A few Little jokes mark first day in job

Andrew Little.

Andrew Little walked into his new leader's suite in Parliament to be confronted by a wall of cameras, all pointing at a podium bristling with microphones.

He looked at it and quipped, "Now, where do you want me?"

That was a wee joke, the sound of Andrew Little beginning the process of trying to prove he is not as dull as people might think. He followed it up with another joke about cutting Radio NZ's funding after they made him late. It is not the type of joke a Labour politician is supposed to make.

It was his first full day as Labour leader. It began at sparrow's fart with radio interviews, followed by television interviews and then more radio interviews. There were plenty of interviews, all saying the same thing. He headed in for his first caucus meeting where nothing was decided but he gave them all a taste of what might be decided in future. That included his shadow Cabinet by next Tuesday.

Yesterday was the best day of his leadership. The congratulations were still flowing and he was too new to have fallen into any traps.

He revealed he had been contacted by one Helen Clark, former Prime Minister. "She congratulated me and has offered to talk to me at some point, at a time of my choosing."

The daily media scrum is a big test for a new Leader of the Opposition. While some topics are predictable (yesterday, Cera's Roger Sutton and Little's plans), others were more left field.

Sutton was an easy topic for him, a former employment lawyer. He questioned whether the State Services Commission was holding Sutton to account. But he also showed his political instinct was intact, making sure to mention he suggested on television three years ago that Sutton should be "New Zealander of the Year" for his post-quake work. That pre-empted the embarrassment that could ensue if the media dug out that footage themselves.

The press conference wound its way past passport security towards Reserve Bank settings and what he would discuss with China's President, Xi Jinping. He pulled out the "first day on the job" line only once - after ongoing questioning about his intentions for deputy.

He then left for a visit to the West Coast for the anniversary of the Pike River mine explosion. Tomorrow he will be in Christchurch, the next day in Auckland. So it begins.