Government gaffes gifts to Opposition
National just has to wait for the targets to present themselves.
There was always a risk of NZ First-induced migraines when the Prime Minister signed on the dotted line to form a Government with Winston Peters.
And political soothsayers have all had Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran at short odds of being one of the weaker links within Labour’s own ranks.
In a triple bill of unnecessary political dramas this week, Jacinda Ardern has been forced to battle two fires that go to the heart of her Government’s transparency and another that has left
New Zealand the butt of international jokes. They’ve likely exacted a toll on Ardern’s political capital.
In the cliffhanger, Curran faced a media firestorm following a meeting with Radio
NZ executive Carol Hirschfeld that was initially denied outright, then downplayed by both women as ‘‘impromptu and unofficial’’ when uncovered by dogged questioning from National’s Melissa Lee.
That characterisation cost Hirschfeld her job, but Curran’s actions have raised major questions over the Ardern Government’s commitment to transparency.
The slowburner is the approach from Jenny Marcroft to National MP Mark Mitchell. She’s the hapless Fredo, apparently sent by an anonymous NZ First minister to make Mitchell an offer he couldn’t refuse, but she didn’t have the nous to realise the compromised position she was being placed in.
Trying to heavy the Opposition into silence by threatening to withhold Government funding for development projects in their electorates is about as mafioso as it gets; an image only compounded by the male caucus’ penchant for pinstripe suits and pocket squares.
The saving grace for Marcroft and her party appears to be that she is such a non-entity the threat had no credibility without a minister to pin it on.
Ardern has sought and received assurances that no minister was behind the thuggish act, and has little choice but to take them at their word.
She has far more of a title role in the tragicomedy playing out over the Russian spy scandal. Ardern and Foreign Minister Winston Peters were looking to be on the right side of history, albeit a week late, after finally coming out with a strong statement against a Russian chemical attack on British soil.
New Zealand stood behind the UK, it seemed, until it came time to prove it with action and expel those from the embassy, or otherwise, who might be involved in the collection of intelligence – or spying.
Out of the countries who have pledged support, New Zealand is the only one to have not expelled anyone. Ardern’s reasoning: ‘‘There are no undeclared spies in New Zealand’’.
Cue international headlines: ‘‘New Zealand says it would expel Russian spies . . . but it can’t find any’’.
New Zealand is a Five Eyes partner, and the suggestion that there is no one in the business of Russian intelligence here seems a stretch, and the rest of the world knows it.
Meanwhile, National leader Simon Bridges has just passed his first month in the job and is looking sure-footed in comparison, without lifting a finger.
On the contrary, he might be learning that there’s little need to go hunting for wins at all, provided he keeps his own troops in line.
The targets seem to present themselves and coming up on the horizon, when Peters becomes acting Prime Minister, a six-week shoot-out seems likely.
National leader Simon Bridges is looking sure-footed in comparison.