 With your help, we can continue to fight for freedom. This is not possible without your generosity. Join our quest for the truth and our freedom. Simply visit www.realitycheck.radio forward slash donate to make a difference today. Now it's time for Cam's buddies. This week, we'll find out what their best thing of the past year was and what they hoped for in the new year. My producer has them all lined up and ready to go. Let's go for the final Cam's buddies for the year. Good afternoon, Paul. Welcome to the last Cam's buddies of the year. Good afternoon, Cam. How are you this afternoon? Oh, I'm fantastic. I've just got to thank you before we get started for your participation in Cam's buddies this year. It's one of the most popular segments and we get plenty of comments about it. And that's all down to you and me and the other buddies all shooting the breeze and telling the truth. Yeah, having a chat. Oh, that's all good. I thought we'd just lighten it up a little bit for Cam's buddies, considering it's the last show of the year and it's almost Christmas upon us. And I'd just like to get from you two things. The first thing is what do you think was the best thing that happened this year and it can be personal. It could be political. It could be anything else. And then what are your hopes for the next year coming up? Those are pretty broad questions, but I'll give you a couple of things in the personal and the political. I think one of the best things that happened to me this year was every Monday I have a lunch with a group of mates and we talk rubbish. We talk good. We talk different things. We have sometimes higher emotion. We have high passion. We have laughter and we have mates that support one another. And I think one of the best things that happened to me this year was just having a group of mates that I can know I can rely on and I can go and have a chat with them once a week. And we've got each other's best interests at heart rather than your own interests. And as a group, having a group of mates when many people out there are sad and lonely and could count all their mates on one finger as opposed to one hand. And here we've got 10 or 12 of us that knock around together, have a bit of a laugh, have a meal together once a week and talk about the things that are near and dear to our hearts. And I think one of the best things that happened to me this year was that group's lunch on a regular basis to keep me grounded and sane. Add to that last night. How long have we been having these lunches, Paul? How long have we been having it? It's got to be 20 years, isn't it? 20 years? I reckon every bit of it's been... It's just something that we do. I mean, who was happening when I was in my 40s and I'm in my 60s? So, yeah. Well, the thing is, I think it's amazing is that there's a couple of us, people really don't say, oh, can we have a meeting with you at lunch on Monday? And my answer straight away is no. No, you can't. I've already got an appointment on Monday. I've already got an appointment, but you can come along if you want. And it's quite interesting, the number of people who do actually come along and find out that there is this group of mates that will die in the ditch for each other. Hmm. Well, that was one of the highlights of my year. And a small highlight was I came home last night and for no reason, my wife cooked me my favourite meal. And I said to her, this is an absolutely delightful meal, darling. What's happening? And she said, I just thought that you might like to have this meal. And I was thinking about you during the day. And so she's made me my favourite meal of all time. And it was just delightful that my family think about me and think about still liking me after I've been with her for 48 years and more if we go back to dating. So those are something that it's just having someone still thinks I'm OK after having lived with me for 48 years. That's another highlight that you like of my year. Yeah, stunning. Things to come. I think things to come that would be interesting is I'm really concerned that we don't have another lot of pandemic truth and as the media see it rather than as reality sees it, I don't want to hear too much more of faith and affectives. And so if next year we had a inquiry, which we intend to have, that had the parameters broadened out to see who was the folk that lied and why, who paid whom and why and to get to the actual truth of the matter. And like when I'm hearing that there's a bloke at the moment, he's going to be he's been taken to Tarth because he didn't run the whistleblower program as he should have. And he's said a few things and he's got information that he shouldn't have in saying that. And he's been charged with some sort of propaganda that he's actually said that vaccine has caused excess death. And how dare he say such lies and fake news and all this sort of thing. And it's only nutters that believe that and whatever. I think if we could get to the bottom of it, we'd lose our draw if the gop of an inquiry was brought out so that we like if I'm wrong, I'm happy to know I'm wrong. But I don't like to be whitewashed. I don't like to be told that I'm wrong when I can see clearing holes in the argument. So what I'd like to see happen next year is that that inquiry being done at a level that all New Zealanders can get the information and the benefit from and know what exactly happened and was this safe and effective or was it a lie? And then we can somehow get the science back on track so that when science says something, it's true. And when media and PR say something, well, you know, that can be just a whitewash or whatever. Take it under advisement. Exactly. I mean, it's worth a peak. You know, I don't think we should dismiss the data leak out of hand. I don't think, I think there's something there. I don't know what that is. I think we need to have a very rigorous exploration of the data and let's get all the data, not just the subset that the whistleblower has delivered. Let's get all the data and let's analyze it all and get some serious number crunches to have a look at it. Some, you know, some actuaries actually who know exactly about deaths and excess deaths. I would think that they would be the very best people, go and pluck them out of insurance companies and get them to analyze it because I bet you they'll come up with an answer that'll be completely different from all the other vested interests that are around the place. Well, they'll come up with the financial math answer that says, if we now put your premium up in insurance if you've been vaccinated four times, then, and it's down lower for someone who's only been vaccinated with other