Claire Trevett: Will Paul Goldsmith have the Midas touch for National?

National Party finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith with leader Simon Bridges. Photo / Mark Mitchell

COMMENT

NZ First MP Shane Jones' many nicknames for the National Party's new MP Paul Goldsmith include Goldilocks and Goldfinger.

Jones brandished those about when Goldsmith was interrogating Jones about the spending of the Provincial Growth Fund, something Goldsmith was rather effective at.

Last week, Goldsmith reaped the reward for that work – National Party leader Simon Bridges picked him as finance spokesman to take over from Amy Adams.

Bridges will certainly be hoping Jones got one of those nicknames right, and that Goldsmith has the Midas touch.

The post is not an insignificant win for Goldsmith.

He was not the only candidate who could have done the job, nor the only one who wanted it.

One of the reasons Goldsmith secured it is that he was considered well qualified to hold it down.

Few, if any, in National have disputed that, although 18 months ago few would have tipped Goldsmith for the post.

Goldsmith has proved one of the surprise performers in National since it moved into Opposition.

He was fairly low key when National was in Government, but quickly proved himself a deft and proactive contributor to Opposition strategy.

While others were licking their wounds, Goldsmith turned up to the MPs' strategy meetings at 8.15am on sitting days with ideas and information.

It was that that first caught Bridges' attention.

National Party MP Amy Adams chokes back emotion as she announces her retirement from politics. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He also proved himself in Parliament, his dry humour and methodical questioning proved a good foil to Jones shtick.

Goldsmith is also bright and economically literate.

He is not as warm or polished as Amy Adams, and he tips over to the IQ rather than the emotional intelligence side of scale. But he is very enthusiastic.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson will prove a much harder target than Jones, not least because Jones' personality and his $3 billion fund make going up against him somewhat like shooting fish in a barrel.

Robertson is far more considered and can be wily.

Goldsmith has already dispensed a paper cut to Robertson. Standing in for Amy Adams one week in May, he managed to trip Robertson up by asking what 1 per cent of GDP was.

Robertson suggested $800 million. The answer was $3 billion.

But it will take more than a few left-field questions to actually draw blood.

Goldsmith lacks two things, which will develop over time if he does job right.

First is a public profile. The second is credibility. Both are connected.

Finance spokespeople need to have credibility in the public mind, and credibility only comes when people know who you are.

Goldsmith did have a smattering of ministerial experience, but his greatest claim to fame in the public eye is that he has been National's candidate in Epsom.

For that, the greatest skillset is being able to lose, so the Act Party can keep the seat.

Losing is not the skillset you want when you have charge of the public's purse.

But Goldsmith's willingness to subject himself to such humiliation every three years says something about his character: he can keep personal ambition and ego in check if required for the greater good.

This week he began to address his profile issues.

Bridges was off to the UK to visit his wife's family, so Goldsmith took over Bridges' regular Wednesday morning slots on television and radio.

It proved instructive.

He talked about excessive regulation, including whether National had gone too far in its health and safety reforms.

The overall impression was that Goldsmith was traditional in approach, continuing the "more infrastructure, less tax" mantra Bridges has. "No more tax than you need" was his catch cry.

He was helped by the increase in petrol taxes, and the release of new business confidence figures showing a further slump, down to another new "lowest since the Global Financial Crisis".

It first hit that particular mark in the immediate aftermath of the new Labour coalition government coming into power.

But that could be seen for what it was: a kneejerk reaction to uncertainty created by a government change, rather than a reaction to anything that Government had actually done.

Now we are nearly two years in, those business confidence figures are harder to dismiss in such a fashion.

So Goldsmith set about trying to insist business confidence was a response to the coalition government.

Paul Goldsmith as Minister of Science and Innovation in 2017 - sniffing a ferret lure at Te Awanga Downs. Photo / Duncan Brown

He downplayed the international factors that Government ministers, economists and Treasury have pointed to (the "trade wars", Iran, economic slowdowns) and instead pointed to Labour's fuel tax increases, potential tax changes beyond 2020, the prospect of immigration and workplace changes and so on.

Asked what he would do to boost confidence were he to suddenly become Minister of Finance, Goldsmith responded that would happen purely by virtue of being a National Government.

He might need to work on that line a bit, but by and large he did a creditable job for his first major outing – just a week after he got the role.

The other thing in Goldsmith's favour was his loyalty to Bridges.

Ideally, a leader and a finance spokesperson must look to be in lock-step with each other.

Disagreements can and should happen – behind closed doors – because that is what robust debate constitutes.

But for all that to happen, trust is required and Bridges has been rather wary on the trust front since Jami Lee Ross delivered his blows.

The ideal model is the same as for former PM John Key and Bill English.

Ardern and Robertson also have trust, built from years of friendship as much as working together now.

For Bridges and Goldsmith it is a newer thing, and has largely developed in Opposition.

That is ultimately why Collins was not Bridges' choice.

By way of trying to convince people that Bridges and Goldsmith had a good relationship, National's social media team put out a Budget Day photo of Simon Bridges and Paul Goldsmith walking side by side down stairs at Parliament.

It was taken from behind and Goldsmith had his hand on Bridges' shoulder.

Had it been Collins, it would not have taken long for people to ask if she was about to push.