white. Well, isn't it? Is there something wrong with being white? But that's not the point, is it? The question is about when the statistics show that Māori and Pacific Islanders and others are so disadvantaged that they need representation. I think that's not the point because I certainly know that. I mean my husband Samoan, Aaron Samoan. Are you there? Yes, my husband Samoan and we've certainly seen some of the bigotry over the years so I think it's really important that we address these issues and I think everyone knows that it's important to not only look like a representative but actually be representative. I mean we've got a government with three competent ministers and the Prime Minister. We've got a team that's actually very competent, the whole lot of us. The issue with you making comments like that is more about I think what worries some people is that it ventures into what some describe as the cultural wars, virtue signalling this type of argument. Is that an area where you are interested in, you are worried about or is that a distraction? I think most New Zealanders aren't worried about things like cultural wars or whatever but they're really worried about is the fact that a lot of them are looking at losing their jobs through no-fail for their own and that's what my big focus is going to be. We're going to have a minor reshuffle which has to happen and I think you're going to see that our team comes out of an even stronger than they are now and they're really strong. Shane Reti, will he move to the front bench? We'll discuss that. Shane Reti is someone who I think is an outstanding New Zealander and MP and I think he's one of our standout people. Let's address the issue of dirty politics. Arguably some would say it's dirty politics that have got you where you are now because of what happened with Hamish Walker and Michelle Bogue but do you resale from your actions in 2014, your association with Cameron Slater, that style of politics? I think we'll clearly read in my book which I'm sure you've read. Not yet I'm afraid sorry. Oh you need to, you don't want to worry. It's on the reading list, rest assured. No 2014 books are so old-style. It's best to have this new book I've put out. The fact is that people say all sorts of stupid things and I also think too is that we don't want to have that sort of culture any more. It's very important in our National Party that we're focused on the people, on the New Zealanders and you can't actually be focused on New Zealanders when you're busy playing politics. One of the things I've learnt over the years is you only ever learn from your mistakes, you don't learn from your successes and the National Party is very focused on not repeating any mistakes. That's interesting because people want to know that, don't they? They want to know that do you accept that you made mistakes during the dirty politics era that you have changed that things will be different? I think one of the big things you learn from those mistakes is don't put things in writing or don't even say things actually, you just think they're a joke. Don't do that because a lot of people will read them later and think it's not... So you don't think you did anything wrong during that period? Did I say that? No, I didn't. I think it's very important, Koran, that we are focused on the people. You can't be focused on the people when you're wandering around playing politics. So you accept that you did wrong during that period? I think it was pretty clear that the whole culture at that time was one that wasn't necessarily conducive to doing the best that we could because it's important that we move on. In fact, I have. You've highlighted the economy. How would you, as a Prime Minister, address the massive gap in our economy that's been left from tourism, export education? How would you drive gross? Well, I'm not going to counter all today because obviously we've got a series of policy announcements coming up and speeches where they will be outlined much more fully than they can at the moment. But we're only about 60 days from an election. I know. Isn't it time to start rolling this stuff out? And we are, and we have been. Some will have to be... Well, I can see five themes, and that's it. Some will have to be re-announced and that's going to be coming up very soon. I think it's very important that we focus on cutting costs wherever we can, but at the same time in terms of business, at the same time encouraging business and looking at, for instance, a smart policy around borders so that we can safely bring people in at the right time, only with safety to New Zealanders, but at the same time that we have to look at other industries as well is our current one. We've got some things we're going to announce. RMA reform is a big issue for me and I think it's something that the party is absolutely up for. Just looking at your record, you've done a Masters in Taxation, haven't you? Yes, I certainly have. So I wonder whether you believe realistically looking at New Zealand's future with a $50 billion debt looming that has to be paid back. Can that realistically be done without raising taxes in the future? One of the best ways of doing that and it can be done is actually to grow the economy. If we grow the economy, then we have more money coming through in taxes but we also have more money in people's pockets. It's a virtuous cycle basically and that's the secret. The secret is not ripping money out of people's pockets. So you think we can grow away the debt, so to speak? We can grow away along that but at the same time, we're at an opportunity now in New Zealand with infrastructure needs that we have and the fact that we have opportunities around that, addressing it, investing in our economy through infrastructure and keeping people in work. We can actually do this. It's not an easy job. That's why you've got the experience, hands in charge. OK, let me put it another way. Can we deal with a $50 billion debt hole in your view without cutting services? We can't go around cutting health services, for instance, or education services. What we can do is we don't have to have 320 working groups under a National-led Government. That's an opportunity. So we have the opportunities there but we have to have, going into this election, to be announced in various stages, a very clear plan the way forward and one of the things we're not going to do is we're not going to hobble business until New Zealanders are trying to get... OK, so no tax increases and no service cuts? I will not be the Prime Minister who increases taxes and I will not be the Prime Minister who cuts our health services. Will you work with Winston Peters? Well, we have worked with Mr Peters' Party for various pieces of legislation in the last three years and we'll no doubt continue to do so. The caucus has made a call on that. There's no change in that. We also believe that this election is an opportunity for us to show New Zealanders that we can do. They make those choices ultimately about who comes into Parliament and we don't even know if New Zealand first will be back. Looking at the COVID response you mentioned about borders, is there something you would do differently when it comes to managing managed isolation? Yes, there have been some bungals along the way but in the end, would you have actually done anything differently? Well, we're going to be looking at that. I think there are some things around there that people in managed isolation that you don't have one hotel with a pain load of people, then another pain load comes in and they go into that same hotel. You mess up all the quarantine times. It's just looked like a complete muddle and we saw that with people escaping and people getting on various things and cars and going on road trips. Look, it just looked like a mess and the fact that New Zealanders need to feel very confident. I thought that in terms of the health response that was very good people were able to feel safe but we can't be in lockdown forever and as a country we need to be able to not only just trade but we also need to have international students and tourism. What sort of measures would you need to see before you would be comfortable opening the borders? Would you need to be no community transmission with the country that we would open the border with? What would be the criteria? We'll have an announcement on that soon and I think it's very important that we think that all through very, very carefully but there will be an announcement on that in the near future about what our plan will look like around the borders. Just back to the economy I think I saw a tweet from you last week about the TY Point aluminium smelter. Would you save that? I don't think that New Zealanders can be held ransom by Rio Tinto big international company with $8 billion profit last year. I was one of the ministers who had sit in Cabinet and listened to why we were bailing them out last time and the decision was then made that it was the last time. The issue with TY Point at the moment is that the Government has been in communication with the owners of TY Point for a long time now and that they have not actually come up with a plan. I would like to see what plans they've got for it because I can tell you this it's no area of the country but just to be clear you support the Government's clear signal that they're not going to provide more money. New Zealanders do not like being held to ransom and they don't want to be held to ransom because they don't want to be held to ransom and we're not stupid. Your approach to this campaign you've talked about holding Jacinda Ardern to account Todd Muller when he took over just a few weeks back said he wasn't going to be opposition for opposition's sake will you be doing it differently? I'll do it the way in which I hold have held ministers to account which is focused on the issues focused on the facts and asking the right questions but in terms of opposition I think I've been very clear why I have been very clear that where Jacinda Ardern and her Government has done something right I will be the first to say so I like to give credit where it's due and I think it's very important that we do that New Zealanders want us to act by adults and they want us to be able to be in charge not playing silly games. And you think you can win? I work up this morning and I just thought right here we go and we're just going to do it. Judith Collins Thank you very much for your time Judith Collins the new National Party Leader