vaccines, but not this mRNA vaccine, then you'll know that the math is saying where the money is, there's more likelihood of dying in that. And if they say, no, no, you're unvaccinated, your premiums are going up and the vaccinated, you're going down actuarially, then we'll know, hey, we might have got it wrong. And I'm happy to be wrong, but I just don't like to be wrong with propaganda rather be wrong with facts. Yeah, it's exactly right. You can have a look. I'm going to call for the new year. Yeah, we've just got to have a look. We've got to actually be honest with the New Zealand public. And another thing I quite like them to have in there somewhere is, is I ever maked in a horse tranquilizer and should it be banned? Or is I ever maked in a study that is in fact, that someone won the Nobel Prize for curing terrible illnesses in humans, because when you hear people saying, oh, you've taken a horse tranquilizer and no, you can't, if you ask a doctor, could you prescribe me some over maked in because I've got scabies. They say, no, we don't allow it to. I mean, hello. Well, it's ridiculous. I mean, you know, that was stopped for ridiculous reasons. Same with hydroxychloroquine and many other things that were relatively cheap and effective for actually combating COVID. We were told lies about that. Yes, and the reason we were told lies is because if you've got some emergency authorization used for some medicine, it's only available because the emergency authorization is my understanding. If there's nothing else, well, as soon as you've got something else that's effective, then, hey, so someone's paid money to have that happen is my belief. I'd again be happy to be proved wrong if the inquiry had that sort of scope in it. The government is looking at it. And I guess to be fair, I'm pretty happy about the change of government even though that's on a political level. Yeah, well, I'm just loving watching the freedom come bubbling back up into society where people can actually say Merry Christmas and not feel that they're being judged or that they're saying something sacrilegious and awful. And we shouldn't be saying that sort of thing. We should be saying anodyne things like happy holidays or some other gay type of thing that doesn't actually mean what it is. This is Christmas. It's not called anything else. And unless you're Jewish, in which case, it's happy Hanukkah. But for everybody else, especially those of us with Christian faith, it's Merry Christmas. And long may it continue. Absolutely. I'm just really enjoying watching this government on a daily basis that announced that they've actually done something. Like they've repealed this act or they've done it rather than coming out with slogans and saying we're thinking about doing this. What we're seeing is actual actions and doing the things they promise to do. Yes, well, I'm actually really enjoying it. And obviously by saying what I'm really enjoying, I'm obviously going to give the show away because I must be a nut job. But I really enjoy watching Parliament TV and seeing people have a go at Winston acting Prime Minister and have him give some witty rhetoric that is in fact, it should be in such a chamber. And I find this very entertaining. And I think Luxon couldn't have done better having Winston acting Prime Minister to take on question time. I think Winston is just a master of it. And other than this last time, I've never voted for him. But I'm just watching this and it's giving me great joy. Well, hopefully there'll be plenty more joy next year. And again, I thank you for participating in Cam's Buddies. And I'm pretty sure the listeners think you're pretty awesome as well, Paul. Hey, thanks very much, Cam. And I hope everybody has a great Christmas. I think Christmas is a fun thing and it's good for families. And maybe the listeners have a great Christmas. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Jack. Welcome to the last Cam's Buddies of the year. So, Cam, how are you? I'm fantastic. I'm always fantastic. You know, even if I'm not, I'm going to say I'm fantastic. Yep, perfect. And the reason for that is no one cares how you are. No, they don't. Well, in bloke world, anyway. I thought we'd have a bit of a lighter note for the last Cam's Buddies. And before we do that, I'd just like to thank you for participating in Cam's Buddies. You're one of the favourites of the listeners. You know, some of the staff at Reality Check Radio, they always see me. I hope you've got Jack on. I love Jack. So you've got a whole lot of fans out there. You don't have to tell lies, OK? I'm not. You know me. I never tell lies. We don't know. But, hmm, OK, that's interesting. Anyway. I don't know why they'd say that. Well, you know, because you're just a commudgently old bastard, really, who just gives his opinion and doesn't care what others think. Not that I don't care what others think. Really, I'm just sick of people being asked an opinion and not giving a true opinion. Yeah, exactly. And on opinions, there's two things I want to ask you. First thing is, what was the best thing that you enjoyed this year? It doesn't have to be political. It can be personal. It could be anything. And the second thing is, what are you hoping for next year? Well, the first thing is my daughter is getting significantly better in her health. Oh, that's fantastic. Hopefully better, but significantly better. And of course, in the new year, I'd like that to improve. But that's on a personal note. On a political note, I can't remember anything much good to being last year. This year, I'd like to see several things happen. Imagine just recently, when some Peters went up to Fiji in a C-130 Hercules. You've flown in one of those, haven't you? They're awful things. Do I need to tell the listeners what it's like? It's absolute bedlam. It's horrible. You sit in the back here. It's awful. It's noisy. They're the most wonderful planes on the Earth, but even hardened troops that's what it was designed to take, amongst other things. They even complained in the Vietnam War about what a horrible experience it was being carted around on the back of one of those. And here we are sending our deputy prime minister, a minister of foreign affairs, to another country in a Hercules. When we've got private business, yes, they've got to hide at a fraction of the cost of taking a Hercules up there. Now, tell me why that happens. Well, there's two reasons for that, Jack. Now, Winston was flying into Suva. Now, Suva's runway is 6,000 feet long. Right? It's very short. Nandy's 11,000 feet. So a 757 can't land at Suva. And if you land at Nandy, you've got a three-hour drive to get to Suva, which is a ball