Politics review: Honey, let's shrink the Nats

By VERNON SMALL

It is a measure of National's woes that while Bill English was putting bums on his front bench seats, Parliament was having a seemingly petty - but actually highly symbolic - row over just how many seats he should fill.

With a caucus shrunk to 27 - and that includes Maurice Williamson - English commands less than half the combined forces of National, Act, New Zealand First and the Greens.

If you take the broader and increasingly absurd definition of "Opposition" applied by Parliament - all those parties not in Government, including the supporting party United Future - then he has just 27 out of 66.

Armed with those numbers, NZ First's Winston Peters and the Green co-leadership are questioning why Parliament automatically confers a special status on National or gives it all the prime benches opposite senior ministers - and a disproportionate number of front bench slots at that; nine for its 27 MPs against five for the 31 in the other three parties.

It is a fair question and one Speaker Jonathan Hunt is wrestling with. His solution - if he attempts proportionality - will be to take a couple of seats from National, squeezing its physical front bench down to seven. To do otherwise could open him to accusations that Parliament's procedures ignore the will of the electorate.

Voters used MMP to slice and dice the Opposition vote. Why should the 21 per cent who voted for National get preference over the 24 per cent who voted for the other three parties?

Parliament allows the majority on one side to determine the shape of the Government. It ought to at least allow the combined Opposition a view on its make-up and an even-handed treatment on seating.

Following on from that will be increasing pressure to ditch the assumption that the MP at the helm of the largest non-Government party should be the Leader of the Opposition, with all the advantages that accrue.

Part of the problem is historic and part is simply the geography of the House. Arranged as a horseshoe, the debating chamber provides two narrow arms of three rows on either side of the Speaker where the two big parties' heavy-hitters have traditionally sat.

On the cross-benches, in the curve of the horseshoe and furthest from the Speaker, there are five rows and fewer front benches.

That was fine when Parliament was dominated by two big parties. The backbenchers could be banished to "Siberia" and the sharper minds could square off, seated two symbolic sword-lengths apart on either side of the Speaker so no physical harm could be done.

The arrangement has simply outlived its usefulness, as this week's seating row has shown.

In time the chamber must be reconfigured, perhaps by creating a circle or a semicircle facing the Speaker. That way parties could sit in a "slice of pie" arrangement, giving preference to none - as they do in many overseas jurisdictions.

At the same time the historical view of a Government and an Opposition as a Government-in-waiting may also need to change. In a proportional system there is no reason to assume that if one Administration falls it will be replaced by the Opposition, or that the largest party outside the Government should lead that Opposition.

That will also require a rethink as to why the assumed Leader of the Opposition should appoint representatives to such important bodies as those setting electoral boundaries, or allocating free political broadcasting time.

Why should English be expected - or trusted by his political adversaries - to appoint someone to represent all the parties other than Labour and Jim Anderton's Progressive Coalition?

It is time Parliament caught up with the electorate and got to grips with MMP and the true nature of proportionality. All of which may be issues for the future.

But for National the spat over seating highlights an immediate political imperative.

With its depleted numbers it must assert itself in the House, and in the policy debate be heard over the babble of voices from a stronger group of minor parties. It can no longer assume that its spokespeople will automatically provide the alternative view.

With Peters and Ron Mark in NZ First, Richard Prebble and Rodney Hide in Act, and Rod Donald and Jeanette Fitzsimons in the Greens, there are others well-qualified to take the fight to the Government, and lead the debate on a range of issues such as tax, defence, immigration, trade, and GM.

English's test is to energise his front bench so they take the policy reins and present themselves as, at least, the leaders of an alternative Government.

With that in mind, the elevation of Don Brash to number three was a natural move. True, he may be both an asset and a liability.

His patrician manner and credibility will help National shore up its core support and begin rebuilding its reputation as the party of sound economic management.

On the other hand, his association with the dry economic policies of the right may inhibit National's assault on the moderate centre vote.

But, above all, he is a match, at least intellectually, for Michael Cullen and should ensure the Opposition economic debate is not hijacked by Prebble, Hide and Peters.

Elsewhere, English's reshuffle was not quite as radical as you might have expected after such a big loss.

Wayne Mapp and David Carter remain and they have not been powerful performers. Leaving Nick Smith in the front line and promoting Katherine Rich must have been a tempting option. And for all his faults, Maurice Williamson can be a witty and powerful debater whose "Road to Helsinki" conversion to believe in some role for the Government in economic planning would be an asset as National rethinks its economic direction.

Meanwhile, the promotion of Simon Power, who displays an embryonic charisma, and the feisty Lynda Scott, as health spokeswoman, were spot on.

With this reshuffle National can set off down the long and winding road to the 2005 election. But it must lay claim to all those front bench seats on merit rather than rely on history and tradition to make it the natural party to lead the Opposition.