The electorate fell head over heels in love with a smiling friendly looking Jacinda Ardern, until her ideology started to bite, then everyone freaked out and she was gone.
In came smiley friendly looking Chris Hipkins. “Just a boy from the Hutt!” the media exclaimed with glee, Chippy! Guy next door vibes. Innocuous looking.
We seemingly instantly forgot and forgave all his time as Police Minister achieving nothing but a hike in gangs, crime and ram raids, all his time as Covid Minister running the MIQ debacle and overseeing no access to RAT tests, all his time as Education Minister overseeing the biggest truancy numbers this country’s ever seen.
All forgotten and forgiven - he looks like a mate you could have a beer with so surely he’s in. The polls show a surge in his popularity - based purely on visibility I guess, and the un-intimidating boy next door vibes.
But we do not vote in Prime Ministers, we vote in parties.
And actually we don’t even vote in parties we tend to vote out governments.
So what it essentially comes down to in seven months’ time is - are we voting this Government back in? Or out?
If you’ve fallen for the “policy bonfire” and the borrowed money being sprinkled your way, you’re probably voting them back in.
But look carefully at what’s on that policy bonfire. As one commentator pointed out, nothing’s really been set fire to apart from the TVNZ- RNZ merger. Everything else is potentially still on the table, just shunted to one side until after the election.
If you think an ideological driven party like Labour, along with the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are not going to get all that straight back on the table ASAP then you’re dreaming. Because, bear in mind deals will need to be done.
On current polling Labour won’t get in alone so they’ll need the car-hating climate-loving Greens on board, plus the co-governance obsessed Māori party. So if you think all that divisive unpopular policy .. and more.. won’t be back, then you’ve misread MMP.
I admire the determination of Hipkins and his party though, they’re absolutely determined to hold onto the reins of power - they’re throwing everything at it - no matter what the cost - they’re laser focused. But can you trust them?
National, if it wants to get back in the game, needs to worry less about whether their leader is popular or not, and more about showing the wholesale determination and drive that the Labour Party has.
They need to look hungrier, more decisive, more determined, more agile, more ambitious.
Changing the leader isn’t it, upping the drive and focus is. They need to go hardcore full tilt at this for the next seven months because, yes there’s a long way to go before polling day, but perception counts, and so far the perception is that Labour wants it more than National does.
Kate Hawkesby is a political broadcaster on Newstalk ZB - her articles can be seen HERE.
5 comments:
I know. This is what the opposition is for though to explain to people the consequences of electing the labour radicals and activists back into power. Nz as we know it will be finished. I hope luxon ramps up and stops being afraid of the left media. If they start calling him a racist and a stale pale male, people will see through it this time. I have noticed that the cult of wokeism is starting to grind heavily on people in the usa and uk and they are no longer tolerating it.
Sheeple voters are an even bigger problem than the devious and incompetent politicians.
the only pole that matters is the one in oct i dont no one person who will admit to voting labour and i will never forget the most arrogant incompetant dishonest racist goverment i have ever seen
While the ruling cult has the propaganda corps under their control, the majority of voters are not getting anything but the approved narrative. How can another party get their policies out there when the media is so obviously hostile to anything but red. The only way opposition parties can get any coverage is to either screw up or pay exorbitant fees for an advertisement, which is little different to blackmail.
Until the majority of the voters are given truthful, unbiased facts about the present regimes dishonesty, corruption, nepotism and ideology they cannot make an informed decision.
I reckon Luxon is aware that every time he opens his mouth the MSM jump all over any slightest inconsistency in his remarks. Thus the significant of his remarks is lost in all the ‘noise’. Maybe the Nats. current strategy is to produce sound democratic policy and let the policy do the talking.
Closer to election time Luxon and ‘Chippy’ will be butting heads in the media spotlight and Luxon’s corporate management skills will come to the fore. He will cut through Chippy’s blather and voters will be tuned in to it.
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