Nikki Kaye and Tariana Turia shine amid the collapse of civility in politics – Steven Joyce

Nikki Kaye (left) and Tariana Turia shine amid the collapse of civility in politics, writes Steven Joyce. Photos / Audrey Young / DefendNZ

THREE KEY FACTS

• Tariana Turia sold Whanau Ora to John Key and to Bill English first, and then painstakingly pitched it and repitched it to the rest of her colleagues
• Elon Musk has called a British Cabinet minister a “rape genocide apologist”
• In the context of the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires Donald Trump has taken to calling the state’s governor (Gavin Newsom) “Gavin Newscum”

Steven Joyce is a former National Party Minister of Finance and Minister of Transport. He is a director at Joyce Advisory and the author of the recently published book on his time in office, On the Record.

OPINION

The New Year brings the opportunity to look ahead and contemplate how things might pan out.

To prophesy on things economic, for example. God knows we could do with a better year so I suspect there is a market for positive soothsaying.

And all things considered, New Zealand should finally be on the up after a long, tough period, although there is the wild card that is the second Trump presidency.

Nikki Kaye, former deputy leader of the National Party on Great Barrier Island. Photo / Audrey Young

A new year is also, however, a chance to ponder bigger themes, including perhaps the state of our politics. In that context, I have been thinking about two of our senior politicians from the Key era who have recently died.

I first met Nikki Kaye more than 20 years ago. She was a young researcher in the National Party Leader’s Office, and I had just been appointed to chair the investigation into what was then (and remains) the National Party’s worst-ever election result. The deputy leader at the time, Roger Sowry, directed me to the Backbencher pub to meet some of the key staffers from the campaign.

He sat me between two passionate young women, one of whom was Nikki. The two of them, and mostly Nikki, proceeded to give me chapter and verse of what went wrong, without pausing for breath, for the next two or three hours. It was by turn invigorating, relentless, and ultimately exhausting, and I’ve never forgotten it. It was my first real introduction to party politics.

Nikki never changed. She entered Parliament in 2008 at the same time as me. She was a truly lovely person, but man, once she formed a view on something, she never gave up. She was a relentless advocate for what she thought was right. Only her humour and self-deprecation leavened the ceaseless lobbying, and that was definitely for the better.

Nikki gave her life to politics and I know that wasn’t without its regrets for her. She knew her cancer was going to limit her time but she crusaded on regardless, never thinking of herself until she decided to retire four years ago.

Another who gave much of her life to politics was Tariana Turia. I didn’t know Tariana as well as I knew Nikki, but she was a calm, patient, and determined presence in the Parliament and in Government. I enjoyed her dignity and her sometimes mischievous sense of humour.

Kahurangi Tariana Turia. Photo / DefendNZ

Tariana sold Whanau Ora to John Key and to Bill English first, and then painstakingly pitched it and repitched it to the rest of her colleagues, many of whom either didn’t understand what she wanted to achieve or didn’t want to. It was when Bill pointed out that monolithic government departments didn’t know it all, and that contracting out social services to Māori (and other) providers was exactly what National stood for, that the penny dropped and Tariana won the day.

I tell these little vignettes about two very different politicians because they had at least two things in common. They were both passionate believers in making a positive difference in our country, and they knew who they were elected to represent, in what is, after all, a house of representatives.

In my experience, these traits are reflected in nearly all politicians. There is the odd narcissistic sociopath and their numbers are perhaps increasing, but they tend to out themselves over time. Everyone else is there for the right reasons, and they passionately believe the ideas they are selling to the public and seeking to implement.

That doesn’t mean we have to agree with any of it. I for example will never agree with Julie Ann Genter’s utopian transport vision, but I can still respect her as an individual for the passion she brings to her cause.

It seems worth reminding ourselves of the positive motives of most politicians in this increasingly angry social media age. What previously was self-evident, that people’s hearts were in the right place, is starting to look quite quaint.

Whether it is the fault of the algorithms which thrive on conflict and strong emotions, or the fact we’ve given every bar-room bore their own megaphone with which to broadcast their opinions, the temperature is rapidly rising in every aspect of political discourse. It’s getting nastier and it’s a brave politician who stands against the trend.

The abuse and name-calling started overseas, and the upward trajectory seems exponential.

In just the past few days alone we’ve seen Elon Musk call a British Cabinet minister an “evil witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”, and declare the recently elected British Prime Minister “evil” and seek to get him replaced. In the context of the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, Donald Trump has taken to calling Californian governor Gavin Newsom “Gavin Newscum”.

They are just the most visible examples of the instant bile spewing forth from hundreds of thousands of social media accounts around the world.

Elon Musk, left, shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump backstage during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds. Photo / Getty Images

A glance at feeds here shows we are heading the same way. I’ve grown used to the provocative rants on both sides of the Treaty Principles debate, but it’s not just there. Everywhere you look, self-described political posters are getting more angry and more personal. Even seemingly innocuous personal posts from politicians attract huge swathes of disparaging comments from trolls of both sides almost as soon as they go up.

Maybe all this is harmless. Maybe it’s just symptomatic of the increasing robustness of the public square, but I suspect not.

The vitriol and nastiness turn a lot of normal people off. Political participation is dropping around the world, especially in America which is ground zero for this new “personal abuse politics”. Normal people are the democratic ballast that prevents the extremes from getting carried away. If they are not engaged in politics, then radical agendas are more likely to prevail. And it makes it even less likely that more balanced individuals will stand for public office.

Personal abuse detracts from the merit of your argument. I certainly wasn’t perfect in political debate, particularly in the early days of social media. But I did try to play the ball, not the person. Whatever the merits of the points Musk, Trump et al are trying to make, they get lost in an escalating blizzard of name-calling and counter-name-calling.

At times like these, it is important to remember what the point of debate is. Are we trying to explain our position and persuade an uncommitted someone to support a course of action, or are we just getting our kicks shouting into the void?

We don’t have to be slaves to the social media algorithms. Let’s have a New Year’s resolution to take stock and modify the approach. Perhaps do the radical thing and focus on the policy a bit more than the personal, leaving the online shouting to a shrinking minority. Politics at its best is a battle of ideas, not people.

And most politicians, regardless of their politics, are trying to make the world a better place. Whether you agree with them or not.