Labour failing to land a body blow
China’s trade threats are far from over, writes Stacey Kirk.
OPINION: The next few weeks in Parliament should yield a strong hunt for Labour.
Notable housing crisis aside however, this Opposition are better known for wildly firing in the general direction of, but never quite hitting, their target.
And since the Sunday Star-Times revealed attempted Chinese interference ahead of a possible steel dumping inquiry, the Government has gifted their Opponents plenty of trade-related ammunition over the past four weeks.
It should be noted that a month-long recess was as tactical as the Government would argue it was practical, in the hopes of manufacturing inertia across the aisle.
That’s been squandered by a Trade Minister who left the Prime Minister looking foolish in the face of initial questions by the Star-Times, downplaying informal threats made by Chinese commerce officials as ‘‘unsubstantiated rumours’’.
They continue to be anything but.
McClay knew about it for months, but didn’t see fit to inform the Prime Minister of the full extent of the situation until it became clear the media knew far more than he.
McClay either willfully ignored the risk of ‘‘trade reprisals’’ that come from a Chinese Government unimpressed its cheap steel may come under scrutiny, or he couldn’t see it.
It’s unclear which is worse but either way, if he manages to loosen the noose round his neck his political radar could do with a calibration.
As the two sides file into the debating chamber Tuesday, they’ll be sizing each other up. If McClay’s not in the House, it’ll be about as coincidental as the Zespri’s kiwifruit shipments held up at the Chinese border since last month.
But this is a two-sided game and as the Opposition, Labour has a role to play.
Under the privileges of Parliament, Labour has the power to illicit answers from Ministers that cannot be dodged without consequences.
But where the party has struggled in the past, is in its focus on beltway details.
Zespri has now deferred all shipments to China in a bid to future proof kiwifruit exports against any further barriers thrown up at the border.
While serious, the minutia of trade disputes is not where the Opposition should focus.
It’s what the Government knew and when - of which many Ministers and officials are still contortioning around that will produce the body shot. As they say, it’s never the lie, it’s the cover up.