100-day deadline counts down and Labour MPs excel in Opposition - On the Tiles

Ayesha Verrall (far left) and Ginny Andersen (far right) have been spotlighted for putting the heat on the Government. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Politicos, get ready: the next four weeks are set to be a marathon for our politicians.

Next week marks the start of a rare four-week sitting period for Parliament, which coincides with the Government’s plans to get through all the priorities in its 100-day plan. Crime and justice are key parts of that agenda, with the Government’s anti-gang laws needing to be passed, and some bills are likely to be passed under urgency, only adding to the packed political agenda.

On this week’s episode of On the Tiles, the NZ Herald’s politics podcast, host and deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan is joined by Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls to debate the key bills still to come and if the Government will get through those plans.

The National-led government likely wants to take control of the narrative, after a series of embarrassing mistakes around smoking legislation and police numbers pulled focus from their agenda.

The two called out Labour’s Ayesha Verrall and Ginny Anderson, who were the Health and Police Ministers only a few months ago, for their work in the move to Opposition. Verall in particular earned praise for keeping the heat on Associate Health Minister, Casey Costello, over the excise tax on tobacco.

“[Verall’s] such a good opposition sparring partner for Casey Costello because they both mirror each other in terms of their career progression, because Costello’s a first-term MP, first-term minister, Verall was a first-term MP to think about that first-term minister so she knows exactly what’s going through her head right now,” Walls said.

“[Verall’s] probably remembering standing up in the house for the first time, answering her questions, remembering how terrified she was. And she’s like, ‘I know how she’s tripped up because I would have done the same thing’ - but she didn’t get caught.”

Coughlan noted that Labour has been smart in letting other spokespeople take centre stage and letting Labour leader Chris Hipkins take a back seat.

“I think they’re deliberately allowing the electorate to kind of reset their relationship with Chris Hipkins. Elections are such personal things, like the election, the vote was a kind of verdict on him. So I think he’s quite wisely just so keeping his head down a little bit to allow the electorate to reset before coming back.”

Listen to the full episode of the On the Tiles podcast for more discussion of the week in politics - including why Christopher Luxon may want to rethink his approach to Waitangi speeches.

On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays. The podcast is hosted by NZ Herald deputy politics editor Thomas Coughlan.