lake. It really is. But I hear you, a C-130 is an awful way to travel up to Fiji. It's nearly four hours in the prop-driven hippo. It's uncomfortable. And even if you've got a hearing protection on, the rattling and that goes on just jars you to your bone. Oh, the crashing of hydraulics and so forth drives you to the misery. I mean, to be fair, I was only ever in Hercules for a very short time. And then they'd open up the back door and we'd all be told to get out at about 5,000 feet. And you gladly did so. Well, it was better to be out and under the parachute than it was to be sitting in the Hercules. Yes. Yeah, maybe he got up the sharp end. It's not so bad up in the sharp end. But who knows? I don't know if he had room. No. I'd have to check my facts, but I'm sure we have a business jet in the private arena that could get into Suva. Oh, there's several. There's several that would do that. So yeah, I agree with you. I've actually been chatting about that with some of my staff in the BFD today, looking at potential replacements. And the plane that probably makes the most sense, although range is a little bit limited compared to a 757 and capacity, would be the military version of the 737 that was designed for freight and passengers, which is used by the US Air Force, the Army, and the Marines. I think it's called the Clipper. But it's basically a 747. But why don't we just hire a local or charter a local aircraft? A Gulfstream or something like that. We'll probably have S.O.L.T. Falcon. Oh, I think we have S.O.L.T. Falcon 7s. Faster, fly higher, fly faster. And they're sitting there. And it's a no-brainer. Our prime minister should be thinking about that, going over to Australia soon. Apparently there's a bit of a dilemma there. We will save so much money. Yeah, I mean, the reason why I suggested a 737 variant is because we've got the P8 Poseidons, which is obviously the same platform. And so the skill sets are transferable between the two aircraft. But yeah, point taken. This should not be a difficult decision to make. We should have our people going overseas, representing us in decent aircraft, not something you pile pallets in and push them out the back. Well, it sends a signal to the people they're going to visit that New Zealand's impoverished, and they can't even afford to send them over in style. I'm sure if they did a deal with the local jet, I know they could even have New Zealand government or something written on the side to make it look at least reasonable. Well, you know people who can do that, don't you? I do. Maybe. Well, I'll tell you what. How about I put you in touch with Winston and get you to sort out his flights for him next time? Well, I think I could do that. Maybe you should. But on another note, I think we should just devolve the CAA and do what China does, just go with the FAA, the Federal Administration, and just pay them a fee and save zillions of dollars and deregulate so much stuff that's rubbish in this country. Well, maybe I need to put you in touch with David Seymour because he's the Minister for Regulation. And I'm sure he would love to be able to take an axe to the CAA. Yes, well, he's probably got a hell of a lot more on his plate, but I'd like to see him get in there as well. Good luck, I say. I'll eat him for breakfast. Ah, well, you know, he's not new anymore. He's wise to the behaviour of the civil servants and the bureaucrats and, you know, those perennial people who seem to always stay there no matter which government is in. So, you know, we've just set him loose on the CAA. That would be fun just to watch just for the giggles that are coming from that. Can you tell Winston to tell the Prime Minister to stop doing stupid things like getting the government to pay to learn to speak Maori? It's not that he can't afford it. All it does is bring on headline news and take the real issues away from what we want. We know that it's peanuts and it's nothing, but he doesn't understand that, really, if he had just paid for it himself, that would have been a better headline. You know, the stupid thing is the media have... The media have twisted that because that's the same courses that every MP can avail themselves of. So, it's not something special. It's not something that's funded in any different way. He wanted to learn to Rio because he's woke. Good on him, but, yeah, I agree with you. Pay for it out of your own pocket and don't... Yeah, you know that and I know that, but he's got to stop drawing attention to himself for the wrong reasons. Yeah. Unfortunately, he doesn't often look in the mirror and reflect on where the causes of the problems are coming from. It's just young and inexperienced. Tell him to go talk to Winston. Everyone's young from where you're looking at it from, Jack. That is true. Don't remind me. LAUGHTER Hey, when you know all of your specialist doctors by their first names, you know you're getting old. Oh, dear. Or what about when you outlast the doctors? I've outlasted several. LAUGHTER Don't remind me. Yeah, well, you can't kill weeds, Jack. No, you can't. That's true. Well, once again, I just want to thank you for participating in Camus Buddies. It's been a real pleasure having these chats. And I know the listeners really love it, so thanks a lot. And we'll crack into this again in the new year and Merry Christmas to your family for yourself and a happy new year as well. Yep, my pleasure and Merry Christmas to you. And if we can catch up over the Christmas break, let's do it. Yep, sure. I know where you are. You do. Oh, good, Jack. Thanks very much. See you. Bye-bye. Good afternoon, Marcus. Welcome to the final Camus Buddy for the year. Well, we've made it another year. Another year. It's been fabulous. Hey, look, I saw your photo of your little goodie bag that you got from your cigar vendor today. I'm going to have to come over and see you. As soon as I get through this week, we've got to catch up because I'm going to help smoke some of those. They look superb. You'll have to hurry, mate, because you know what? I smoke cigars like they are. I'm a hoover on the end of it. You've got a special one for me. You've got a special one on the end. Oh, yeah, sure, I have. Yeah, it's very special, mate. Well, I am from West Auckland, after all, so. Oh, so we have cigars, aren't we? Yeah, yeah, it's right. It's not Cuban, is it? I hope it's not a dog rocket. No, no, no, it's not Cuban, mate. Wouldn't do Cuban. No. I wouldn't do that to one of our mutual friends. Exactly. What I wanted to touch base on with this Camus Buddy for the final one for the year. First of all, to thank you for participating. The listeners love this segment. They love everything that