John Armstrong: Roy buries hatchet - in Hide's back

Heather Roy. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The more times you read it, the more obvious it becomes that Heather Roy's speech to Act's weekend conference was not one you would hear from a loyal deputy.

And that's putting it mildly. It is astonishing in itself that Act's deputy leader should publicly align herself with the dissident Sir Roger Douglas camp, which is acutely critical of the party's direction under Rodney Hide's leadership.

That might be defended on the grounds that after more than a year of being National's support partner in Government, Act's poor poll ratings dictate there should be some meaningful debate about that relationship.

Roy's speech, however, also contained what could only be interpreted as numerous, if subtle, digs at Hide personally. Nothing blatant, mind you. All ambiguous enough for Roy to say anyone citing an example was reading too much into her remarks.

But if this speech was supposed to show she and Hide had buried the hatchet after last year's bitterness over the leader's self-confessed "mistakes" in rorting ministerial travel perks, there was little question about where she was burying it - deep in Hide's back.

After last November's failed putsch against Hide by Roy and Sir Roger, Saturday's speech should have left no room for misinterpretation if her and Hide's assurances about the party moving forward in unison are to be credible.

But when Roy says "each and every one of us has to face the challenge daily of ensuring we are not cast as representing something other than the founding principles on which Act was formed", to whom could she be referring other than Hide and his misdemeanours.

Likewise, her reference to handing the whip's job to caucus colleague David Garrett. Why did she need to add that a "core role of leadership" was to ensure a succession plan was put in place?

There are other examples. "Holding an electorate seat and a couple of percentage points of party vote is not good enough". That is a statement of fact. But it is also a reflection on Hide's performance.

Then there is the mention of "black swans" - high-impact, hard-to-predict events. "Despite our hard work and successes, we have already seen the black swans overhead."

Maybe the speech was payback time for the damage done to Act by Hide's taxpayer-funded jaunt around the world and holiday in Hawaii. Having made her point, maybe Roy will leave it at that.

Much of her argument about Act losing its identity and becoming an "adjunct" to National mirrored Sir Roger's speech on Friday night.

The big difference was Sir Roger's clinical analysis of Act's predicament as a minor party getting no traction with the public despite it providing stability to the governing arrangement.

He praised Hide's efforts in slicing through bureaucratic red tape while negotiating a cap on Government spending - work which, with his reform of Auckland's local government structure and the three-strikes policy, Hide intends to parade at next year's election.

Roy described Hide's reform of local government as essential, but time-consuming. Talk about damning with faint praise.

Her remarks have put paid to the theory that Act is playing a clever game in which Hide stresses his party's role in ensuring stable government, while other MPs like Sir Roger and Roy take pot-shots at National to ensure Act remains visible and not submerged by its support agreement with the ruling party.

Roy is absolutely right. Act's problem is how to differentiate itself from National without destabilising the Government.

But Act is now seriously factionalised. Its leader has been knee-capped. All of that has consequences for Act's stability itself.

And that should give National cause for worry.