ACT Leader David Seymour seems to be going all Winston Peters on it, with his party’s new immigration policy.

There’s stuff in it I think is ok. But there’s one part I don’t think is okay. This ridiculous idea of banning immigrants from getting any sort of benefit until they’ve been here for at least five years. I’ll tell you why shortly.

But essentially, ACT doesn’t want immigrants getting any sort of free ride.

It wants people here on temporary work visas to pay for the privilege of being here - charging them $6-a-day to help pay for infrastructure.

That’s another crazy part of this policy. Federated Farmers is already saying it would just put people off coming here. Which is true. If someone has got a choice of where they go to work, they won’t go somewhere where $42 disappears from their pay each week. As well as the tax they’d already be paying.

David Seymour also wants us to get tougher on deporting immigrants who commit serious crimes. Which I don’t have a problem with.

And, he wants people coming here to be better at English - with a higher standard of English required before they’re allowed in. I don’t see any problems with that.

ACT also wants to set-up a specialised enforcement unit targeting overstayers, which has the Green Party all excited. I heard its immigration spokesperson saying it sounds like ACT wants to set up a New Zealand version of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in the United States, or ICE, as it’s known.

I think others are saying too that we already have a unit targeting overstayers. So I'm indifferent on that part of David Seymour's plan.

But, as I say, the aspect of this policy that I have a real problem with, is banning immigrants from getting any sort of benefit until they’ve been here for at least five years.

You imagine someone moving to New Zealand, things going ok for the first two-or-three years but, then, they lose their job or get crook.

They can’t afford to travel back to their home country, so what are we going to do?

Do we say “Oh sorry mate, get back to us in two or three years - that’s when you’ll be entitled to the unemployment benefit or the sickness benefit or whatever.”

What happens to that person? They end up on the street probably. And is that what we want?

Someone’s life spiraling out of control, all for the sake of kicking immigrants off this so-called benefit gravy train some people seem to think people who come here from other countries are on.

No thanks. And what’s more, we’d deny them a benefit, but they’d still be entitled to ACC. It doesn’t stack up.

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National's Matt Doocey and Labour's Duncan Webb joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.

They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from Coalition dramas, the medias behaviour in Parliament, and if the Residential Red Zone should be built on again.

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Is it a flip flop? Is it a sign of things to come? Or is it just something Labour leader Chris Hipkins said off the top of his head when he was asked about it yesterday?

Means testing the NZ Super pension.

Because, back in 2023 - when he was Prime Minister - Hipkins completely ruled out the idea of means testing the pension.

Now, though, he’s saying he’s open to the idea.

And thank goodness he is. Because we can’t go on the way we are - dishing out the pension to anyone and everyone, whether they need it or not.

I will never see the pension as an entitlement. As some sort of reward for reaching the retirement age.

And it seems Hipkins is finally coming around to that way of thinking too.

Now he says he wouldn’t want to see means testing across-the-board and he doesn’t want to change the retirement age. His thinking there is that some people just can’t physically keep working beyond 65. And I get that.

He says, generally speaking, they tend to be people who have been in lower-paid jobs and they are the people who should be getting the NZ Super pension.

But he says questions have to be asked whether someone who is still working full-time and being paid a six-figure salary should be entitled to the pension.

And my answer to that is no. It always has been.

Tell that to some people, though, who think the pension is unlike any other benefit and everyone should get it. No questions asked.

No questions, such as: are you working or are you retired? Basic questions such as: if you didn’t get the pension, would you be out on the street?

Here’s another one: do you need the pension to buy groceries or do you want it to buy beers at the pub with your mates?

We don’t ask those questions. But Chris Hipkins is saying that he’s open to the idea.

Which is somewhat surprising for a Labour leader. Especially, a Labour leader who, so far, has unveiled next to no pre-election policies or promises.

He claims he’s holding off because he wants to wait until the Budget in a few weeks time. So he knows how much is in the Government books for him to play with.

But you don’t need to wait for that detail to know we’re in a mess with our pension commitments and something has to be done about it.

