Andrea Vance
Abann is a former refugee who fled South Sudan after many years of bitter and bloody war. He came to Auckland by way of Syria, so he is an astute observer of political leadership.
‘‘I’ve been in New Zealand for 15 years,’’ he told me early last week.
‘‘In the Parliament debates, people are yelling to each other, saying whatever they want to say. But when they come out the door, they go, and eat and drink coffee together. That’s kind of ... the mentality of leaders I want to see in South Sudan.’’
Mostly, Abann is correct. We don’t have many kumbaya moments but, on the whole, bipartisan collaboration can and does work in New Zealand politics.
Except for this week. As the politicians converged on Waitangi to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the Treaty, they descended into mean-spirited and disrespectful behaviour.
To be more inclusive, the parties are now welcomed together onto the Upper Treaty Grounds. But coming just two days after Simon Bridges ruled out working with NZ First, Winston Peters looked like he’d rather saw his arm off than acknowledge National’s leader.
As they walked towards the meeting house, Peters indelicately shuffled Greens leader James Shaw into his spot.
There are two ways to view the clumsy manoeuvre. After days of trading fatuous barbs, either Peters couldn’t bear to stand shoulder-toshoulder with his rival for even the briefest of moments. Or, the deputy prime minister was making a physical point: Shaw should know his place and, as a coalition partner, it is Peters who should stand alongside the prime minister. Either way, the gesture was petty.
The intemperate behaviour continued after the po¯ whiri. On the paepae, Bridges breached established protocol, attacking the Government and making political pledges.
Peters couldn’t let that go. Upstaging Shane Jones, who was scheduled to speak, Peters lashed out at Bridges.
Later, National MPs snubbed Jones’ infamous Waitangi bash, preferring to hang out at Andrew Bayley’s Northland bach.
PM Jacinda Ardern has signalled she wants to see a ‘‘positive’’ election campaign. She finished out the Waitangi Day dawn service with a karakia, which called to unite in ‘‘kindness and care’’ towards one another.
But pugilistic Peters would never subscribe to the mantra ‘‘when they go low, we go high’’. Bridges’ needling of Peters as untrustworthy and his subsequent dyspeptic reaction sets a much more realistic tone for the year to come.
There’s a good reason that bitter partisan rancour now dominates US and British politics: obstreperous and hyperbolic campaigning is an easy win. Co-operation and political integrity – how candidates conduct themselves and react – doesn’t get headlines.
In the echo chambers of social media, the moderate centre gets drowned out while extremists take over the confrontational and quarrelsome narrative.
Slighted and disrespected, Bridges and Peters have already retreated into tribalism. Labour MPs, tweeting from the sidelines of the marae, and face-pulling Greens co-leader Marama Davidson were happy to join the fray.
It signals that Ardern’s unity and kindness prayer hasn’t got a hope in this election year.
Winston Peters looked like he’d rather saw his arm off than acknowledge National’s leader.