Clive Bibby: The minor parties in the Government Coalition are proving to be its greatest strength

This weeks’s unsurprising but welcome poll result reinforces the opinions expressed in this column in more ways than one. And I expect the dramatic increase in support for the Coalition’s minor parties at the expense of Labour’s creaky alliance to continue until election day. 

Last election I voted strategically wanting to ensure a National led Government - I gave my Electorate vote to National and my Party vote to Act.

As things turned out, people like me - concerned about the radical Green’s and racist TePati Maori parties support for the depleted ranks of Labour - I shouldn’t have bothered.
Since time immemorial, free elections have been won or lost based on trust.

If governments deliver on the promises made on the campaign trail, the chances are that they will be rewarded with at least another term, maybe more - the exception being the hapless Albanese Government in Australia that promised to reduce household energy bills by $275.00 when they actually increased by more than double that amount.

The reason why Labor managed to survive and increase its majority was because the Opposition Liberals were hopeless at campaigning on the fertile ground of broken promises and so, voters chose the devil they knew.

Getting back to New Zealand politics.

I have watched the political careers of Winston Peters and senior members of his NZ First Party with interest since the inception of MMP but, until now, have felt unable to put at least one of my votes their way.

Again, until now, it has always been a matter of trust! Although the NZ First policies have often appealed, Winston’s last minute jostling for position in either a Labour led or National led coalition when he had the opportunity to be “King maker” demonstrated, at least to me, that he couldn’t be trusted with my vote.

However, I now consider most of that is past history and, as a result of the performances of Winston and Shane Jones in their respective positions holding senior cabinet ministerial roles, I may well change my aversion to supporting them at the next election.

This about face is a result of outstanding performances by Winston as our Foreign Minister and Shane Jones in his role as Economic Development Minister.

Who would have thought that these two seemingly political “hasbeens” would become the Government’s greatest assets.

Winston has gained a justifiable reputation amongst Foreign leaders for being a reliable, honest, independent broker who can be trusted to represent our nation on the World stage competing with other less able politicians representing far larger countries.

He punches above his weight- a national characteristic that has done us proud throughout the years.

Shane Jones has shown a similar ability to stare down the racially motivated members of the Maori elite. Having witnessed the same sort of destructive antics these people use when negotiating deals that should benefit their people, l know what it takes to prevail in hostile environments.

We should be greatful to these two politicians who deserve our votes so that they can continue contributing to a better world for us all.

I should not finish this column without reference to the other great performer amongst the senior cabinet ranks - none other than the Hon.David Seymour (Deputy PM).

My guess is that these “Three Amigos” have at least one thing in common - they are fearless when confronted by opposition who address them as modern day “Genghis Khan“ or worse.
I have yet to see another politician outsmart any one on the trio in parliamentary debate or in heated exchanges on Marae.

The fact that all three are proud of their Maori heritage goes a long way towards instilling the confidence needed when we entrust the fate of the nation into their capable hands - they deserve our support at the ballot box in return.

Let’s do it.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.