Ardern’s political capital not limitless
Did Labour learn nothing from nine frustrating years in Opposition up against the hugely popular John Key?
Like Jacinda Ardern, Key entered office with political capital to burn.
But unlike Labour, National was always careful not to squander it.
When Key announced his shock decision to retire, it was because he judged that the scales were tipping against what political capital he had left in the bank, versus the accumulated baggage from nine years in office.
But there was still enough goodwill for his legacy to nearly carry National over the line again in 2017.
If crisis management is how we judge our prime ministers Ardern’s handling of Labour’s Waihi camp scandal is text book.
She has apologised to the young people involved, acknowledged Labour’s failure of care and put a process in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
But she has had to burn up some of her precious political capital making up for the party’s shambolic response to allegations that four young people were sexually assaulted during the boozy Young Labour event.
Party president Nigel Haworth was testy in the face of questions about heads rolling.
No wonder. His and general secretary Andrew Kirton’s would be the first on the chopping block if Ardern was looking for scape goats.
After being blindsided by the news, Ardern has had to front Labour’s failures – failures that are underscored by the fact that only now has one of the alleged victims laid a complaint with the police.
Clearly if there had been appropriate support from the start that young person would have felt their treatment was serious enough to warrant a police investigation.
To recap, four young people were allegedly sexually assaulted during a summer camp for young Labour activists in February.
Video footage and witness accounts suggest a wild drunken affair even though some of the attendees were only 16 years old and despite a number of responsible adults – including several MPs – being on the scene.
Some of those adults even slept over but instead of stepping in to assert control, they went to bed.
Parents who thought a Labour Party camp would be a safe environment for the young adults in attendance must be feeling as let down as the alleged victims.
Political management summed up is about living up to the same expectations that people have for themselves and the community they live in.
Expert opinion is divided over whether Labour should have gone immediately to police and informed the parents.
But for the average parent, it would seem like a no brainer.
Likewise, many parents would probably sympathise about a teen party getting out of hand.
But it’s not necessarily the scandal that governments are judged by – they will happen to every government. It’s in how they handle them that they will be judged.
Labour seems to be bent on learning all its lessons the hard way at the moment.
The sex-pest behaviour complained of was a young man sticking his hands down the pants of at least four attendees, both male and female.
The Labour general secretary and party president were made aware of the behaviour and the young man was sent home.
But the initial attitude of the senior rank and file appears to have been that it was a just boozy party that got out of hand.
That was borne out by Kirton’s comments about the embarrassment of the alleged perpetrator seemingly once he had sobered up.
That attitude explains the weeks of inaction that followed, which have only fed the perception of a cover-up and given the story time to brew in social media and among the ranks of Young Labour activists.
Among the stories doing the rounds is one that Ardern has had to deny repeatedly, that it was the son of a senior MP or cabinet minister.
That’s just the sort of story that starts to swirl in the fertile ground created by perceptions of a coverup.
That’s one reason why Labour should have acted immediately on the allegations rather than sit on them for weeks.
The bigger failing, of course, was letting down the young people in its care by its failure to act.
But there is a political price to pay for that, as well as a personal one.
Labour might think it can keep calling on the bank of Jacinda Ardern. But her political capital will not be limitless – and it wants to be careful it doesn’t squander it just because it can. Another unusually hectic recess week, with more losers than winners.
UP
Chris Hipkins:
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Mark Mitchell: DOWN Labour Party:
The party undoubtedly dropped the ball in its handling of the alleged sexual assault incidents at last month’s Young Labour summer camp. There have since been further allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at past Young Labour events. As well as leaving Young Labour to run the camp, where alcohol was available to underage attendees, the party was then slow to deal with the incident, and to offer support to the victims.
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Labour seems to be bent on learning all its lessons the hard way at the moment.
Jenny Salesa: Grant Robertson: