On the Tiles: Labour’s Willie Jackson on Māori seats, He Puapua and TV interviews

Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson is laughing about a controversial interview from last year. Photo / New Zealand Herald

Parliament has nearly wrapped up for the term - the last sitting day was yesterday, but most politicians will be heading out on the election campaign trail ahead of the official dissolution of this term next Friday.

And the end of the term means plenty of politicians are reflecting on the highs - and lows - of the past three years.

One interesting moment for Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson came in December last year, when an appearance with Q+A’s Jack Tame quickly became one of the most debated interviews of the year, largely because of NZ Herald deputy political editor and On the Tiles podcast host Thomas Coughlan dubbing it a “trainwreck”.

Speaking about the then-proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, Jackson and Tame sparred on editorial independence, with Jackson suggesting Tame and TVNZ had “representatives on the establishment board” and joked about Tame’s future on the political show.

Jackson hit back at Coughlan’s column, saying it was a good interview “except some guy from the Herald didn’t like it”.

Nine months on though, and with the term coming to an end, Jackson joined Coughlan on this week’s episode of On the Tiles to put things behind them - and in fact, he thinks it helped his career in the long run.

“I remember [National Party MP] Melissa Lee, when Chippy came in and I got promoted, I think she got shocked, because they all thought after your review, I was finished. So what’s my top tip to people? Get a negative review from Thomas!”

After burying the hatchet, Jackson also weighs in on how the Māori electorates could play out during the election, his relationship with Te Pāti Māori and his founding role in it, what caused him to go with Labour, and whether the Government could have done more to sell policies like Three Waters and He Puapua to the public.

Listen to the full episode of the On the Tiles podcast for more from Willie Jackson and the last Parliamentary term.

On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.