At last, a real election contest

National’s economic discussion document released this week is a clear sign that it has abandoned the crowded waters at the centre for more traditional, maybe a little neglected, fishing grounds to the right.

At the heart of the greatest sporting moments is a contest, a genuine challenge of brain and brawn. Often, such moments can be diluted by one side’s desire to nullify the tactics of the other, or bolster defence to create a game of attrition; form is sacrificed for function, and style for strategy.

That can make sense; All Whites coach Ricki Herbert looked around the dressing room during the 2010 World Cup and realised his best playmaker was 35-year-old Simon Elliott and his best player Blackburn Rovers central defender Ryan Nelsen.

Three draws, including just two goals, in the group stage was a commendable, if uninspiring, effort.

Doubtless John Key made the same calculation as he reviewed his colleagues and considered his tactics ahead of the

2008 general election.

Rather than target the ideological tryline, he preferred to largely kick for touch and lean on his winning personality. His party got over the line and the new prime minister merely shrugged his shoulders at those who lamented a lack of style or ideological swagger.

So it is almost a breath of fresh air that the latest version of Key’s party is embracing the contest and making a conscious effort to set itself apart from its opposition to offer voters a clear, distinct, definable choice as we head into next year’s election.

No longer content with being the ‘‘fast followers’’, National’s economic discussion document released this week is a clear sign that it has abandoned the crowded waters at the centre

for more traditional, maybe a little neglected, fishing grounds to the right. Like former premier Key, current party leader Simon Bridges has taken the temperature and reviewed his options; unlike his former boss, Bridges appears to have decided personality is not enough and he will need to lean on policy.

That has created the exciting prospect of a genuine contest of ideas and ideology, of policy and political direction.

It is clear that in going after unions, promising to repeal the ban on oil and gas exploration, heralding a cut in corporate and, possibly, personal tax, and threatening to ‘‘light a regulations bonfire’’, National is saying something very important: We are different; we are clearly the other.

There’s even more than a hint of the cocky gambler in the party’s confirmation of its desire to lift the age of eligibility for superannuation to 67.

At the very least, many within NZ First will be tempted by what is in the document, and they may be prepared to ignore the rising super age if it is not to affect them.

If there is one similarity between this National plan and its 2008 iteration it is that, like Key’s plan, it could be argued Bridges’ version offers nothing new; more an ideological repudiation of his opponent than a new path forward.

Maybe more of that will come in the months ahead. Most important is that, finally, we have a contest. Not Labour-lite, or red and blue mixed to produce purple.

It’s two very different camps setting up their stalls. It’s game on.