This is a reset – you do realise that. After months of saying nothing, having no new policy and generating headlines for Ayesha Verrall singing weird songs about ducks, they started this week with a classic reset move.
They got themselves a story in the Herald on Monday, claiming Nicola Willis tried to hide secret spending in the Budget. Then they followed it up really quickly with a list announcement, unveiling the policeman candidate.
And then tomorrow they were supposed to have their big, substantive policy announcement – something they haven’t done in months. It was meant to be this run of good news.
Unfortunately for them, it’s gone a little bit pear-shaped, hasn’t it?
The “secret money” has turned out to actually just be an accounting provision. The list announcement got derailed by Greg O’Connor taking a crack at them.
Then the new guy for one of the Māori seats revealed there’s some tax relief policy coming – which he wasn’t supposed to say. Then Chippy got busted for using his government KiwiSaver to buy a bach, and the policeman didn’t tell his bosses early enough that he was off to join the Labour Party.
All of this is not a good look for Labour, because they can hardly expect to convince voters they’re ready to govern if they can’t even get 24 hours’ worth of announcements to go to plan without being derailed by four or five different issues.
But to be fair to Labour, the last 24–48 hours is really not the end of the world. A lot of this is pretty beltway stuff – at least the parts involving the policeman are. In five months’ time, when the election rolls around, no one but the biggest political nerds in this country will remember any of it.
Five months gives them plenty of time to fix all of this, but they really do have to get on and fix it, because this is the same problem, just repeated – the same problem as the Ayesha Verrall duck-song situation. It looks like a party unable to get its act together and just do one thing properly.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and radio broadcaster who hosts Newstalk ZB's weekday Drive-Time Show – where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
Heather, you have to remember that its the left for you. Labour is a group of incompetent lunatics without any decent policies, else they would have announced them, who will only convince other idiots to vote for them. Anyone with the ability to think will see right through any of the left parties, who's only real policy, which ALL the left parties have announced- is complete incompetence , chaos and destruction.
The problem we've got anoymous is National and ACT are no different.
Nz political parties and the NZ media are sponsored by perpetrators of NZ's (PM and MP supported) high cost of living, alongside NZ tax money laundering recipients.
So who can we vote for?
NZOFP and NZ Loyal are not clever enough to identify NZ government supported oligopolies are sending NZ and NZers onto bankruptcy. Or the would be new party politicians want to jump on the morally reprehensible bribery gravy train.
Is this the 'great reset' I have been hearing about the last few years?
Ameni
@1138 - what is the problem with ACT?
From my perspective they’re the only party genuinely advocating for smaller government - genuinely advocating for equal rights one person one vote - not offering handouts to every rangi and ruru, the only party that isn’t pushing protectionist policies that lead to higher prices and less competition- the only party calling for less regulation and less taxes - and while also forcing all new laws being passed have to go through a test of unintended consequences (something ardern could have done with on a massive scale).
They’re also the only group who have recognised that they’re spending taxpayer money and that taxpayers have to earn that money.
They are pro big and small business - pro competition- both these things lead to more jobs, higher wages, better conditions for everyone. (Proven by Friedman, sowell and other's)
Please explain what the problem people have with ACT actually is?
Weekly meth consumption in NZ has just hit a record level! Luxon isn’t just making unemployment numbers high. He had real skill. Can’t wait for the interest rates going up towards the end of the year too. National are great. AND I’m still distracted by co governance, which I’m sure is the real cause behind all of this awfulness in NZ.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.