Labour leader Chris Hipkins calls Greens’ Marama Davidson and discusses police row

Chris Hipkins made amends with the Greens at the weekend, calling Marama Davidson. Photo / RNZ

• Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to Green co-leader Marama Davidson about the political rhetoric around policing.
• Hipkins softened his stance, acknowledging the Greens raised legitimate issues after initial strident comments.
• Green MP Tamatha Paul criticised beat patrols, leading to a rift and subsequent discussions for reconciliation.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to Green co-leader Marama Davidson over the weekend and “reflected” on the amped up political rhetoric around policing, which contributed to a rift between the two parties, who tend to be quite close.

The rift emerged after Green MP Tamatha Paul criticised beat patrols in Wellington, saying “all they do is walk around all day, waiting for homeless people to leave their spot, packing their stuff up and throwing it in the bin”.

That drew attacks from across the House, including from Labour, with Hipkins saying “I thought Tamatha Paul’s comments were ill-informed, were unwise, in fact were stupid”.

Green's Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul played a DJ set at CubaDupa, including multiple anti-police songs.

But Hipkins appears to have softened his position at the weekend - at least from the perspective of the rhetoric he used - saying he did not think the conversation last week was “helpful”.

“I think subsequent to what were some strident comments at the beginning, I think the Greens raised some legitimate issues.

“Unfortunately, by the time they did that we were in an environment in which we were almost shouting at each other,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins called Davidson over the weekend and offered his support to the party after MP Benjamin Doyle began to receive death threats after posts from a private Instagram account were made public.

Hipkins said he had a “very friendly conversation” with Davidson.

“I think we do agree that community safety is important. There are legitimate issues here, but I don’t think the way that debate was started last week was the way to surface those,” he said.

Hipkins said there would “almost certainly” be a rapprochement between himself and Paul.

“We still work very closely with the Greens,” he said.

Hipkins has been taking heat over his position.

Last week, he faced criticism at a Young Labour event from an audience member who took Paul’s side in the debate. Under questioning today, Hipkins implied these critics were not from the Labour Party.

Paul has doubled down on her position. Over the weekend, she played a DJ set at Wellington festival Cuba Dupa, playing songs critical of the police.

Paul played Sound of da Police by rapper KRS-One and Killing in the Name by rock band Rage Against the Machine.

The songs focus on issues of police brutality and corruption in America.

Lyrics include “the officer has the right to arrest and if you fight back they put a hole in your chest”, with Sound of da Police comparing modern officers to “overseers” on a plantation during the time of slavery.

Killing in the Name includes a repeated line “some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses”, linking the police to the Ku Klux Klan. The song ends with the well-known chant: “f*** you I won’t do what you tell me”.

Meanwhile, Paul posted critically of Hipkins on her social media accounts.

Last week she reposted a video of Hipkins’ altercation at the Young Labour meeting with the caption: “Just keep digging yourself deeper into that hole bro. In the last month, he’s been alienating all of the people he’s going to need to build a Government with.”

“I’ll never understand why Labour tries to compete for the same voters as National. They’ll never win,” she wrote.

Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the Press Gallery since 2018.