LAST LAUGH
West Coast-based National MP Maureen Pugh, who Simon Bridges famously called ‘‘f .... useless’’ in a secret recording by MP Jami-Lee Ross, has had the last laugh.
Pugh said she voted for Todd Muller as leader and Nikki Kaye as deputy in a secret ballot by National’s caucus yesterday, which saw Bridges lose his place as party leader. She said she did not take Bridges’ earlier comments about her into account when making her decision. However, she said she voted for Muller because he was a ‘‘really decent human being’’.
‘‘I have gotten to know Todd as a good person and decent person. Those are the traits I look for in a leader. You don’t talk like that about your friends or colleagues if you are a decent person. It was an easy choice,’’ she said.
She said she considered Muller a good friend since they both entered Parliament in 2014.
She was excited about the new leadership and believed Muller and Kaye would introduce policies which were good for the West Coast, including allowing new mining and hydro schemes to go ahead. ‘‘The resources on the West Coast will help this country get out of this economic freefall we are in. Todd is very aware of that. It beggars belief that environmental groups are opposing projects that will help our economy recover,’’ she said.
Few National MPs have revealed which way they voted. Gerry Brownlee, MP for Christchurch’s Ilam constituency, would not reveal his vote. He said he hoped the focus would now turn to rescuing New Zealand’s economy.
‘‘We can have disagreements about this or that but when 1000 people a day are going on to job seekers’ benefit and there are a whole lot of people who have lost jobs who don’t even qualify, the country as a whole has a problem.’’
Brownlee said Muller, the MP for Bay of Plenty, would be good for the South Island – ‘‘given that he has a deep understanding of both climate change and agriculture and his past commercial experience on the commercial end of agriculture’’.
National List MP Nicky Wagner would only say she ‘‘voted for the leader’’. But she was quick to extol the virtues of both Muller and Kaye, touting the latter as a future National Party leader.
Wagner shared Brownlee’s view about the priority being getting New Zealand’s economy back on track.
Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon would not be drawn on who he voted for but said with Muller at the helm National would be able to articulate its message to New Zealanders.
– Additional reporting by Dominic Harris and Emma Dangerfield