you guys say. The truth bombs that keep dropping. The one that one has never seen, say they like us. No, exactly. Well, we're likeable people. But what I want to ask you is what was the best thing that happened this year for you? And it can be personal, it could be political, it could be business-wise, whatever. Whatever rips your undies on what's been great this year. And then the second question is, what are you looking forward to for next year? Well, that's a tough one. It's been an interesting year. It's been a good year, actually. I've had a good time. Probably on a personal note, the best thing that happened for me was I was allowed to go back to USA for a trip. Because that ban unvaccinated people for quite a period of time. And I think it was back in June or something this year. They left on May, I think it was. They lifted the ban on non-vaccinated people coming across here because I'm married to a USA girl. So she could go back any time, but I couldn't. So that was a good going back there. It had been sort of three years or something. And I've got a young fellow who hadn't seen that side of the family. So it was really nice being able to travel again. And we had a great trip. We did a big road trip across USA from LA across the Illinois. So saw eight national parks on the way. Had a fantastic time. Play with any guns? Play with lots of guns, yep. My father-in-law has a good variety of different types of firearms, some that are interesting on there. He's actually, the one that had the biggest kick was a flare gun, believe it or not. Yeah. There's a flare gun there that we were shooting up in the air. It's like a double shotgun shell, like a missile. Yeah, 37 millimeter or 40 millimeter. Usually 37, if they're an older one. Yeah, it was some German brand, I can't remember. But man, that thing had a kick. It was good fun. And then obviously all the AKs and that sort of thing, he had variety of different AKs, pistol grips, all sorts of things and shotguns. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we were blowing up Tannerite over there at his place. So that was always good fun. Which is illegal over here apparently. You can't have that. You can't have Tannerite in New Zealand. Too much fun. You could make Tannerite, because it's very simple, but in buying the ingredients, you should get in trouble. And googling it on Google, would you get in trouble as well? Well, yes, maybe. Anyway, so that was a good thing that happened to me this year on a person, on a political note. I'd say the best thing that's happened this year is getting rid of the nanny state of what was before and showing those people, the A class and that sort of thing, that we've still got a voice at this point in time. And it was good to see that people used it, you know? Yeah. I'm sort of still a bit skeptical about the future with regards to that, but where we're going, but at least we've got, like we've talked about in the past, we've got a government that's making the right noises. Winston Peters is in there doing the Winston Peters things. And long may that continue, I say. I hope he doesn't get lost in the wind and he keeps going along those promises that a lot of our shallistas want him to do. So we'll hold into account on that one. So that was the best thing politically, I think that was really quite refreshing seeing how much that flipped across that way. So those are my two things that happened this year. You know, I've been watching Winston Peters for a long, long time, as long as I can remember. And he seems to have some fire in his belly now. I'm seeing a different Winston Peters from what I've seen in the past. And the way he's acting, the way he's reacting and the things that he's doing now are different, right? Like the, if you have a look at the, I'm pretty sure it was his idea to have the coalition agreements signed and published. He's less politician now, I find, I think. He's more statesman, isn't he? Yeah, he's more, I don't give a stuff anymore. He's more like you and me. He's speaking the truth and he doesn't care who it offends. He's basically saying, this is what I think and this is how I'm gonna play it. And it's working for him because I think people are sick of politicians. You know, they want people that are talking truth. They want people to actually get up there and do something. So I think it's working for him. I mean, he certainly is working for him. He's gone up in the polls I saw recently. Yeah, that's right. Last two polls, the Roy Morgan and the Taxpayers Union poll. So what do you want for next year? What do you want for next year, Marcus? I want people to pay their bills, which will be a good thing for my business, which I'm not scared that they won't, but I've had a good year business-wise. Next year, I'm hoping to get more of the same. I'm an infrastructure, so we're doing large infrastructure, a road and jobs and that. And this government's obviously good for that. Well, may that continue on a personal note, we've got our all-ready goal and we're looking at figuring out for three months over summer, just sailing around the North Island and I'm working from the boat. So we're hoping that all goes well and then next year we'll do a little bit more on our home and invest a little bit more money in it. And hopefully by the end of next summer, we're off the marina for good. So that'll be spectacular. Yeah. And then just sail around New Zealand and see places that you can't go without a boat. Yeah, I mean, there'll be plenty of places to go, nice little coves as long as... Have you got yourself a Starlink internet setup? No, I've got Wireless Nation at the moment, which is fantastic. It's good around New Zealand. It's all Wi-Fi, runs off the Vodafone slash, I guess that's one network now, is it? No, no, that's Vodafone. Definitely. Anyway, it's good coverage all around, obviously not in New Orleans and things like that, but once we go blue water, we'll get Starlink, but I'm just fighting my time on that because it's getting cheaper and cheaper and the service is getting better and better every day. So by the time we need it, it'll be well affordable. It sounds like you're gonna have a fantastic year next year. Yeah, and smoking lots of cigars and drinking lots of whiskey of course as well. No, of course. What about yourself, mate? What are you looking forward to next year? Well, I'm really enjoying this show. Hopefully, we can expand the show out a little bit, maybe a couple of days a week. That'd be fun. I'd love to be live and take some talk back, but we're not quite there on the technology yet, but I'd be looking forward to that. I really enjoy, as I say, I really enjoy doing the show