The Ardern government may feel pleased it hasn’t fallen lower in the latest Roy Morgan poll, but there wasn’t much to cheer about, particularly for those MPs who it indicates face being banished to the political wilderness come election day.
The key element in the poll – the fourth in a row in the Roy Morgan sampling to show a change of government, were there to be an election now – is the decline in net country direction from -5% to -12.5%, as has been pointed out by another pollster, David Farrar.
The gender breakdown of the direction question is also pertinent: in February women were + 8% but are now -6%.
Of course, Covid is still dominating the headlines in the mainstream media, few of which level any kind of criticism at the Prime Minister – and there was barely a mention to be found in the media of the Roy Morgan poll.
Strangely, too, the NZ Herald’s percipient political editor, Claire Trevett, defended the Prime Minister for her choice of Poto Williams as Police Minister, even after the newspaper had earlier given her front-page headlines “Williams slated, over police response times”.
Or was Trevett being ironic when she wrote:
Or was Trevett being ironic when she wrote:
“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was trying something different by giving it to Williams, who is not tough on crime and can’t put on a convincing show of it – and was chosen for those reasons. Williams is also relatively inexperienced as a minister and that is showing – and is a liability in a portfolio which has rapidly become very political”.
What is clear is that Williams has made herself an easy target for National’s Mark Mitchell, himself a former policeman and well versed on issues of law and order.
And there is little doubt that with gang membership growing faster than the police muster, police response times more than doubling and shootings featuring regularly in the headlines, public alarm is becoming acute.
So National has got Labour on the back foot, not just on its recent handling of Covid, but on the cost of living “crisis” and law and order. What will be next?
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton.
2 comments:
Despite the efforts of the MSM, the news is finally getting out to voters that this labour cult is a recipe for disaster.
They are headed by an autocratic leader, they cannot deliver on their promises, they are corrupt, introducing apartheid, dismantling democracy, to list but a few of their faults. As for the allocations of port folios, that appears to have been a lolly scramble, or maybe a raffle. There would be no ministry that could boast a success since labour have been in power. (Except maybe the Ministry of Propaganda.) The incompetence of the ministers has been reflected in the efficiencies of the relevant government departments. The government is obviously on the way out so they should do the honourable thing and call for an early election to limit the damage and stop the increase in debt.
So far I have not seen one mention of that Poll on any MSM from Stuff to Herald to TV1 or TV3/Newshub.
Proof that the mistrust in media is justified 10fold.
They aren't clever clowns are they?
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