It is also a bit rich of Hipkins to be talking about means testing the pension on one hand but, on the other hand, wanting to give anyone and everyone free doctor’s visits. Whether they need it or not.

That’s just about the only policy he has released - the capital gains tax to pay for you and I to go to the doctor three times a year free of charge, whether we can afford it or not.

Nevertheless, despite the contradiction, it’s brilliant to hear some commonsense coming through.

The argument some people put up against means testing, is that people who still work after 65 pay secondary tax on their pension. The inference there is that they don’t get the full amount, so what’s the problem?

But that doesn’t sway me. Because we have an ageing problem - meaning our NZ Super bill is only going to go in one direction.

That’s why we can’t keep paying it out to people just because they’ve made it to 65.

And, rather than just talk about it, Chris Hipkins and all our other politicians need to have the fortitude to do something about it.

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Winston Peters has gone too far this time.

Last week, Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis were telling us not to trust him.

They‘ll be saying it even louder now. After the NZ First leader released emails to the media which show how the Prime Minister was talked out of expressing “explicit public support” for the war in Iran.

And I'm in no doubt that peters has betrayed Luxon's trust.

The two of them, apparently, had what are being reported as “crisis talks” last night. With a spokesperson for the prime minister saying the NZ First leader has put politics ahead of national interest.

Which, of course, he has. And, if I was Christopher Luxon, I'd be ropeable.

Because that’s what he’s done. He’s put politics ahead of national interest. And i would have thought, after all the huffing and puffing about cool heads being needed when it comes to foreign affairs, that he wouldn’t have released these emails.

It’s this claiming credit thing that he just can’t resist. Like that time when Christopher Luxon went on social media and said he’d done a trade deal with Southeast Asian nations.

And Peters responded with that one-word tweet saying “we”. As in “we” did the deal, not “you”.

But releasing these emails about the Iran war is next level.

Because it shows a very clear difference of opinion within the government. With the prime minister thinking the attacks by the U.S. And Israel were and are a good thing - but saying something different publicly.

Which happens all the time in governments. But you don’t go telling the world about it. Which is exactly what Winston Peters has done.

Just as an aside, even though I think Winston Peters is in the wrong here, it does show how out of his depth the prime minister was when this all blew up.

As the released emails show, he was all gung-ho and wanted the government to show “explicit public support” for the war when it started.

But, as we saw publicly during those first few days (which is backed up these emails), it was Winston who was all calm the farm and don’t panic.

That’s what he was saying to media on the Sunday after the attacks started.

It seems to me that one of the things Winston is going to campaign on in this year’s election is “experience”.

Because last week he criticised the prime minister for putting his leadership to the test with that confidence vote. It was clear that he thought Luxon was naive doing that - because it only invites another confidence vote next time a bad poll comes out.

Now, by releasing these emails, he’s pointing to Luxon's naievity on the foreign affairs front.

Which is true. Christopher Luxon is way out of his depth when it comes to foreign affairs and international diplomacy.

But you don’t go showing to that to the world the way Winston Peters has.

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There’s that saying that you should never waste a good crisis.

And, according to Winston Peters, the trucking companies are taking that advice and using the current fuel crisis as an opportunity to get what they’ve always wanted.

Which is a rule change to let them carry more weight on their trucks.

The Government’s looking at allowing that as part of its response to the fuel situation, saying it would mean the truckies using less diesel.

But Winston Peters say he’s not on board with that, and we should be making greater use of rail. And I agree with him.

In fact, I've long held the view that it’s crazy the number of trucks we have on our roads and that we should be transporting more stuff on trains.

It’s crazy we have so many trucks because our roads, generally, are pretty tinpot, aren’t they?

Tinpot roads are not designed to cope with those heavy trucks. Let alone heavier trucks if these changes go through.

Which is exactly the point the NZ First leader is making today about increasing the weight limits for trucks so they can carry more on each trip.

Winston Peters says: “these weight limits are put there for good reasons, because of potholes and bridge strength and what have you."

And what makes this even crazier, when you think about it, is the government is also talking about pressing pause on fuel tax increases next year.