and I'm just gonna enjoy watching this government deliver things because they seem to be on a mission and it's refreshing to see that. And then hopefully I can sort out a few things around my personal life that would be a lot more happier, but I'm enjoying life. I'm getting a whole lot out of life and I'm enjoying it a whole lot more. So as long as that continues, I'll be very happy next year. No, go on you mate. I mean, I can see by what you're doing online and that's something you've got your towel up and your head down and you're moving forward, which is great to see. Yeah, that's fantastic. Everybody needs to have a little bit of a shock to the system so that they can sort stuff out and move forward. So, you know, I've been through that over the last five years, probably a bit longer. I've taken a fair bit of punishment and I'm starting to actually enjoy life now. So, yeah, I just wanna keep on doing that. Everything's temporary, yeah. That's what I tell everyone who's in a bad spot or in a good spot. If you're in a good spot, just remember it's temporary. So just keep working hard all the time, even if it's going well and if you're in a bad spot, don't worry, it's temporary, it's gonna be better. That's what I say to people who call me up and wanna talk about their tough times or whatever and they're feeling depressed and some of them have been feeling suicide and I always say to them, you know what? Just remember this, right? Suicide's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. That's right, exactly right. Everything, it puts things in perspective when you start realizing that everything is temporary. So things, no matter how bad they are or no matter how good they are, it's, you gotta remember the good stuff as well because otherwise you imagine the life is just gonna be easy, you know? But, you know, it's not always that bad. Life isn't easy, life is tough. You gotta be able to even kill the whole time, you know? I mean, you know, I get this in politics, we'll say, oh, if we don't do this, we'll never get rid of this government. Well, I've been involved in politics for over 40 years and every three years, we get a chance to toss them out. And we do. And we've lived through worse governments. I mean, it was pretty bad under Ardern and Hipkins. You know, in terms of financially, it'll prove out in history that what they did and was perhaps the worst management of the economy since Muldoon maybe before, but we still voted them out. And that's the thing, nothing's ever permanent. There's, you know, eventually voters get sick of them. And I only took two terms to get sick of labor this time. Normally though. Boy, did they do some damage. Yeah, but here's the thing in New Zealand politics, right? I call it a game of two halves. We have an election, we get a government. That government, it gets to play the first half of the game, which is three years. And they get to half time, right? And if they've played like absolute dorks, they don't get a second half. They're out, right? And we've had that happen a couple of times actually with labor governments, but we've had that happen a couple of times. But most times a government will get to play the second half. And so they get through three years, another three years, they've finished their six years. And now we get to say, well, do you get to have another game? And if we don't like them, they're out. And again, invariably, if it's a six year government, it's been a labor government that's been tossed out. But by and large, most governments in New Zealand have lasted three terms. So they get to play a game and a half. And by the time they've finished the first half of the second game, people are over them. And they don't get to play the full game and end up with 12 years. Keith Holyoake was the last person who did that. So it's a long, long time ago. That's why I'm a little bit skeptical about the increase into a four year term because of what you've just described. They do generally get another three years, which makes it a six year term, so to speak. But it's sort of like a check and balance in the middle of it all, where people can say, oh, are they tracking correctly? Are they going right? And they get to have a say on it. And then they get another three years or they don't. And then after, I mean, anything after six years, in my opinion, is that's cream on the top for them. If they're able to stand for three terms, four terms, they've been a good government. Yeah, I mean, three years is too short for a good government and too long for a bad government. Yeah, but the three years for a good government will be obvious, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So they'll get another three terms. Exactly. It works out well. Yeah, we're on the same page there. So once again, Marcus, thank you so much for participating in Cam's Buddies. You're one of the favorites. In fact, you guys are all the favorites, right? Everyone loves Cam's Buddies. We're one of your favorites. Yeah. Exactly. So I really appreciate you participating in this. And I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Well, it's been a pleasure. It's been absolutely fantastic having a little bit of a whinge and a bit of a debate online and sharing the thoughts. And it's a real good fun listening to the other guys as well, in their opinions. Yeah. And yeah, I'm happy to be part of it, mate. And thank you and I wish you and your family a merry Christmas and happy new year and all that stuff. And come over and smoke some of those smokes with me. Yeah, well, I'll have some time after this week. So we'll have to work it out in between your sailing expeditions. Well, mate. All right, mate. Thanks, Marcus. Probably. Good afternoon, Jimmy. Welcome to the last Cam's Buddies of the year. Hello, Cameron. Good afternoon. The last one. The last chance for you to rant on the radio. Yeah, the last chance. But before we do that, I'd just like to thank you for participating in Cam's Buddies. And you and I have been chatting on and off for coming up to nearly 20 years. I know. That's the first thing how fast the time goes now. I mean, you were a cheeky bit of a cheeky bugger. And I'd never even met you before. And I started getting text messages and then Facebook messages from you thinking, who's this guy? And we met up a couple of times. And every now and then we'd sit there and chew the fat. And we try and solve a few problems in the world. But I was just thinking about that, reflecting on that, how long you and I have been talking to each other. And it would be close to 20 years. Yeah, yeah, it would be. It would be definitely. Back in the old blog days. Yeah. Yeah, what's your