Labour to convene in Wellington for leadership selection, recent rugby head injury study results released, Reserve Bank likely to maintain official cash rate and Niwa releases climate summary for the month.
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Opinion by Audrey Young
Audrey Young, Senior Political Correspondent at the New Zealand Herald based at Parliament, specialises in writing about politics and power.
This is a transcript of Audrey Young’s subscriber-only Premium Politics newsletter. To sign up, click on your profile at nzherald.co.nz and select ‘Newsletters’. For a step-by-step guide, click here.
Act leader David Seymour is doing a reasonable job of saying a little about the process underway without giving away state secrets. Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters are adopting the “cone of silence” approach. But as political editor Claire Trevett argues, it is not working very well and it’s time for a rethink. Seeing is believing and it might help to see the democratic process at work. Peters’ ongoing petulance is not particularly confidence-enhancing either.
Outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is expected to be endorsed again today as Labour leader under a leadership vote that must be held under Labour’s constitution. It may or may not be a long-term position, but keeping him in place would certainly help as the party transitions to opposition. It was obvious from his style of electioneering that he is likely to be a strong opposition politician. After all, he had three terms of practise at it from 2008.
In light of the final results having been announced on Friday, it is worth mentioning a few MPs who have not made it back to Parliament. I for one will miss Labour’s Naisi Chen, a bright young list MP; the very able Vanushi Walters who lost Upper Harbour; the effervescent Anna Lorck who lost Tukituki; and Ibrahim Omer, who had an incredible path to Parliament from his former life as an Eritrean refugee.
It is also a great shame that National list-only candidate James Christmas did not make it. He had been earmarked by Luxon as the next Attorney-General and Treaty Negotiations Minister, but the sheer number of seats that went National’s way meant fewer list MPs were elected than expected by the party. It is not clear yet who will get the Treaty Negotiations portfolio, but Judith Collins, a former lawyer and former president of the Auckland District Law Society, is likely to be the front-runner for Attorney-General.
National's Judith Collins. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Applications for recounts have to be in by tomorrow (three working days after the official result) and at least three electorate results are likely to be recounted under the eye of a district court judge: Tāmaki Makaurau (Te Pāti Māori holds by four votes), Mt Albert (Labour holds by 20) and Nelson (Labour holds by 29). Te Atatū is a possibility, with Labour holding it by 131 votes. There is no deadline for the count. It takes as long as it takes.
“We only need one [vote] if we think about the World Cup and the Springboks, and four votes is a landslide” - Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp, who has beaten Peeni Henare in Tāmaki Makaurau by four votes (on Newshub Nation).
Micro quiz
Which National MP held Port Waikato from 1999 to 2008? (Answer below.)
Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.
For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.
