Floundering Act spots a lifeline in the water
THERE is a saying that politics is the art of the possible.
However, for many participants it is also attempting to achieve the impossible.
Take Sam Purchas for example.
Standing in the Dunedin North electorate in the 2017 election, Mr Purchas achieved what on paper looks like the phenomenal feat of increasing the party vote result of his party by 35%.
Indeed, he was an entertaining, lively and effective campaigner . . . but he was also standing for Act New Zealand, which in leftleaning Dunedin can hardly be classed as a career move.
Going from 111 party votes in 2014 to 150 in 2017 is not going to move the political Richter scale, but it does demonstrate the sorry state of Act, a party which just 11 years ago had five MPs.
In 2008, buoyed by the candidacy of future MP Hilary Calvert, Act registered 749 party votes in Dunedin North — which might not sound like much, but it is more party votes than Act got in any electorate in 2017, including party leader David Seymour’s Epsom seat.
Small numbers are what Act trades in at the moment, with the party desperate to muster enough profile — and enough votes — to get a second MP in to Parliament and demonstrate it actually has political viability.
The first One News Colmar Brunton poll for the year had Act at 0.9% — a recovery of sorts, having dropped to 0.3% in October’s poll, with party leader David Seymour’s stunts on Dancing With The Stars seemingly well forgotten.
Act’s Achilles heel will always be the Epsom seat, which keeps the party on lifesupport — while it would be nothing without it, with it the party looks, and is, utterly dependent on National.
The main opposition party will suffer Mr Seymour for as long as he is useful.
That patience is wearing thin — speculation of a new Blue/Green party will likely amount to little, but it should have shaken Act out of any complacency it might have.
This year looms as a rare chance for Act to revive its fortunes.
Like a decade ago, the party has a profileraising issue it can use to raise awareness of itself — in 2008 it was the Electoral Finance Act, and now it is Mr Seymour’s End Of Life Choice Bill.
The two are quite different beasts — one was a classic ‘‘Big Government’’ issue which the party of free enterprise could crusade on, while the other is a divisive Member’s Bill.
What they do have in common is that for several months this year, Act’s leader will be squarely in the media spotlight, rather than being relegated to a fivesecond soundbite at the tail end of the main political story of the day — if that.
There are some risks for Act in this — its economically conservative supporters may well recoil from the party being associated with the euthanasia issue, and likewise Mr Seymour cannot be perceived to be exploiting a sensitive subject to his own political ends.
In Dunedin, Act will be looking to revive its once highly active campus branch — Mr Seymour visited the city three times last year, including popping in to a few scarfie flats for a beer, but did not make it down for Orientation this month.
Getting him back down again is a priority, and the party is also keen to have him fly the flag in Southland and Otago.
The top of Act’s party list in the 2017 election were all Aucklanders, and there is a feeling the party needs to raise its regional profile — the
Lakes District is one of several South Island locations where Act feels it could land a few extra party votes.
It might sound like a lot of effort for potentially little reward, but where Act sits right now a hundred votes here and 50 more votes there could well be vital in 2020.
Tetchy Techs
It might not be a dream come true, but Invercargill MP
Sarah Dowie finally coaxed Education Minister Chris Hipkins to town yesterday for a little talk about techs.
Flights to and from Invers not being that frequent
(sounds like a job for regions czar Shane Jones right there), Mr Hipkins could only promise to be there for the first hour of a public meeting on the Government’s controversial proposed polytechnic reforms — but it’s the thought that counts.
Meanwhile, Dunedin North MP David Clark facebooked a meeting he had with Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker, who no doubt had a thing or two to say to him.
‘‘It is important that its strength is retained,’’ Dr Clark said, without committing himself to a brawl with his Cabinet colleague over Otago Polytechnic’s future.
Wool I Never
Clutha Southland National MP Hamish Walker — owner of one of the South’s most recognisable cats — will be clocking up the ks this week, after organising a series of wool shed meetings across his rural fastness.
Distance is something Mr Walker will soon know all about . . . on March 16 and 17 he takes part in the Relay for Life event in Queenstown, and plans to walk the entire 24 hours solo to raise funds for the Cancer Society.
Small Steps
There is no wait quite as long as the wait to have your Member’s Bill considered by the House — as Lawrencebased NZ First MP Mark Paterson is about to find out.
His Bill, which seeks to raise the minimum residency qualification for superannuation from 10 years to 20, is the 14th, and final, Member’s Bill on the Order Paper.
The House has its first Members Day of the year on Wednesday — and if the pace set by those proposed laws at the top of the batting order are anything to go by, Mr Paterson might finally get to speak on his Bill this time next year.