Another day, another battlefront and another protest makes its way to Parliament’s lawns to argue against the new coalition Government – and despite it all, or because of it all, NZ First’s honeymoon continues apace.
Despite the noise and outrage outside Parliament in the last two weeks,one of the first polls since the election two months ago indicates there is little voter remorse over that election result.
Voters have not changed their minds since October 14.
The results of the latest Curia poll would have delivered the same grouping of parties into government: National, Act and NZ First.
National and Labour were on about the same levels of support, which will disappoint National. It would have hoped for a boost in support after forming the Government. It certainly would have hoped for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to rise rather than fall as preferred Prime Minister.
Instead, National’s bedmates NZ First have hogged the headlines and the honeymoon.
Its polling lifted from an election night result of 6 per cent to 8 per cent in the Curia poll - overtaking the Act Party, which fell to 6 per cent.
Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters during the State Opening of Parliament. Photo / Getty Images
The latter will be a particular joy to leader Winston Peters – and will rankle with poor old Act leader David Seymour who had plugged away to snaffle a big chunk of NZ First’s vote during its years with Labour and then in the wilderness.
It may have been why Peters was magnanimous when he took his first run as Acting PM in the coalition Government on Tuesday. Labour leader Chris Hipkins asked Peters whether he agreed with an earlier description of him by Seymour as “just a muppet; the problem is he can’t work with anyone. The good news is he’s going down in flames; he’s yesterday’s man”.
Yesterday’s man knew he was today’s man, so simply pointed to the Bible to explain Seymour’s apparently incorrect assessment: “Nobody’s beyond redemption.”
Seymour, who has been fairly low-key and diligently getting on with his new job since the Government was formed - has discovered there is no gain from being the sensible one in the room.
Peters is never happier than when there’s a fight to be had, be it with the media or Te Pāti Māori, as his first two big skirmishes have been this time round.
NZ First has sucked a fair bit of the oxygen out of the room for the others. But its leader was not alone.
Peters has also defied the predictions of some that he would immediately forget some of the more polarising promises he made on the campaign trail the moment he got into government. That explains why in tandem with NZ First’s rise, its duellists in one fight are also enjoying a honeymoon in the polls: Te Pāti Māori. It has risen to 5 per cent after taking a lead role in trying to fight NZ First.
The two parties have been at the opposite ends of the race debate – a debate kicked off by policies that are primarily Act’s and NZ First’s in the coalition agreements, from the Treaty principles to the names of government departments.
National has frantically tried to distance itself from the rougher edges of that debate, more than happy for Act and NZ First to take the lead on it – not least because the lead protagonists are both Māori: Shane Jones and Winston Peters.
It was an early taste of just how much the issue will plague this Government, likely more than any other issue through the next term.
It will be hoping that some of the more politically appetising parts of its 100-day plan start to flow soon: starting with the repeal of the ute tax, the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax and so on.
Yesterday it threw out one of those voter-pleasers: Transport Minister Simeon Brown proudly announced he’d taken the first steps toward halting blanket speed limit reductions until new rules were in place.
It also opened up a battle on another front this week - but one where it is far more comfortable in holding its ground.
That is the age-old, traditional battle between any National Government and the trade unions.
On Tuesday night, National moved into urgency to repeal Labour’s Fair Pay Agreements and restore 90-day trials for all workplaces to use. The Council of Trade Unions organised a protest at Parliament on Wednesday morning over it.
National will not mind that one. There has been some horror that National decided to dispense with the usual regulatory impact statements (the officials’ reckons of pros and cons and consequences of various policy moves) for the bulk of its 100-day programme. Luxon has been blunt about the reason for that: it would be redundant.
National campaigned on them, it got the mandate and lo, it will happen, so there is no point wasting time on the paperwork – presumably he will be just as deaf to the protests on it.
Claire Trevett is the Herald’s political editor, based at Parliament in Wellington. She started at the Herald in 2003 and joined the Press Gallery team in 2007. She is a life member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