So, on one hand, it wants to let trucks carry more weight - which would undoubtedly mean more damage to the roads - and it wants to stop the fuel tax increase which would mean less money to fix the roads.

How does that stack up? Answer: It doesn’t.

What’s more, Winston Peters is accusing the freight industry of using the fuel crisis to get what it wants.

He’s saying today: "this isn't the first time the trucking industry's tried this on."

I can’t verify this for sure, but I'll take Winston on his word when he says that trains are two-and-a-half times more fuel efficient than trucks.

He’s also saying today, as the Minister for rail, that there are thousands of wagons available.

So is he on to something? I think he is. And I think we need to see rail as a solution not just to any fuel shortage we might have to deal with in the short term - but long-term, as well.

On an ongoing permanent basis, less trucks and more trains.

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Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Christopher Luxon is running away from scrutiny after he cancelled his regular weekly interview on TVNZ's Breakfast programme.

"The reality is that's part of the job. You're going to be subjected to scrutiny, you're going to be asked tough questions."

Speaking on Canterbury Mornings, Hipkins was asked by John MacDonald whether he held the same view when former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancelled her weekly interviews with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking in 2021.

"I thought she should have continued to do it, but ultimately that was her choice. I made a different choice, and that was to keep doing those interviews."

When Hipkins became Prime Minister in 2023, he reinstated the weekly prime ministerial interview on the Mike Hosking Breakfast.

They also discussed Labour’s support for the India free trade agreement, his views on drinking culture in parliament, and his reaction to a parent being taken to court by the government over their child’s chronic absence from school.

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Anyone who didn’t feel excited for and proud of Christchurch over the long weekend might need to check if they’ve still got a pulse.

Because what a ripper.

And anyone who thinks our brand new One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha isn’t going to be Christchurch's greatest asset then, maybe, they were at home all weekend and didn’t see what was going on.

Thousands of visitors in town for the Super Rugby Super Round. Numbers thrown around say 14,000 people visited - 4,000 of them from Australia.

ChristchurchNZ had estimated it would pump $6 million into the economy. But it’s now saying that it will probably be more than that.

I’m in no doubt about that. I see the church pub alone sold 50 kegs of beer on Friday night. We did some numbers over dinner last night and worked out that that would have been at least $50,000 in beer sales.

At one pub. On one night. That doesn’t count the beer sold on Saturday and sunday.

Naturally, Crusaders boss Colin Mansbridge is pushing for Christchurch to host the Super Round again. I think he’s got a multi-year deal in his sights.

And, crucially, Super Rugby Chief Executive Jack Mesley isn’t ruling it out.

Although, he’s hardly going to poo-poo it when he’s here and everyone’s on a high because of how well it went.

But he did say before jumping on the plane back to Sydney that Christchurch definitely has a head start over other New Zealand cities.

Which we do. Tell that to the Mayor of Dunedin, though, who is saying this morning that they’re going to be looking into the viability of hosting the Super Round in Dunners.

One ting that occurred to me at the weekend, was who needs Russell Coutts and Sail GP now we’ve got this brilliant stadium facility?

Which is why I think it is going to be Christchurch's single greatest asset. If it isn’t already.

I know that Friday night, especially, was a milestone. It was the end of a very long wait. It was another one of those symbolic and emotional moments when we realise just how far we have come as a city.

And I know not every Crusaders game at One New Zealand Stadium is necessarily going to attract 25,000 people.

And I know that not everyone is a rugby fan.

But you can’t deny the good the Super Round did for our city over the weekend, and the good the stadium is going to continue doing.

Just imagine what it’s going to be like next month when Six60 headlines the first big concert at the stadium. Which is sold out.

You imagine what it’s going to be like when the Warriors play here in June. Again, another sell-out.

And imagine what it’s going to be like in July when the All Blacks play France under the roof. That match is well on its way to being sold out too.

So the weekend was just the start. And what a brilliant start it was too.

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Ahead of the first fully ticketed event at One New Zealand Stadium, John MacDonald caught up with Greg May, owner of central city bar, Smash Palace.

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