topic today? All right. So I thought I'd just do something a bit nice and say, what's something that you really enjoyed in the past year? And it can be personal. It can be political. It could be business related. Anything, right? Whatever it is. Whatever got you excited and made you thankful or whatever. And the second thing is what your hopes are for the new year. And again, it can be personal or political or business or anything. Well, the best thing to happen this year was the total tossing out of Jacinda Arden's government. It just couldn't. It was just literally the best thing. It gave me so much happiness. And then watching this government come in, start kicking off all the policies that it promised, it's just been such a relief. The last three years have been fairly hard for various reasons. But then to see them just get thrown out at election and out of the country, it's just been fantastic. And then seeing the meltdown from the opposition has just been the icing on the cake, really. Honestly, New Zealand couldn't cope with another term. You know, I look back at the start of this year. And Arden resigned and quit and vacated the country. And I hope she stays overseas forever. But I wrote an update on my most famous article, which is called The Good Man and the Ugly. And if I look at all of the various versions of it that I wrote over a couple of years, those versions have had more than 600,000 people read them. Yes, such was the taste for her. Yeah, absolutely distaste. Well, highly recommended reading. That's one of your best blogs. And I've read most of your blogs. Yeah, and the funny thing was, is when Arden resigned, I got a phone call from a well-known political commentator and pollster who said to me, Cam, you can take about your part of the effort that got rid of her. And you fought the fight harder than most. And I thought, well, I just wrote a couple of articles. And I held her to account. And there's other people that have done far more. And it depends on the eye of the beholder. But people that I admire this year who have done amazing things or done amazing things over the last couple of years are definitely three ladies who created Reality Check Radio and Voices for Freedom. They're true heroes. You know, all these stupid Kiwi bank New Zealanders of the year? Somebody should nominate them because they have been vilified, attacked, demonized. And I know what that's like. But they've created an amazing community, Voices for Freedom, and this amazing radio station. And I think that we maybe should look at hijacking one of those New Zealander of the Year awards and having them appointed as a New Zealander of the Year. I mean, it would be a hell of a lot better than Shanil Lao or the Pink Walrus. So hopefully, those awards will stop being woke and will start actually having people who have made a demonstrable difference for a majority of Kiwis. I don't think those mainstream awards will ever stop being woke. Well, it's run by the media. Just the mainstream media just won't have it. But the difference with your impact is you've got a big audience and you've got a loyal audience who read all your blogs. And I think that that's why a lot of your blog posts because you would have had a lot of blog traffic during the art and writing. Oh, a huge amount. You know, a huge amount during the lockdowns. Yeah. And that's so you have a big impact than your local neighbor who has no audience. And that's why you get congratulations for speaking out. Whereas the majority of the mainstream just went along with it. Or if they disagreed, they don't speak against it. They're too cowardly. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing you have. If you want to influence people, you have to be brave because Kiwis are a great knocking machine. You stick your head above the parapet. You're effective or what you're doing, you get walloped. And I got walloped in 2014. I got walloped hard. Big time. But I'm just looking at Elon Musk internationally, you know, speaking out for free speech and looking at how he's getting walloped by the US government and so on. Yeah. And like, thank God, he's so brave. Well, that's right. You know, he's rich enough to be able to do that because if someone wasn't doing it in his powerful position, it'd be so hard to fight. Well, it's easy to be compliant. If you look at Bill Gates, for example, he's got less money than Elon Musk, but he doesn't have any bravery. He uses sneaky underhand methods to achieve his aims, whereas Elon Musk is saying, well, you know what? I don't like the way Twitter's run. I'm going to buy it. That's exactly what he did is he said that I'm going to buy it. And then the board all quit and then he bought it and everyone said it's going to fall over. It's not going to work. It's going to be terrible. None of those things came true. Not one single thing came true. He fired half the staff. Whatever. Wasn't Morrison saying that? And it's still running fine. Yeah, it was like two-thirds of the staff and he said we can do this better. And it isn't much better. Now, a whole lot of lefty suckholes have left, you know, Twitter. Good. Go away. Go somewhere else. We want free speech here and we want not to be restricted on what we say and think. And Elon Musk is a hero. I mean, he's got his foibles. He's got some... He's an international hero for free speech. Yeah, he's a bit wonky and a bit wet on some things. But by and large, he knows what he wants to achieve. He says he's going to do this and then sets about doing it. And, you know, we've kind of got a government that does that now. They've told us what they're going to do and now they're doing it. You're doing it. And the media and the vested interests are wailing, you know, like air raid sirens, wailing. So we know the government's doing things because of the hue and cry and the waterworks and the run on tissues, you know, all of those sorts of things. So we know that they're doing a fantastic job because of the wailing. When the wailing stops. Yeah, you know, they're over the target, mate, when the wailing's loudest. Exactly. Exactly. So the great thing is, is we can talk about this without fear or favour anymore. We don't have to couch our terms. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't have to worry about being cancelled. Your payment's not made or yet. Yeah, I mean, they'll still try. But, you know, I think the world's, or New Zealand and certainly the world's heading in the right direction. And we've just got to keep this up. And if we do this for six years or nine years, hopefully 12 years of embracing this freedom to have courageous discourse or even rude discourse. But if we embrace this, we'll get New Zealand back on track. And I hate to use Christopher Luxon's terminology, but, but, you know, I think we're starting to head in the right direction. And I'll be honest, I've been real impressed with Luxon. I mean, I've been too, you know, and I'm sceptical. Exactly, I was sceptical. I was like, wow, this is going to be much different. But it might be the support of Winston and David. But he, he stood up to the pressure and he, I really admire him. I think he's done fantastic. He's, you know, he could be a real great prime minister. But anyway, that was my happy place in this year. It was like just such a refresh, hey. So what do you want for next year? More of the same? Yeah, more of the same. And I also would like to see interest rates come down. I like, honestly, in my industry, it's getting slaughtered on construction. I'm seeing people really desperate, trying to find work for staff, people with no work, you know, building supplies down. You know, I remember 18 months ago or two years ago, you couldn't buy your board now, you can get it easily. You know, it's just done. We have to see interest rates come down next year to keep the building industry. Otherwise we'll lose our whole industry to Australia. You know, like lose all the good staff. And we need some shovel ready projects to get going. And so we just don't lose all our roading crews and experienced Australia again. So that's what that's really what I genuinely like to see next year is to see interest rates come down in more of the same direction of travel. Yeah, I think I think everybody wants to see interest rates come down. It's been out of control with a profligate, spin-proofed finance minister. Spray money around, it's caused the inflation and we've had to put it out. It hurts young families and people with mortgages. Yeah, it's like the Reserve Bank put the printing presses for money up on the top floor of the Treasury building and then just opened a window and sprayed cash out willy-nilly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so by getting the inflation in control, we'll get the cost of living back into the zone and then hopefully see interest rates come down and see people starting to do stuff and grow their business and grow the economy again. We don't, yeah, we have to see that next year. That's my big wish. Well, hopefully we will. 2025. So, you know, thanks heaps for participating in Camus Buddies. The listeners love this segment. They love all you guys and I really appreciate you participating and hopefully you'll be here again next year when we kick off the new year. I will be. Thanks, Cam. It's my pleasure to round and round once a week. So, I wish you and your family a great Christmas. A very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you very much. Same to you. Okay, Jimmy. Good afternoon. Welcome to Camus Buddies, the last Camus Buddies of the year, Miles. Good afternoon. How are you today, Cam? You know me, I'm always good, but as I said to Jack when he said the same thing, it doesn't matter how shit I feel, I'm always going to say fantastic because no one actually cares how you feel when they ask that, they're just being pleasant. Yeah, but listen, the bottom line is, let's focus on what went well in the past year. So, being pleasant, yeah, that counts. That's exactly what I want to talk to you about actually instead of the usual fear. I'm interested to know what you thought went well in the year for you. It could be personal, it could be family-orientated, it could be politics, it could be business. And then the second thing I want to ask you is what are your hopes for next year? What would you like to see for next year? Okay, well, I've been thinking long and hard about this and I thought that the biggest positive thing for me was the whole election and the result of the election. I know that might sound a bit sort of twee, but the reality is since the three parties announced their coalition agreements for the first time in a long time, I've felt quite positive without that boom that seemed to gather over our heads much, much more than normal, especially during the Ardennes and the Hipkins years. So, yeah, that really made a difference. The election really made a difference and the real difference is now seeing more things happen exactly as the politicians say they're going to happen. And a good one for me would be the stupidity of the spending on the cycle lanes. That looks like that's going to be flushed away. So, fantastic news there. Yeah, I was talking earlier to Paul and he said one of the best things this year has been our regular Monday lunches with a great bunch of guys. And I've got to echo that and say, that's kept me sane and on track and we talk about all sorts of things. Sometimes it can be pretty grim, the things that we're talking about when people are facing particular issues or whatever. But that group of guys that we meet for lunch and I said to Paul, I think it's over 20 years we've been meeting, there's new people that have come along and we met during the lockdowns and we broke all the rules and we did all of those things. But that group gives me a huge amount of pleasure just for the mateship. And you've been coming along a couple of years. How have you found it? Well, I quite like the fact that it's an ability to bear your soul, talk about issues and get a good feedback on some of the issues. And, you know, people are honest and forthright and I like that. It can be difficult, especially when you're facing some of the trickier things. But the real pleasure is that I really enjoy everyone's company and I enjoy the tits and tails that they bring along each week. So yeah, and I would say that having social contact like that we can talk about things that might be worrying you and also things that have gone really well. That makes a really big difference. Yeah, I mean, exactly. It's just so refreshing, you know, that with the group of people around the table that there's decades upon decades upon decades of experience and they're all sorts of different problems. And we were able to, you know, get some advice or to get some clarity on particular issues. And some of the issues that we've been talking about with the guys are, you know, pretty harrowing some of them. But, you know, I think there's a lot of merit in, especially blokes, finding a group of blokes that can get together, that can be relied on and will dine a ditch for each other. I'm incredibly grateful for the friendship of those guys. I'm incredibly grateful for the support you've given me this year too, Miles. Yep, and vice versa. I recall several times where you have gone well out of your way. And I guess that's the nature of friendship. You try and look after each other in ways that you can, that you're able to do. And sometimes it's small things, you know, washing your neighbours windows when she's elderly and can't do them herself. You know, small things like that really matter to people. And I believe, I'm a firm believer that charity begins at home and by charity I use the broadest definition of the word. You know, look around to see how you can help people around you rather than, you know, donate to some unknown or far-off land for a cause that's nonspecific. I firmly believe, you know, look around you, help and talk to the people around you. It's really a good thing to do. And what are your hopes for next year? Well, I think next year is going to be a really fascinating year. I think that, you know, we are going to get the opportunity to build and grow in ways that will be unrestricted by the red tape. I think David Seymour is going to have a crack at cutting some of these regulations. You know, I'm particularly interested in regulations around building because I've got a lot of good mates who are building. And when I hear, you know, that people have spent up to 200,000 dollars on their development before they can even break ground. I mean, I start to wonder where is all that money going and why are all those bureaucrats holding up progress? So that's the first thing. On a personal level, a lot of my family are farmers and they've been doing it hard. I'd like to shout out to the farmers. They've been doing a stunning job. They keep our country afloat on the big fan of farming. And, you know, I think these FNA, these freshwater regulations, they've got to go. The stupidity of planting pine trees on productive land has got to go. And we are looking, I think, very positive with the likes of Andrew Hoggard and ACT. And, you know, I think National has got a bit of a farming backbone. I think they may have lost it a bit, but I think they're rediscovering that. So I'm really looking forward to some positive, positive moves from the politicians to our farmers. Yeah. Yeah. So on a personal note, I think I'd quite like to see my daughter, she wants to go into farming, funnily enough. And personally, I'd just like to say that, you know, there are some farming, excellent farming cadetships out there. But when I look around, I'm horrified at how few cadetships or farm training places there are in New Zealand. And, you know, compare that with, say, for example, building or mechanics where there's a lot of opportunity for apprenticeships, farmers seem to be getting a short shift. So yeah, my daughter's looking at getting into a farming cadetship or apprenticeship, however you want to say it. And there are precious few places available. And, you know, maybe I should say that one of my hopes is that those cadetships and apprenticeships for farming get a lot more focus from the government to see what they can do to help. Yeah, I'm really pleased to see your daughter develop this year. You know, it's been an amazing journey in just one short year, you know, for her. And it's so pleasing to see her growing into and knowing at her age exactly what she wants to do and what her passion is for work and seeing that excitement build in her over this year as she's been doing that has been really pleasing. Yeah, I think there's something about work. And I think that, you know, if I could say that I really believe that getting people out of benefits and back to work helps with incredible self-belief and build the steam. And I think you can be really mislead. And I really believe that any sort of work is good. Gets people out of the house, gets people into a new social circle, gets people talking, gets people working and people feel better about themselves. And I'd like to see some of what I believe was Labor's biggest mistake and that was that huge increase in those benefits. I'd like to see some of that whittled down and, you know, I'm seeing that the 90-day legislation is going to be part of that. So, you know, I really believe that work helps people no matter what. And I really feel for young people, I think that they may have been a bit lost during the COVID years. They may not have gone to school. They may have gone off school. I think there needs to be some real stewardship shown in education. And I think Axe Charter Schools policy might actually deliver something that's a long overdue in this country. You know, Miles, I have to thank you for participating in Cam's Buddies. You get lots of comments from, particularly from the staff of Reality Shet Radio. They say, oh, we love Miles or, you know, it's amazing the number of people who say that. So, look, I really appreciate you participating in it. And hopefully you'll be back next year for new Cam's Buddies. And we can keep on, you know, making a real difference to the listeners out there. They love this segment. So, you know, really appreciate it. And I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. And, you know, maybe you and I need to go and shoot something in the holidays. You know, my freezer is a bit empty. So, to do with filling that up again. Exactly. Look, merry Christmas to all the RCR listeners. I really think that you guys are the backbone of New Zealand. I like being able to share my thoughts. I'm not sure that everybody agrees with what I say, but, you know, I'd like to say that it's worthwhile having this sort of segment where I'm a pretty ordinary bloke and I like, I think about ordinary things. I know that. But I'd like to wish everyone a very extraordinary merry Christmas. And I think that people, if you are thinking about past, don't focus on the future. Focus on your family. Focus on treating yourself, doing something nice for yourself this Christmas. Because, you know, you guys, you really deserve it. And I echo that two miles. So thank you so much for participating and we'll catch up in the new year. Merry Christmas, Cam. Merry Christmas to you too. Aren't my buddies just awesome. I am so blessed to have such a great bunch of mates to share anything with. And of course, they share these things with you as well. I wish all my buddies a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Tell us who you think is the best of Cam's buddies and why by emailing inbox at realitycheck.radio or text to 2057. Thanks for tuning in to RCR, Reality Check Radio. Do you like what you're listening to or dislike what you're listening to? Either way, we want to hear from you. Get in touch with us now. You can text us with your message to 2057. That's 2057. Or email us at inbox at realitycheck.radio. We'd love to hear from you, so connect with us today.