Woodhouse takes medicine
DUNEDIN list MP Michael Woodhouse says he is disappointed at being stripped of his health spokesman’s role but enthusiastic about the responsibilities he has been given by new National leader Judith Collins.
Portfolios and shadow cabinet rankings will be revealed by Ms Collins today, although she has already confirmed Paul Goldsmith will remain in finance.
However, her first order of business yesterday was to sort out the future of Mr Woodhouse.
As expected, he lost the role to Whangarei MP Dr Shane Reti.
She said Mr Woodhouse was an excellent performer, but made a mistake handling the leak of details of Covid19 patients to him by former party president Michelle Boag.
‘‘I am disappointed because I really enjoyed the health role,’’ Mr Woodhouse, a former hospital administrator, said.
‘‘I worked hard in it and I think we made good gains against the Government, but that’s the way it is.
‘‘I can’t dwell on it, I have to look forward.’’
Ms Collins said, ‘‘the public was rightly appalled that people’s personal medical records were being sent around’’.
‘‘I thought it [not telling the Minister of Health] was an error.
‘‘I’ve told Michael my views and he accepts those views.
‘‘I have no doubt at all that Michael will never make that mistake again and I have no doubt at all that in our caucus none of them will.’’
Mr Woodhouse, who entertained no thoughts of standing down, will retain his associate finance and assistant shadow leader of the house roles.
Ms Collins also allocated him two new roles, as spokesman for Pike River recovery and regional development.
‘‘Michael Woodhouse is a standout person and I have full confidence in him,’’ she said.
Mr Woodhouse said there was a risk the election campaign debate could have been about his fitness for the health role, rather than National’s policies.
‘‘I support that [decision of Ms Collins], because I really want to be talking about the things that matter to New Zealanders and how we get through this [Covid19],’’ he said.
‘‘Regional economic development is going to be a big part of that, and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it.’’
WELLINGTON: The new leader of the National Party has ruled out any quick shift to fling open the doors to a transtasman travel bubble with Australia.
Judith Collins yesterday drew a distinction between a possible bubble with the Cook Islands and forming one with Australia.
She said Australia had a ‘‘real problem’’, in reference to a new Covid19 outbreak, and it was not safe to have a transtasman bubble.
‘‘It’s all about safety.’’
She said it was better to move safely and slowly, but not too slowly.
Her predecessor Todd Muller had earlier told the Wellington Chamber of Commerce waiting for a vaccine or for other countries to eliminate Covid19 before the border reopens would leave New Zealand ‘‘on its knees’’.
Ms Collins was supportive yesterday of the idea of regional, rather than countrywide, lockdowns.
‘‘They [the Government] have enough trouble trying to keep the quarantine tight as they do now . . . the devil, in this case, is in the execution. I don’t see there is a problem with the idea.’’
Ms Collins also said ‘‘we would be foolish’’ to think that the quarantine situation had been as watertight as it could have been.
Clearly it was not that easy, but ‘‘also it is not that difficult’’ if systems were in place, people understood the rules and there was the right enforcement, she said.
‘‘I think the Government is going to have to do quite a lot of work to build up that confidence again.’’
She said the Government needed to do a better job with contact tracing.
An issue with contact tracing was that people were feeling the surge of ‘‘great, big, fat Government’’ in people knowing where they were.
‘‘Most people forget that pretty much on their smart phones they can be tracked anyway.’’
She declined to offer detail on her party’s economic plan, but said ‘‘mildly radical’’ policy would be revealed within weeks.
She confirmed she wanted to replace the Resource Management Act and hinted at corporate tax breaks and a halt to massive public spending in favour of schemes to grow businesses as a means of bringing jobs. — The New Zealand Herald/RNZ