Time to get your head around policy

There’s a healthy degree of irony in the debate fuelled by Gareth Morgan’s uncalled for ‘‘lipstick on a pig’’ jibe at Jacinda Ardern.

Quite what the precise intent of the remark was has itself been the subject of debate, with several suggestions it’s another case of a rich white man thinking those three factors give him carte blanche to throw offensive comments into the public arena with no thought for the consequences. If so, he’s hardly alone. But if, as the appearance of a giant billboard in Auckland, doubling down on the comment, suggests, he is trying to move the thrust of pre-election conversation from personality to policy, it’s deeply ironic.

As much as he may try to deny it, Morgan’s The Opportunities Party revolves around him, his money, his ideas. He certainly has raised some policy ideas worth pursuing, but the fact they’ve gained any traction is surely primarily down to the recognition factor he carries, even though he’s not actually a candidate.

He’s certainly on TOP brochures mailed out this campaign, and that billboard.

It’s hard to imagine he failed to recognise that when he tweeted his comment on Sunday, but the fallout ironically appears likely to cost TOP votes he hoped to win through strong policy, due to a personality perceived as offensive.

It’s hardly surprising this election has the potential to be decided largely on personality. Most party leaders are relatively new, their personalities naturally in focus. Prime Minister Bill English, known in some quarters as ‘‘Boring Bill’’, is trying to change that reading. We’ve got ‘‘the Jacinda effect’’, and the ubiquitous Winston [Peters] factor. James Shaw is necessarily front and centre for the Greens, and ACT leader David Seymour is trying to ride National’s coat-tails back into Parliament.

The situation is what it is, but that’s not to suggest a call to focus on policy over personality is wrong. If anything, this is when voters should be thinking about the perils of a personality-based vote and taking a close look at policy and its potential implementation. What exactly is it? What will it cost and what will that mean from a taxation point of view? Is it considered policy or a short-term bribe with little prospect of long-term success?

In the regions, that’s just as important. Dairy farmers will naturally take an in-depth look at Labour’s water levy proposal, but given the toll the difficult conditions of recent years have taken on farmers, they may also want to carefully examine National’s unexpected recent rollout of mental health funding. The weekend’s $1.2 billion proposal on roading will affect many regions and would-be voters should look carefully at what it means for them and their regions.

The best way to be prepared for an election that begs to be decided on personality is to ensure the promise of the policy matches the appeal of the personality.